Federal Council Approves Mandate For New Talks w/EU

The Swiss Federal Council, Switzerland's collective head of state and gov't, has confirmed in a statement that it has approved a negotiating mandate with the EU that could set up new talks between the two sides. The negotiating mandate focuses on six areas: the electricity market, the Overland Tansport Agreement, agricultural tariffs and food safety, immigration and free movement, wage protection, and institutional relations. The mandate specifically excludes the 1972 FTA between the two parties from the scope of negotiations.

• The statment also notes "In addition, since the end of the exploratory talks, Switzerland and the EU are able to resume regulatory dialogue on financial matters."
• Talks can begin once the EU has adopted its definitive negotiating mandate, with the Federal Council expecting discussions to begin this month.
• Reuters: "Switzerland said in December that unrestricted access to the EU market was the cornerstone of the plan, which aims to update existing agreements with the single market and conclude new sectoral agreements [...]. Both sides had spent years working on a new treaty but critics argued that the accord excessively infringe on Swiss sovereignty, leading to the termination of that plan in 2021."
• Swiss-EU relations are currently governed by a labryinthine system of hundreds of bilateral agreements on specific issues. Efforts to simplify the system in the past have come to nought amid disagreements between Brussels and Bern on issues relating to financial services and freedom of movement.