Details of the New EU-Swiss Trade Deal 2024
Key Components of the EU-Swiss Trade Deal 2024
The deal grants Switzerland greater access to the EU’s single market, in sectors like electricity. Regarding electricity, the EU-Swiss trade deal integrates Switzerland into the bloc’s electricity grid. Thus allowing the EU to draw on Swiss hydropower for power supplies.
Switzerland is set to gain increased access to the EU’s single market. In return, it has committed to annual financial contributions to the EU, starting at 130 million Swiss francs during a transitional phase until 2029, and rising to 350 million francs from 2030 through 2036
Also, fulfilling a central EU demand, Switzerland agreed on a mechanism to align its laws with relevant EU legislation on handling disputes. Therefore, suppose a joint EU-Swiss committee fails to solve a dispute. In that case, issues will move to an arbitration panel, which must consult the Court of Justice of the European Union for interpretation. Both parties can take proportionate measures across market access treaties to compensate for inequalities arising from an unresolved dispute.
The new trade deal with allow Swiss researchers to partake in some EU research programs such as Horizon Europe.
Regarding immigration controls, Switzerland secured a “protection clause.” Thus, allowing it to regulate immigration from the EU based on labor market needs.
EU-Switzerland Trade Relations
The EU is Switzerland’s main trading partner. Switzerland is the EU’s fourth-biggest trading partner after the United States, China, and the UK. In 2023, bilateral trade in goods reached €327 billion, accounting for 6.4% of the EU’s total trade in goods.
Swiss merchandise exports to the EU include chemicals, medical products, machinery, and appliances and others
Ratifications
The EU-Swiss trade deal 2024 must be approved by the EU’s 27 Member States and the European Parliament.
The Swiss Union of Trade Unions (USS), the largest employees’ organization, has been ambivalent on a deal amid fears that the agreement would result in lower wages in Switzerland.
The game looks more complicated on the Swiss side, where the parliament and the Swiss population must validate the agreement through a referendum.
In a survey published in October by the GFS Bern Institute, only 6% of Swiss respondents had a “very positive feeling” about the EU, a minority (22%) considered it to be relatively buoyant, but 49% of respondents said they felt “negative or rather negative” about the EU.
