We take no orders from EU, say Swiss after spat

Switzerland is taking no orders from the European Union, Foreign Affairs Minister Ignazio Cassis said Friday, following talks in Brussels as to where thorny relations between the EU and Bern go next.

Ties between Brussels and Bern have been strained since non-EU member Switzerland suddenly decided in May to end years of discussion towards a broad cooperation agreement with the bloc.

Cassis went to Brussels on Monday for talks with EU vice president Maros Sefcovic, who is handling the issue of the bloc’s troubled relations with Switzerland.

Following the meeting — the first such face-to-face talks on the issue since since the May rupture — Cassis stressed that a common agenda had to be established before negotiations could get under way.

“There are no orders to be issued or received between the EU and Switzerland. Each side represents their interests and each side communicates their wishes. The government knows what the EU wants,” Cassis told the Tamedia newspaper group.

Landlocked Switzerland is surrounded by the EU, which is its main economic partner.

Cassis said it was never Bern’s intention to resume negotiations immediately after the discussions on a framework agreement fell through.

The talks hit an impasse after the EU refused to budge on Swiss demands to exclude key issues relating to state aid, wage protections and freedom of movement from the pact.

Following Monday’s talks, Sefcovic urged Switzerland to show whether it still wants a far-reaching cooperation deal with the bloc.

EU-Swiss ties are currently governed by a patchwork of agreements, and for the past 13 years discussions have been ongoing towards an overarching accord that would have harmonised the legal framework governing the relationship.

It would also have established a dispute settlement mechanism.

But Switzerland is reluctant to meet EU demands for budget contributions and alignment on European rules as the price to keep free access to the vast EU market.

“What we now need from Switzerland is the unambiguous political will to engage with us on the real issues that count and a credible timetable,” Sefcovic said Monday.

“In other words, any political dialogue must be focused and substantial. It cannot be an empty shell,” he added.

But Cassis said the European Commission vice president’s summary of their talks “had relatively little to do with our meeting”.

The two men are due to meet again in January at the World Economic Forum in Davos, with the aim of finalising a timetable and confirming that talks are back on track.

Switzerland is not going to let itself be put under pressure by the EU, Cassis insisted.

“A deadline was not an issue in our conversation,” he said.

“A negotiation roadmap is currently not an issue. The task now is to clarify the mutual expectations — and not to forget that we have no differences on 95 percent of the questions.”

vog/rjm/nl/gw