Swiss back plan for new EU treaty

zurich — Most Swiss support the government’s plan to forge a new treaty with the European Union that would have arbitration panels to help settle disputes, a poll published on Sunday showed.

The survey is important because under the neutral country’s system of direct democracy Swiss voters get the final say on a treaty that officials hope to agree this year. Bilateral ties are now based on a patchwork of sectoral accords.

Fifty-four per cent of respondents in the survey by polling institute GfS Bern backed the plan to have arbitration courts comprising representatives from Switzerland, the EU and a neutral party resolve disputes.

Even supporters of the farright Swiss People’s Party, which opposes any new treaty, favoured this approach, the poll published by the NZZ am Sonntag newspaper found.

Only 4 per cent of Swiss wanted the EU’s European Court of Justice to be the final arbiter of disputes, although the ECJ is envisioned to rule on matters to do with EU law. Thirty-five per cent backed the current system in which a joint Swiss-EU commission is supposed to work out compromises on handling rows.

Poll coordinator Urs Bieri called the outcome “an impressive advantage for the start of (Foreign Minister Ignazio) Cassis’s negotiating strategy”, the NZZ said.

The poll covered 2,500 respondents and had a margin of error of up to 2 points.

Switzerland in March revived plans to contribute an extra 1.3 billion Swiss francs ($1.32 billion) for newer European Union members as relations with its biggest trading partner began improving after a spat at the end of last year.