Talks between the European Commission and Swiss Presidents have failed to yield a breakthrough in the current impasse between the two sides over immigration.
The negotiations between Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker were staged
Talks between the European Commission and Swiss Presidents have failed to yield a breakthrough in the current impasse between the two sides over immigration.
The negotiations between Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker were staged on the 70th anniversary of former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s “United Europe” speech in Zurich.
The pair held talks before an event commemorating the anniversary of that historic speech.
Switzerland and the EU have been at loggerheads since 2014 when Swiss voters approved a popular initiative calling for a brake on immigration. This would potentially violate a bilateral agreement that guarantees the free movement of people between the EU and Switzerland.
Schneider-Ammann called the talks “friendly” and “positive”, but said a better picture of a concrete solution would have to wait several weeks. On Wednesday, the Swiss parliament will discuss a proposal to implement the initiative in a way that would be acceptable to the EU.
Schneider-Ammann said he was particularly concerned about the fate of the Horizon 2020 programme that allows collaboration with research projects.
For his part, Juncker said he was committed to working towards a solution with Switzerland, but was also unable to predict how it might look before the Swiss decide on future immigration policy. He said that Britain’s decision to leave the EU had “added another element to the already difficult issues with our Swiss friends.”
Negotiations have become even more delicate since Brexit with the EU increasingly unlikely to grant Switzerland concessions that might be demanded by Britain as it negotiates its withdrawal from the 28-member bloc.
“These questions are interlinked,” added Juncker. “What we would like to achieve is a Swiss specific arrange