EU-Swiss impasse.
EU-Swiss negotiations have broken down on the ‘institutional framework agreement’, which aimed at enhancing the homogeneity of legislation in the areas where Switzerland has access to the EU’s single market. Meanwhile, on November 25, the Swiss will vote on the ‘self-determination initiative’, a popular initiative aiming to enshrine the primacy of Swiss federal law over international law in the Swiss constitution. Approval of this referendum would radically change Swiss legal practice and have profound implications for Swiss-EU relations.
Brexit as well as EU and Swiss elections will make substantial and unpopular compromises between Switzerland and the EU improbable.
An agreement on Switzerland’s access to the EU’s electricity market is unlikely in the near term.
The EU could withdraw Switzerland’s status in the ‘Horizon Europe’ research programme.
