Former Swiss minister slams government ‘silence’ on EU deal

Ruth Dreifuss criticizes the Federal Council's "silence" Keystone-SDA

Former Swiss government minister Ruth Dreifuss says the current government has shown a lack of leadership on the issue of relations with the European Union.

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“At the time of the Bilaterals I and II, there was strong leadership from the Federal Council to push them through,” she told the newspaper Le Temps.

She no longer has this impression today, saying the government is not fulfilling its role on the European issue. She went on to say that she “deeply regretted” this development. Dreifuss was head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs from 1993 to 2002.

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‘Hesitation on priorities’

Minutes of Federal Council meetings from 1994, which were published on January 1, 2025, show a hesitant attitude on the part of the executive after the “no” to the European Economic Area at the end of 1992, as Le Temps wrote.

Ruth Dreifuss, a member of the Federal Council at the time, spoke of a “time of particularly strong tensions”. The government was unsure which priorities should be set in relations with Brussels and which issues should be settled immediately or left for later negotiations.

As an example, Dreifuss cited Switzerland’s participation in the European research program, which had been a “high priority” for her.

‘Deafening silence’

Today, she is convinced that the reasons for a rapprochement with Europe are similar to those in 1994 – perhaps even more urgent. However, the resistance remained largely the same.

Dreifuss criticised the “deafening silence of the Federal Council” when Ambassador Roberto Balzaretti tried to explain the results of the negotiations with Brussels to the public in May 2021. The explanation of the breakdown in negotiations was also accompanied by a conspicuous silence. “Since then, I haven’t heard much more from the Federal Council,” Dreifuss concluded.

Translated from German by DeepL/mga

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