Interview in Switzerland with Christa Tobler on Swiss-EU relations
On 16 December 2023, the Swiss federal government published information on the next steps in its relationship with the EU.
On the one hand, this concerns a document called 'Common Understanding', which sets out the results of exploratory talks between the EU and Switzerland, and on the other hand the further procedure with a view to a new negotiating mandate from the Swiss federal government on the basis of this document. The background to this is the long-standing effort to put important existing agreements on a new institutional footing. In May 2021, the Swiss federal government broke off negotiations on this matter, which were ongoing at the time. The aim now is to restart the process and at the same time to conclude a larger package of agreements, including new ones. Both are being discussed very controversially at the political level in Switzerland. One of the sensitive points is the expenses regulation in the EU posting law, which Christa Tobler believes violates the principle of equality.