French president buries hatchet over tax
French President François Hollande has struck a conciliatory tone regarding a long-running tax dispute during a two-day state visit to Switzerland.
The seven-member cabinet welcomed Hollande in front of the cathedral in the capital Bern, where he was received with full military honours. It is the first state visit by a French President since Jacques Chirac in 1998.
Bilateral relations have been strained in recent years over tax issues, including capital flight and inheritance tax, as well as the use of binational airport Basel Mulhouse.
However, on Wednesday Hollande made efforts to calm the waters. “Concerning tax, the exchange of information upon request has been simplified and the requests of the French tax administration have, in the main, been dealt with. This issue is behind us,” he told Simonetta Sommaruga, who holds the rotating Swiss presidency this year.
“Similarly, you have ensured the abolition of a number of tax schemes and here I want to salute the conviction and determination of the Swiss authorities.”
Switzerland has been under considerable international pressure in recent years to abandon its cherished banking secrecy. It has been accused of helping tax fraud by several countries, including France, which has been targeting Swiss bank UBS.
‘European country’
Hollande also urged a re-strengthening of the series of bilateral accords between the European Union and Switzerland, “a European country in a Swiss manner”, he said.
Relations between Bern and Brussels have been tense since February 9, 2014, when 50.3% of Swiss voters approved a curb on immigration. Brussels says this violates the free movement of people, one of the EU’s central tenets.
Addressing the media, the French president said Switzerland would be supported by France in its search for a solution even if it wouldn’t be easy – a view shared by Sommaruga who added that Switzerland and the EU were just at the beginning of discussions.
Agenda
The visit is mainly ceremonial but talks will take place between ministers from both countries on economic ties, as well as cooperation on research and vocational training.
Other issues on the agenda are the impact of planned immigration rules for cross-border workers from France, notably to the Lake Geneva region and Basel.
On Thursday Hollande is scheduled to visit Zurich and the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.
It is only the fourth state visit by a French president in the history of the two neighbouring countries (Jacques Chirac in 1998, François Mitterrand in 1983 and Armand Fallières in 1910). As a rule, the number of state visits to Switzerland is limited to one or two per year.
France is home to Switzerland’s largest expat community – about 200,000 people, while there are about 170,000 French nationals living in Switzerland.
The western neighbour is also Switzerland’s fourth most important trading partner and there are about 160,000 French residents working in Switzerland.
Switzerland shares its western borders with France and French is a national language, beside German, Italian and Romansh.
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