Economy

Switzerland has a dense network of bilateral agreements with the EU. By updating five existing agreements and introducing two new internal market agreements—alongside cooperation in research, education, and health—the Swiss-EU relationship is set to be further developed and stabilized. However, the EU has linked this further development of the agreement network to a clarification of the institutional framework. To address this, a package approach will now be used. Instead of regulating institutional issues as a whole through a horizontal agreement, these issues will now be resolved individually within each agreement on a sector-specific basis. SwissHoldings welcomes the Federal Council’s efforts, through a new package of agreements with the EU (“Bilaterals III”), to establish existing relations on a solid and lasting foundation. At the same time, the association emphasizes the importance of gaining a deeper understanding of the long-term effects of the dynamic adoption of EU legislation on Switzerland as a business location before concluding an agreement with the EU.