Top level EU-Switzerland meeting announced

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis is hoping for some progress with EU relations (file photo) Keystone / Marcel Bieri

Switzerland and the European Union have taken a first step towards the resumption of a political dialogue, with the announcement of a high-level meeting in Brussels on November 15.

Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis said on Twitter on Friday that he was looking forward to meeting European Commission Vice President Maroš Šefcovic, his counterpart at the EU, to talk about “the way forward in our mutually beneficial relationship”.

Looking forward to my first meeting with Vice-President of the @EU_CommissionExternal link @MarosSefcovicExternal link, my counterpart at the EU, on November 15 in #BrusselsExternal link! Our goal is to get to know each other and talk about the way forward in our mutually beneficial relationship.

— Ignazio Cassis (@ignaziocassis) October 29, 2021External link

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Relations between Switzerland and the EU deteriorated in May when the Swiss government unilaterally walked away from seven years of negotiations over an institutional framework agreement with Brussels to oversee future long-term ties.

The EU Commission has also confirmed the meeting. It will be an opportunity to find out about the state of relations between the EU and Switzerland and the way forward, a commission spokesperson was quoted on the news wires as saying. Until recently, the EU had said that Switzerland was not a priority.

This will be the first meeting between Cassis and Šefcovic. Until September, EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn had been in charge of the Swiss dossier and had met with Cassis several times.

Switzerland has previously said that it wants to continue relations with its biggest trading partner via bilateral accords and remain a “committed partner”.

One area of focus is a potential Swiss reassociation to the EU’s flagship research programme, Horizon Europe. After May’s events, the EU relegated Switzerland to non-associated country status. This cuts off Swiss researchers from funding by the European Commission, a move that higher education officials say is harmful to Swiss research.