Will Switzerland and the EU finally reach a new deal in 2024?
Switzerland and the European Union look set to get around the table once more to discuss a new cooperation deal but some in Switzerland still have misgivings. Will the two sides finally reach an agreement in 2024?
The Swiss government and the European Commission want to begin talks on a cooperation agreement "without delay", they said in a joint statement Friday.
Both parties said they believed a positive outcome was now "within reach" two years after the Swiss suddenly slammed the door on years-long negotiations.
The two sides released a 13-page document that will serve as a detailed framework for the coming talks.
They now have to get a mandate to go forward "with a view to completing negotiations in 2024".
However Switzerland's main party, the hard-right Swiss People's Party (UDC), rejected a plan revealed earlier Friday for closer
cooperation with the European Union.
The party vowed in a post on X, formerly Twitter, to fight any form of institutional link with the European Union "by all possible means".
READ MORE: What is Switzerland's deal with the EU?
The aim of the new talks is to get an agreement that will allow Switzerland to function more efficiently with the European Union in a range of areas.
That includes the European interior market, transport, electricity, Swiss participation in European programmes covering research and "high-level" dialogue.
They will also have to agree on how much Switzerland pays to the EU as part of the deal.
Teams on both sides would work in parallel and meet regularly "to inform each other on their respective internal processes," the statement added.
Sovereignty, wages
The hard-right Swiss People's Party (UDC) -- which won most votes in October's parliamentary election -- still has misgivings about some aspects of any rapprochement.
Their concern is about any threat to the country's sovereignty.
The country's unions and the socialist party have also expressed doubts, fearing the effect on Swiss salaries.
In any case, it is virtually certain that an agreement this important will be subject to a referendum, a regular feature of Swiss political life.
Ties between Brussels and Bern have been strained since Switzerland suddenly decided in May 2021 to end years of discussions towards a broad cooperation agreement with the bloc.
For more than a decade, talks had been moving towards an overarching accord that would have harmonised the legal framework governing the relationship.
But 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.
Technical talks only resumed in April 2022, and for the moment, EU-Swiss ties are governed by a patchwork of agreements.
The EU is by far Switzerland's most important trading partner because of its economic and political weight as well as its geographic and cultural proximity.
A country of just nine million inhabitants, Switzerland is surrounded by EU member states, with the exception of Liechtenstein.
For the EU, Switzerland was among its largest trading partners in 2022, in fourth position behind the United States, China and the United Kingdom.
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The Swiss government and the European Commission want to begin talks on a cooperation agreement "without delay", they said in a joint statement Friday.
Both parties said they believed a positive outcome was now "within reach" two years after the Swiss suddenly slammed the door on years-long negotiations.
The two sides released a 13-page document that will serve as a detailed framework for the coming talks.
They now have to get a mandate to go forward "with a view to completing negotiations in 2024".
However Switzerland's main party, the hard-right Swiss People's Party (UDC), rejected a plan revealed earlier Friday for closer
cooperation with the European Union.
The party vowed in a post on X, formerly Twitter, to fight any form of institutional link with the European Union "by all possible means".
READ MORE: What is Switzerland's deal with the EU?
The aim of the new talks is to get an agreement that will allow Switzerland to function more efficiently with the European Union in a range of areas.
That includes the European interior market, transport, electricity, Swiss participation in European programmes covering research and "high-level" dialogue.
They will also have to agree on how much Switzerland pays to the EU as part of the deal.
Teams on both sides would work in parallel and meet regularly "to inform each other on their respective internal processes," the statement added.
Sovereignty, wages
The hard-right Swiss People's Party (UDC) -- which won most votes in October's parliamentary election -- still has misgivings about some aspects of any rapprochement.
Their concern is about any threat to the country's sovereignty.
The country's unions and the socialist party have also expressed doubts, fearing the effect on Swiss salaries.
In any case, it is virtually certain that an agreement this important will be subject to a referendum, a regular feature of Swiss political life.
Ties between Brussels and Bern have been strained since Switzerland suddenly decided in May 2021 to end years of discussions towards a broad cooperation agreement with the bloc.
For more than a decade, talks had been moving towards an overarching accord that would have harmonised the legal framework governing the relationship.
But 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.
Technical talks only resumed in April 2022, and for the moment, EU-Swiss ties are governed by a patchwork of agreements.
The EU is by far Switzerland's most important trading partner because of its economic and political weight as well as its geographic and cultural proximity.
A country of just nine million inhabitants, Switzerland is surrounded by EU member states, with the exception of Liechtenstein.
For the EU, Switzerland was among its largest trading partners in 2022, in fourth position behind the United States, China and the United Kingdom.
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