The third round of negotiations between the European Union and Switzerland concerning the free movement of persons from the ten acceding states took place in Brussels earlier this week, overshadowed by the surge in support for right-wing Swiss People's Party in Sunday's elections.
The main issue on the agenda was the Swiss request for a seven-year transition period before citizens of the new states be permitted free movement, something which the anti-immigration People's Party will see as having major importance. The SPP won 26% of the vote on Sunday and will be entitled to a second cabinet seat in the coalition government, which will presumably be taken up by leader Christian Blocher.
In a statement, the EU said that it “cannot accept any discrimination between old and new member states and deems sufficient the transitional arrangements of the 1999 agreement, which are based on annual quotas for short and long-term work permits.”
The Commission continues:
“The quota regulation in combination with such a safeguard clause for quota-free periods would provide ample protection against unsustainable migration movements. In any case, judging from existing studies and earlier enlargements, no such movements are expected to happen.”
“In parallel to these negotiations the EU expects soon to start negotiating on a financial contribution to social and economic cohesion, as Switzerland will benefit through a series of bilateral agreements from the enlarged Internal Market. The contribution could take the form of Swiss project financing comparable to what has been agreed with Norway.”
The Commission expects to reach an agreement in time to be applied from the enlargement date of 1 May 2004, but the impact of the SPP's win on the negotiations is very unclear at present.
http://www.europa.eu.int/rapid/start/cgi/guesten.ksh?p_action.gettxt=gt&doc=IP/03/1419|0|RAPID&lg=EN;
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