Viola Amherd and Ursula von der Leyen met briefly in Davos on Monday, where they reiterated a desire to move ahead quickly on regulating Swiss-EU ties.
According to Amherd, the two politicians confirmed their intention to rapidly re-start negotiations on a package of agreements to regulate relations. However, they did not commit to a fixed timetable, the Swiss president told media after the 15-minute meeting.
Amherd said she wanted to make use of the “ideal time window” in 2024 – before the European elections and before a reshuffled European Commission takes office in the summer.
She also reminded Von der Leyen that consultations on the Swiss government’s negotiating mandate are ongoing until mid-February and that domestic policy issues needed to be resolved before a firm mandate could be finalised. She hinted that the issue of trade unions, who have publicly expressed concerns, had been briefly addressed.
Amherd and von der Leyen agreed to call each other in an “uncomplicated” manner, if necessary, to take stock of progress, said Amherd.
For her part, von der Leyen said the meeting was “very good and very friendly”, without commenting further on what was discussed.
Relations with the EU are one of the hottest topics on the Swiss government’s political agenda. According to Amherd they signify the most important dossier of her presidential year.
Observers regarded Monday’s meeting as a positive sign after months of talks at the technical level. The Swiss Federal Council adopted a negotiating mandate in mid-December. Five days later, the European Commission published its draft mandate. The stated goal on both the Swiss and the EU side is to be able to start negotiations within two to three months.
The Swiss delegation intends to use this week’s WEF as an opportunity to hold further talks on the EU. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis will meet Maros Sefcovic, Vice-President of the EU Commission who is responsible for the Swiss dossier. Economics Minister Guy Parmelin also intends to speak with Iliana Ivanova, the EU Commissioner for Innovation, Research and Education.
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles. You can find them here.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
External Content
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Almost finished… We need to confirm your email address. To complete the subscription process, please click the link in the email we just sent you.
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Switzerland wants to examine cooperation with the EU in the defence sector
This content was published on
The Federal Council wants to examine a security and defence partnership with the EU. Exploratory talks are to begin as soon as possible. Among other things, the partnership would be used for defence procurement.
Swiss trial shows organic farming is 85% as productive as conventional agriculture
This content was published on
This is shown by the results of a globally unique open-air trial that has been running for 47 years in Therwil in the canton of Basel-Landschaft.
Nestlé fined by Swiss canton for illegally filtered water
This content was published on
Nestlé has been fined CHF 500,000 in the canton of Vaud for the unauthorised use of activated carbon filters in the production of mineral water. The filters were used to produce Henniez water from 2008 to 2022.
Swiss government proposes restrictions on Ukrainian refugees
This content was published on
Only those whose life and limb are at risk in Ukraine and who flee to Switzerland are to be granted S status in future. The remaining Ukrainian refugees should apply for asylum. This is what the Federal Council is proposing.
This content was published on
The Fribourg parliament approved a sum of CHF6.4 million to renovate the ramparts, the walkway and the towers, as well as to replace the exterior lighting.
Swiss rental housing listings increase for the first time in three years
This content was published on
For the first time in three years, the number of advertisements for rental accommodation is on the rise, but this does not dampen demand, quite the contrary. In Ticino, the average duration of an advertisement published on the main portals is 30 days.
Switzerland doing relatively well when it comes to child vaccination rates
This content was published on
Progress in child immunisation has stalled. For decades, the number of children vaccinated against measles, polio and other diseases has risen. But since 2010, vaccination rates have stagnated in many countries, according to a study.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.