The deal gives Switzerland greater access to the single market
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After almost a decade of talks, which at one point collapsed, Switzerland has a new deal with the EU. The landlocked Alpine country — the bloc’s fourth-biggest trading partner — will enjoy greater access to the single market. It will be freed from checks on many products under an animal and plant health agreement. It will be able to join the EU’s single electricity market, and could participate in the Horizon research programme and the Erasmus student exchange scheme.
But Brussels has driven a hard bargain in return — hence Bern’s decision, later reversed, to walk away from the table in 2021. Switzerland will contribute €375 million a year to the EU budget and will be able to limit immigration from the bloc only if a tribunal agrees it has caused serious economic damage. Most significantly, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will adjudicate any disputes over the deal, which will replace a patchwork of more than 120 bilateral agreements between the two sides.
This pre-Christmas Swiss delivery should fascinate Sir Keir Starmer. The prime minister has said he wants to reset relations with the EU after Brexit and the juvenile name-calling of the Johnson and Truss era. Britain and the bloc are due to hold a summit next year, at which they will begin discussing updates to the 2020 deal signed by Boris Johnson. Starmer wants an easing of checks on food and agricultural exports, greater co-operation on defence, security and illegal migration, and recognition of professional qualifications. The fact that Bern thought it fit to pursue its deal — condemned as “undemocratic” by the Swiss People’s Party — says a lot about the attraction of the single market.
But Britain already has a trade deal (albeit an imperfect one), and the fact that it took so long for Switzerland and the EU to seal their agreement should serve as a warning. As with Switzerland, the EU has been concerned that the UK wants to cherry-pick enhanced access to its single market. It would demand a new deal on fishing and a reciprocal youth mobility scheme. Neither should be ruled out.
In addition, the EU would also be likely to want an overarching role for the ECJ. That would reopen a fundamental question over sovereignty that was at the heart of the 2016 Brexit vote. Closer co-operation is potentially beneficial, but the bruising Swiss experience suggests the road towards it will be far from smooth. In his understandable wish to be seen as a good neighbour, Starmer should proceed with extreme caution.