The course has been set for the start of the negotiations

• At its meeting on December 15, the Federal Council announced the adoption of the draft negotiating mandate for the Bilaterals III.
• According to the Federal Council, the majority of outstanding issues were satisfactorily clarified during the exploratory talks. These now need to be concretised in the negotiations with the EU.
• economiesuisse supports the Federal Council in its efforts to secure and further develop the successful model of the bilateral path.

In economiesuisse’s view, the following main objectives are to be achieved with the negotiations of the Bilaterals III:

1. Switzerland’s participation in the EU internal market should be secured in the long term with the Bilaterals III.
2. The ongoing erosion of the bilateral path must be reversed with the start of the negotiations.
3. New internal market agreements in electricity and food safetyneed to be concluded.
4. The conclusion of a specific agreement for program participation will create a clear framework for Switzerland’s future participation of Switzerland in EU programs in the areas of research, education and culture.
5. The financial dialogue needs to be resumed.

These objectives are important for the economy and thus for prosperity in Switzerland. In this dossierpolitik, the Bilaterals III package approach and its individual elements are explained, analyzed and assessed from a macroeconomic perspective based on the above-mentioned objectives. Based on this, economiesuisse’s priorities for the upcoming negotiations are formulated. Finally, an overview of the next steps is presented.