Swiss government files criminal complaint over EU negotiation leaks

Switzerland called a halt to seven years of negotiations with the EU this week. Keystone / Francois Walschaerts / Pool

The Swiss authorities have launched a criminal probe into the leak of confidential documents concerning the now failed negotiations with the European Union over future political relations.

“I can confirm that the Federal Council [government] has filed a criminal complaint for indiscretions in connection with the dossier of the framework agreement with the EU,” government spokesman André Simonazzi told the Swiss news agency Keystone-SDA on Saturday.

Several media, including Swiss public broadcaster SRF, had reported on details of the talks in the weeks leading up to their abandonment on Wednesday. These reports sometimes cited official secret documents.

The government has lodged a complaint with the state prosecutor, but no further details have been given, such as who is alleged to have breached official secrecy laws.

Negotiations were officially called off earlier this week citing “substantial differences” on several areas of dispute.

This ended seven years of efforts between Switzerland and the EU to craft an overarching treaty to replace the more than 120 bilateral deals which have regulated relations for the past decades.

While this decision has been welcomed by some in Switzerland, it has left companies, educational establishments and researchers wondering how this will affect their future plans within the EU.

Speaking to Swiss public broadcaster SRF on Saturday, foreign minister Ignazio Cassis said ending talks was the most responsible thing for the government to do considering that the seven-person Federal Council could not itself come to agreement.

Had the proposed treaty been passed it would have gone to a referendum before it could be ratified, and there were indications that it would have been rejected by voters. This would have caused more problems for Swiss-EU relations than the government simply deciding to cancel the negotiations, Cassis said.