Swiss-EU treaty deal is highly unlikely this year

SWITZERLAND is unlikely to strike a deal with the EU this year over a stalled partnership treaty, its economy minister said, extending an impasse that has hurt bilateral ties and disrupted cross-border share trading. European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has urged Bern to wrap up the accord before his term ends on October 31, when German politician Ursula von der Leyen will replace him.

The Swiss government has also said it would like to clinch a deal by then if three final points can be clarified.

Economy Minister Guy Parmelin, however, told the SonntagsZeitung newspaper that he was pessimistic, given that representatives of Swiss labour, employers and cantons had been unable to find common ground Switzerland could use in the talks.

“We want a good solution that can win majority support, and that is not the case at the moment,” said Parmelin, a member of the right-wing and eurosceptic Swiss People’s Party. “I don’t think we can wrap up this year. Our agenda and that of the EU allow a conclusion only next year at the earliest,” he said, citing Swiss elections in October, the creation of a new European Commission team and a Swiss referendum due next year on abolishing free movement of EU citizens.

Brussels blocked EU-based investors from trading on Swiss exchanges from July 1 as the row escalated over the treaty under which non-member Switzerland would routinely adopt the EU single market rules. The Swiss retaliated by banning EU venues from hosting Swiss stock trading.

In Bern, resistance to the treaty encompasses the normally pro-Europe centre-left to the anti-EU far right, which both see the pact infringing Swiss sovereignty.