Parliament sets conditions on further EU payments

by
Swissinfo
My articles My siteAbout meMy videosMy books
Follow on:TwitterFacebookGoogle +

Justice Minister Karin Keller-Sutter and Foreign Affairs Minister Ignazio Cassis listen to the debate in the House of Representatives on Monday (Keystone)

Switzerland should only make another billion-franc “cohesion” payment to the European Union if the EU doesn’t discriminate against Switzerland, parliament has agreed.

The House of Representatives on Monday approved the CHF1.3 billion ($1.3 billion) that will help reduce the economic and social inequalities between old and new EU countries over the next decade. A previous Swiss financial package to improve living standards in the EU will run out shortly.

The majority of parliamentarians believed the cohesion payments were in Switzerland’s interests and were the price of market access.

The funds are to be split into two separate slices. Some CHF1.1 billion is aimed at vocational training programmes and efforts to combat youth unemployment in EU member states in central and eastern Europe over the next ten years. The remaining CHF190 million is destined for migration aid in the whole of the EU.

However, the House of Representatives wanted to redistribute the funds, shifting some CHF190 million from the CHF1.1 billion to the migration aid. The issue now returns to the Senate.

Framework conditions 

The second batch of cohesion payments was put in some doubt after the EU restricted the Swiss stock exchange’s access to the European market to one year. But in September the government said that, after a review of the situation, the funds would be released.

But it added that parliament could “reconsider the situation” if the EU failed to live up to Swiss expectations during continued negotiations on the framework conditions that will govern bilateral ties in future.

While not a member of the EU, Switzerland has negotiated a number of bilateral treaties with its largest trading partner. But the current relationship can only continue if the two sides can agree to a new over-arching framework of conditions.

The sticking points include access to the Swiss labour market for EU workers, Swiss rules that prevent EU companies from undercutting local wage levels and continued access for Swiss financial industry players in Europe.

About Swissinfo

SWI swissinfo.ch – the international service of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC). Since 1999, swissinfo.ch has fulfilled the federal government’s mandate to distribute information about Switzerland internationally, supplementing the online offerings of the radio and television stations of the SBC. Today, the international service is directed above all at an international audience interested in Switzerland, as well as at Swiss citizens living abroad.

My articlesMy siteAbout meMy books
Follow on:TwitterFacebookGoogle +