Договорот меѓу Швајцарија и ЕУ комплициран со референдумот за „Брегзит“ во Велика Британија

Opinon by Denis MacShane

For many years the starkest contrast between Switzerland and Europe’s other oldest continuous democracy, Britain, was that the Brits did rule by parliament while the Swiss did rule by referendums.

Now there has been a cross-over as Switzerland waits anxiously on the outcome of the British election on 7 May to see if David Cameron remains as Prime Minister and delivers on his promise of an In-Out or Brexit referendum on the UK staying in the EU.

If there is no referendum in Britain because a non-Tory government, possibly a widely based coalition involving Labour, Liberal Democrats and the Scottish Nationalist Party takes power there will be a giant sight of relief in Bern much as Swiss financial operators are more comfortable with centre-right governments.

If however Mr Cameron and his Brexit referendum are the immediate political future in Britain, then Switzerland’s hopes of achieving a quiet, low-profile agreement with the EU on current major differences will be sharply reduced if not dashed.

In February 2014, under the pressure of the UKIP-style Swiss People’s Party (SVP in its German acronym),  a SVP initiated referendum voted to change the Swiss constitution to limit the free movement of people between Switzerland and the European Union.

Switzerland has always been the immigration champion of Europe since the war. 24 per cent of the Swiss population is immigrant – three times as big as as share of population as the UK. An endless supply of outside labour has been the main driving force for Swiss economic growth especially in low-pay sectors like tourism and agriculture. Qualified professionals like doctors, academics, and commodity traders (10% of the Swiss economy) have arrived to boost Swiss services and higher education.

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But for a populist xenophobic party like the SVP it has been a rallying cry that too many foreigners are allowed in especially after Switzerland concluded bi-lateral agreements with the EU to gain full access to the single market and in exchange accepted most EU rules and norms including free movement.

The referendum vote to limit EU immigrant – similar to many calls in Britain – was met with a firm response from Brussels. The Swiss were told bluntly they could not pick and chose the bits of Europe they liked and ignore other norms and rules which apply to other EU members.

Access to the EU’s €95 billion Horizon 2020 and Erasmus funds were instantly frozen and Bern had to scramble to find replacement cash from the federal budget to keep research and scholarships continuing.

Now the Commission had made clear that if Switzerland wants to return to its status as a full partner of the EU it has to accept rulings from the European Court of Justice “in order to create a level playing field for operators within the single market.”

Moreover “the Commission should be granted … investigatory and decision-making powers” in enforcing any agreement with Switzerland. In plain language, the EU is saying that Switzerland can no longer shelter behind an interpretation of sovereignty that rejects EU rules and enforcement by the ECJ.

The Swiss have reacted calmly and positively. In a barely noticed move Switzerland has abolished banking secrecy for EU citizens. Late in March Switzerland agreed to hand over each year to EU Member States the names, addresses, tax identification numbers and dates of birth of any EU citizen with an account in Switzerland, including details of  financial and account balance information. From 2018,  EU citizens will no longer dodge paying tax by hiding undeclared income in Swiss accounts.

It is a big win for the new Finance Commissioner, Pierre Moscovici, who said: “We are taking a decisive step towards total tax transparency between Switzerland and the EU. I am confident that our other neighbours will soon follow suit. This transparency is vital to ensure that each country can collect the tax revenues it is due.” Clever Swiss diplomats want to build on such new cooperation with the EU and gradually move to a new deal on a Swiss-EU package. This would quietly bury the immigration cap mandated by last year’s referendum by holding a new referendum covering the entire spectrum of Swiss relations with Europe, especially on access to the Single Market to be put to a vote in 2017 or 2018.

Swiss economic actors are looking at a public information campaign to lessen the high level of ignorance about Swiss history and democracy amongst politicians in EU member states.

But all this has to wait on the British election result. If the EU is to be subsumed by the issue of a populist Brexit referendum over the next two years, the chances of quietly finding a deal for Switzerland and getting it adopted in a low-profile vote in Switzerland are not high.

Denis MacShane is the former minister for Europe, a member of the OMFIF Advisory Council and author of Brexit: Како Британија ќе ја напушти Европа објавени од Б Tauris.

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