How credible are the reports of the thaw in bilateral relations? Until recently, hardly anyone expected that chief negotiator Livia Leu (61) would be able to get more than the well-known lip service from Brussels from the new round of talks.
The optimistic reports are confirmed by those close to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs: the EU has made substantial offers on key points of contention such as the EU Citizens’ Directive and wage protection, but there are still differences of opinion on minor issues. An example: in the case of wage protection, for example, the question is whether expenses can be booked as wages. The Europeans have also made concessions regarding the EU citizens’ directive, ie the right of EU citizens to Swiss social benefits.
For the head of the FDFA, Ignazio Cassis (61), this would be a very welcome, perhaps even much-needed success story.
Confidential meeting of the « Sounding Board »
However, the Federal President made the calculation without the innkeeper, and in this case the innkeeper is called Pierre-Yves Maillard (54). The yesterday re-elected Vaud union chairman and SP country councilor spoils Cassis’ vote. Scene was a meeting on Friday 18 November, where the members of the so-called Klankbordgroep came together. This “sound body” includes the leaders of the social partners, ie the employers’ and workers’ associations, at the Presidency level.
Now Cassis is eager to manage the exploits that Secretary of State Leu has given him. But before he receives a mandate from the full Federal Council and can enter parliament, the seven-member body set two conditions: First, Brussels must show movement. Secondly, the sounding board members must give the go-ahead.
So, in the greatest secrecy, the native of Ticino verbally informed the participants of the said meeting about the progress of the exploratory talks. According to reports, employer and trade associations should have given their thumbs up. All that came from the president of the trade union federation was a mean Nyet.
Dynamization of points of contention
When asked, he keeps himself inconspicuous and refers to the agreed discretion. Compared to the Sunday vision, he only emphasizes that one is “still far from a solution”. The trade union federation (SGB) is mainly affected by the dynamization, an unpredictable further development of the agreed law. Today one would buy a pig in a poke, it is criticized, because one cannot foresee in which direction the Union will take wage regulation.
FDP national councilor and foreign politician Hans-Peter Portmann (59) disagrees. The unions would “fool the public”, especially as Maillard knew exactly that both sides had agreed in a so-called “vertical approach” in the exploratory talks on animation. SGB circles meanwhile point to 24 pending procedures that the EU is conducting against its member states for too strict wage protection measures.
For Cassis, Maillard’s braking maneuver is devastating at home. A success story plus a negotiating mandate would be the long-awaited liberation shortly before the Federal Council elections. The course would have been free to neatly hand over the department to a successor. But as it stands, he will have to muddle through the European dossier well into the election year and the trade unions can maintain their position, as they did with the framework agreement.
FDP-Portmann criticizes “blockade attitude”
This is the main reason why people in Cassis’s camp wonder if Maillard’s actions might not also be a tactic in their own right: if Maillard wants to become a federal councilor, he must prevent Comrade Alain Berset (50) from serving another eight years persevere. years. For example, he sabotages a stage victory for Cassis, increasing the chance that he will stay in the EDA.
If the FDFA remains busy, this option will no longer be available to Berset. This reduces the likelihood of Berset changing departments – the majority of the middle class in government will hardly begrudge him the finances. And it is doubtful whether Freiburger wants to be health minister for another eight years.
FDP-Portmann says to Federal Councilor Maillard: “Both SP candidates are well qualified. But if you do not want to reward Maillard in a year’s time with a job at the Federal Council for the damage he has caused our country by blocking the EU file , then you should now vote for Elisabeth Baume-Schneider.” So there would be three Romands in the government.
The EU wants speed, Cassis needs Maillard
There is a lot of speculation right now. The fact is that SGB President Maillard has taken the EDA head hostage. Cassis depends on the union man. Because the EU wants speed. It is said that one or two more rounds of talks are possible before negotiations begin.
There will be European elections in March 2024, in which a large part of the political staff will be replaced. Vice Commissioner Maros Sefcovic (56) wants to settle the dispute with Switzerland, for which he is responsible, in advance and is therefore aiming for an agreement to be initialed by December 2023 at the latest.
This brings us back to Swiss domestic politics: Brussels makes the participation of Swiss scientists and their universities in European research programs dependent on these advances.
So another pawn in the hands of the Vaudois. Affair a suivre.