Members of both delegations are disappointed that it was not possible to find mutually acceptable solutions to the outstanding issues between EU and Swiss negotiators.
Members of the European Parliament delegation for Switzerland and members of the Swiss Federal Assembly expressed their regret about the decision of the Swiss Federal Council on 26 May 2021 to break off talks with the European Commission on the Institutional Framework Agreement without reaching a successful conclusion after seven years of negotiations.
In a Joint Statement issued after the meeting on Friday, the Chairs of the respective delegations, Andreas Schwab (EPP. DE) and Eric Nussbaumer, stress that it is in the mutual interest of both sides to stabilise and further develop European-Swiss cooperation, as they are deeply economically integrated with each other and close on almost all political issues. They also expect the Swiss Federal Council to quickly explain how it intends to include concrete strategies, concepts and a corresponding roadmap in the political dialogue that it has announced.
You can read the full Joint Declaration here
Further information
- Delegation for Northern cooperation and for relations with Switzerland and Norway and to the EU-Iceland Joint Parliamentary Committee and the European Economic Area (EEA) Joint Parliamentary Committee
- European Parliament recommendation concerning the Institutional Framework Agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation (26.03.2019)
- European Commission: EU-Switzerland relations
- European Commission statement of 26 May 2021 on the termination by Switzerland of the negotiations of the IFA
- Committee on Foreign Affairs