Clear refusal by the EU to cherry-pick Switzerland

According to EU ambassador Petros Mavromichalis, the European Union would make holes in the common internal market if it granted Switzerland exceptions to an agreement that other member states did not have.

The strength of the internal market is that all participating countries adhere to the same rules, said Mavromichalis, who represents the interests of the EU in Switzerland and Liechtenstein, in an interview with the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”.

If there are any ambiguities, there is an instance in the European Court of Justice that interprets these rules. In those areas in which the Confederation participates in the internal market, this must also apply to Switzerland.

No cherry picking

It is out of the question for the EU to abolish the guillotine clause, as the Federal Council apparently wants. There should be no cherry picking. “We cannot treat a third country like Switzerland, which participates in the internal market, any differently. I don’t understand why this isn’t understood in Switzerland.”

The EU is currently examining Switzerland’s proposal to resolve the disputed issues with the EU sectorally in the individual agreements. It is becoming more complicated to regulate the institutional issues in each agreement individually rather than with a horizontal, overarching approach.

Problems should finally be solved

But the EU is not ideological. It is the end result that counts for them. For all market access agreements, she wants the obligation to dynamically adopt the law and the same legal mechanism for dispute resolution. In individual material areas, regulations such as protective clauses are conceivable, but they must remain the exception.

They would have to relate to specific problems and be time-limited. Individual agreements such as the free movement of persons or entire EU directives might not be excluded. It is important that the problems are finally solved. (SDA)