• Negotiations had breakdown, since December 2023 proposal for another round of bilateral agreements
• Figure 1:
  • Black: fully integrated, no opt-outs → “hardcore EU members”
• Switzerland on outermost rim of EU integration → only in Schengen + asylum system formal exceeding
  • supposed to acceed to EEA in 1992 but failed in referendum → turning point in bilateral relationships
• Switzerland can extract concessions due to being such an important trading partner
  • As much trade with Bavaria + Baden-Württemberg as with China
• 1.5 Million people in CH from EU-27, 450’000 Swiss in the EU

History of the Bilateral Relationship

• Speech at UZH by Churchill → political momentum & impetus
• Switzerland reluctant to join pan-European schemes after WW2
• ECSC was a small organization → bilateral relationship started small
  • Transit of goods is ever-evolving point
• FTA with EFTA states, identical for each state → in CH supported by all cantons + majority of people
• EEA expands the single market but CH decides to not take part → close popular vote but only 7/26 cantons in favor
  • contention: neutrality, wage protection → similar to today
  • Blocher very instrumental in turning CH against accession
  • Federal Council submitted request for full EU membership in August → received as problematic, one step ahead
• Bilaterals 1: no general institutional footing possible, so negotiations on individual sectoral cooperation agreements
  • most heated debate over free movement of persons
  • why do this so complicatedly?
    • CH is important for EU
    • Guillotine clause → no separation of individual agreements, can only terminate overall
  • Swiss trade unions important actor
• Bilaterals 2: already started when Bilaterals 1 were going on
  • open questions on both sides
  • Dublin important → country of first entry principle beneficial to Switzerland
  • Schengen information system is database for police & judicial cooperation → used 300’000 times/day
• Milestones of the bilateral relationship
  • associations with EU agencies (ex: full member of Frontex, only EU agency where CH is on advisory board)
  • expanded into many areas of cooperation, from only trade to also police, asylum, etc.
  • 3 different types of agreements existing in parallel
    • Treaty under international law: both parties can terminate, full sovereignty, not under guillotine clauses
    • Agriculture plus others: integrates CH into EU legal space, EU laws are extended to Switzerland, novel developments not reflected in bilateral law → static integration
    • Dynamic agreements: most important contention, SVP types staunchly opposed. New developments must be adopted without having had a prior say (mostly) (bc no voting rights in Council + EP)
      • after negative referendum: 90 days to find amicable solutions if not bilateral agreements are suspended
      • dynamic alignment puts more pressure on CH to adopt EU laws
      • static alignment is burden on trade + harmonization of legal space
• No institutions overseeing the bilateral agreements
  • contrasting to EFTA where there is surveillance authority + court
  • air transport agreements are exception

Free movement

• Last transitional period until 2026 with Croatia
• Dublin system favorable for most politicians → CH can deport more than they have to take in
  • SVP against bc it is poorly implemented
  • system broke down (partly bc of missing solidarity)
• toughening of European asylum rules in the making

Energy