{"id":2048,"date":"2025-02-14T14:10:58","date_gmt":"2025-02-14T13:10:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/lcel-en\/?post_type=events&p=2048"},"modified":"2025-04-24T16:28:52","modified_gmt":"2025-04-24T14:28:52","slug":"will-switzerland-become-a-semi-colony-of-the-eu","status":"publish","type":"events","link":"https:\/\/www.uni.lu\/lcel-en\/events\/will-switzerland-become-a-semi-colony-of-the-eu\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Switzerland become a semi-colony of the EU?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\n

On 20 December 2024, the Federal Council, Switzerland\u2019s directorial government, approved a treaty package with the EU without having seen the text. However, the key content is notorious: Switzerland will accept the institutionalisation of five existing sectoral treaties and conclude two new institutionalised treaties with the EU. This means that Switzerland will dynamically adopt the relevant EU law. The authority to monitor Switzerland will de facto lie with the European Commission, which could unilaterally initiate dispute settlement proceedings in the event of a conflict. Although an arbitration tribunal with equal representation would formally be authorised to decide, it would have to request a binding interpretative ruling from the CJEU if EU law or treaty law with the same content as EU law were involved. This is the mechanism of the EU\u2019s association agreements with the post-Soviet republics of Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, the Federal Council claims that the arbitration tribunal could (\u2018pourra<\/em>\u2019) ask the ECJ for an opinion (\u2018avis<\/em>\u2019). This would mean that there would be no legal obligation to invoke the CJEU and comply with its ruling. However, it is questionable whether this would be compatible with the case law on the autonomy of EU law. In terms of substance, the Swiss debate centres on wage protection when working across the border, immigration from the EU (in particular the design of a \u2018safeguard clause\u2019) and who should be responsible for monitoring state aid granted by Swiss authorities. The Federal Council claims to have negotiated exceptions from the institutionalisation of the agreements in question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The registration is closed.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n