Swiss politicians bemoan limited access to EU treaty details

Swiss-EU relations divide opinion in Switzerland Keystone / Anthony Anex

Only a few Swiss parliamentarians will be able to read the contents of a new agreement negotiated with the European Union - a procedure that is causing controversy in Bern.

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Starting next week, a handful of elected officials – two from each party – will be allowed to confidentially consult the 1,800 pages of the agreement currently being negotiated between Switzerland and the EU.

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This closed-door reading, organised in a room at the Federal Palace, constitutes a pre-information phase ahead of a public consultation scheduled for the summer.

But this method has drawn criticism, particularly from the Swiss People’s Party. For Thomas Aeschi, leader of the parliamentary group, the process lacks transparency.

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“If the Federal Council has nothing to hide, it can make the documents accessible to everyone at the same time,” he told Swiss public broadcaster RTS.

This position is shared by the Foreign Policy Committee of the House of Representatives, which has officially requested the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) to expand access to all parliamentarians.

Its chair, Laurent Wehrli, welcomes the willingness to inform the parties in advance, but regrets the restriction. “What was surprising was the limit of two members per party,” he notes.

FDFA spokesperson Nicolas Bideau defended an approach inspired by the usual functioning of parliament, where each party is represented in committees. “The goal is for the parties to have the necessary information to take a position on these texts, which are essential for Switzerland’s prosperity,” he explained. In the face of criticism, the FDFA has not ruled out extending the right of all parliamentarians to consult the agreements. The government will decide on this point in the coming weeks.

Adapted from French by DeepL/mga

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