EU ambassador comments on new negotiations on Swiss-EU ties; Talks should start in March and finish this year, he says
The Swiss government realizes that abandoning talks on a deal with the European Union almost three years ago was an error and is ready to convince a skeptical public about the benefits of closer relations, the bloc’s top diplomat in the country said.
“The proof is that after slamming the door in May 2021, in February 2022, on the very day when the aggression in Ukraine took place, they decided to come back,” Ambassador Petros Mavromichalis told Bloomberg in an interview. “The government, the people we are negotiating with, are fully on board.”
After months of exploratory work, the EU and Switzerland are preparing to restart formal negotiations on a new agreement to update multiple treaties dating back decades. The previous effort failed when the Swiss unexpectedly walked away after years of wrangling.
Switzerland is surrounded by the EU on all sides and half of its exports go to the bloc. Bilateral goods trade amounts to about 300 billion francs ($348 billion) a year. But Switzerland has a history of fiercely protecting its sovereignty, and some politicians say deeper ties will give the EU more power over the country, increase immigration and erode high wages.
Bloomberg
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