No agreement during interparliamentary meeting between Switzerland and the EU Initiative submitted: Juso plays Robin Hood for the climate

Members of the Swiss Federal Assembly and the European Parliament met in Bern on Thursday and Friday for an inter-parliamentary exchange. The focus was on the draft negotiating mandate for the future relations between Switzerland and the EU. The parliamentarians could not agree.

A large majority of participants were in favor of a quick start to negotiations, the Swiss parliamentary services announced on Friday evening. It is in the common interest of Switzerland and the EU to put relations on a new basis.

Critical voices had raised concerns that, in particular, the obligation to dynamically adopt EU law and be subject to EU jurisdiction violated Switzerland’s independence. Moreover, the democratic rights of the Swiss people would not be respected.

To provide insight into domestic political issues, the Swiss delegation invited various interest groups, such as Economiesuisse, the Trade Union Federation and the Conference of the Cantons, as mentioned. Questions about wage protection, the dispute settlement mechanism, immigration and a future electricity treaty were part of the discussions.

According to the communiqué, the chairman of the European delegation, Andreas Schwab (EPP/Germany), hopes that both parties will soon be able to adopt their mandates and start official negotiations. The stated goal on both the Swiss and EU sides is to be able to start negotiations in the spring.

It was the 43rd annual interparliamentary meeting between Switzerland and the EU. The committees last met in Brussels in 2023. Nine parliamentarians were represented in the Swiss delegation. It was chaired by National Councilor Thomas Aeschi (SVP/ZG). Four members of the European Parliament (also: EU Parliament) were present. (dabbing/sda)