Negotiations on a framework agreement between Switzerland and the European Union have become increasingly hot over the summer. They are currently being dominated by Swiss internal issues, especially disagreements between the government and trade unions. Taking a broad look at the negotiations, they ultimately revolve around these three points: ● how will the agreement work in practice? ● which sectors are affected and need to adapt? ● what else depends on the success of the agreement? The March announcement that an arbitration court would give binding rulings in case of disputes has helped to clarify many of the issues on the first point (see box). Disagreement on content While most problems in the legal and technical field have been resolved, there are still considerable differences over the content of the agreement. The dispute is especially significant on what Foreign Minister Cassis calls the "red lines". In particular, the accompanying measures for wage and worker ...
