A13new3: Patching the holes in the EU fabric: a federal Switzerland in a federal Europe

11 November 2023 (lapsing). Renewed for Federal Committee April 2026 Submitted
by Political Commission 3: External Affairs & Global Governance

JEF Europe,

● Applauding the federalist, multicultural and multilingual democratic system of
Switzerland;

● Welcoming the successful conclusion of negotiations on the Bilaterals III
package, signed on 2 March 2026 in Brussels by President Guy Parmelin and the
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen;

● Recognising the present absence of popular support to join the EU but noting a
clear desire to increase collaboration and recognising increased political
willingness on both sides to stabilise and deepen relations, as demonstrated by
the Bilaterals III package, which includes participation in key EU programmes;

● Deploring the lack of democratic debates before the Swiss government broke off
negotiations in May 2021, which created mistrust between the EU and its Swiss
partner;

● Welcoming the signature of the EU Programmes Agreement (EUPA) on 10 November
2025, granting Switzerland association to Horizon Europe, Euratom, and Digital
Europe retroactively from 1 January 2025, with participation in ITER from 2026,
EU4Health (subject to the health agreement), and Erasmus+ from 2027;

● Regretting the slow unravelling of bilateral agreements due to the lack of
progress in their update which led, among other things, to the loss of the stock
exchange equivalency, and non-renewal of the Mutual Recognition Agreement (MRA)
provisions on medical devices (aka MedTech), impacting Swiss companies and
customers with rising prices and/or less choice of products and services, and
acknowledging that the Bilaterals III package addresses these issues through
updated agreements on air transport, land transport, free movement of persons,
conformity assessment, and agricultural products, complemented by new agreements
on food safety, health, and electricity;

● Acknowledging the Swiss semi-direct democracy system which has worked well for
Switzerland, and noting that, when Switzerland becomes an EU member, Swiss
referenda would become an integral part of the EU decision-making process in all
domains where Swiss parliamentary authorities are engaged, exclusively or
jointly as part of EU decision-making, but not when competencies are exclusive
to the EU, in line with the Swiss federalist logic between municipalities,
cantons, and the Confederation;

● Acknowledging the recommendations issued by the Council of Europe’s Group of
States against Corruption (GRECO) to Switzerland regarding political funding for
elections, referenda and initiatives;

● Deploring the structural democratic deficit inherent in the bilateral model,
whereby Swiss lawmakers incorporate EU law into Swiss law without having formal
representation in EU decision-making institutions, a gap that can only be fully
addressed through Swiss EU membership or through new institutional arrangements
that have not yet been developed on either side;

● Highlighting the importance of the continuation of cross-border cooperation
between Switzerland and its neighbours at the local and regional level,
including but not limited to key areas such as public transport, scientific
research, education, healthcare, environmental conservation, and economic
development;

● Recognising the prevalence of cross-border workers in the Swiss labour force,
constituting a significant proportion, who engage in commuting activities from
neighbouring countries, thereby rendering them notably susceptible to challenges
associated with cross-border work-related impediments;

● Mindful of fears over maintaining high wage levels in Switzerland in the face
of EU integration, but aware that the cases of Denmark, Luxembourg and others
have shown that maintaining high wages is compatible with EU membership;

● Concerned that EU law may be applied differently in Switzerland and that there
may be a lack of an efficient dispute resolution mechanism between Switzerland
and the EU; an issue addressed in the Bilaterals III package through provisions
for dynamic alignment of legislation and a dispute-settlement mechanism;

● Noting that the safeguard clause on free movement of persons has been
modified: Switzerland can maintain the clause but can no longer activate it
unilaterally without prior discussion with the EU;

● Welcoming Switzerland's participation in most EU sanctions packages, and
noting that the Swiss parliament has approved amendments to the War Materiel Act
allowing automatic re-export of weapons to 25 countries that share Swiss values
and have comparable export control regimes, subject to a possible referendum and
with the government retaining the right to block individual exports on national
security grounds, while regretting that this change is not retroactive and
therefore does not affect Swiss made weaponry bought by EU states prior to its
entry into force, and noting with concern that Ukraine is not included among the
benefiting countries;

● Respecting Swiss military neutrality, but also reminding Switzerland that it
benefits disproportionately from the EU's security and defence mechanisms
without contributing, and that there will be growing expectations from the EU
and its Member

States for Switzerland to contribute to Europe's future security and defence
architecture and to level the playing field in security and defence spending;

● Calling on the EU to remain responsive to Switzerland's security concerns and
to engage in genuine partnership, recognising that a stable and mutually
beneficial relationship requires efforts from both sides;

● Welcoming Switzerland's commitment under Bilaterals III to a permanent
financial contribution to EU cohesion: CHF 130 million annually for 2025-2029,
increasing to CHF 350 million annually for 2030-2036;

● Noting the establishment of a high-level dialogue between Switzerland and the
EU through a joint declaration, providing for annual meetings to review progress
and discuss future cooperation;

● Welcoming the new agreements on electricity, food safety, health, and
Switzerland's participation in the EU Agency for the Space Programme (Galileo
and EGNOS), which deepen sectoral integration beyond the internal market;

● Welcoming progress toward an EU–Switzerland electricity agreement, recognising
Switzerland’s strategic importance in European energy security and the shared
goal of a carbon-neutral continent;

JEF Europe therefore,

1. Urges Switzerland to join the EU in order to fill the current democratic gap
and enjoy the benefits of EU membership;

2. Encourages Switzerland to pursue the process of European integration and to
ensure the successful ratification of the Bilaterals III package through its
parliamentary and popular consultation processes;

3. Suggests that Switzerland join Liechtenstein, Iceland and Norway in the EEA
in the short term as a possible first step toward EU membership, while
acknowledging that the Bilaterals III package already provides access to key EEA
programmes including Horizon Europe, Erasmus+, Digital Europe, and Euratom, and
recognizing that this step could be skipped by directly applying for EU
membership, which remains the desired end goal;

4. Calls on Switzerland and the EU to conclude as soon as possible a
comprehensive package settling essential institutional issues such as dynamic
incorporation of evolving EU legislation and an efficient dispute-settlement
mechanism; welcoming that the Bilaterals III package, signed on 2 March 2026,
achieves these objectives;

5. Calls on the EU and Switzerland to conclude an energy agreement as part of a
comprehensive package; welcoming that such an agreement on electricity is
included in Bilaterals III;

6. Invites Switzerland to modernize its interpretation of neutrality and align
fully with the foreign policy of the EU in particular as regards to sanctions
and sanction enforcement against Russia in response to the full-scale invasion
of Ukraine, welcomes the Swiss

parliament's approval of amendments to the War Materiel Act easing weapons re
export restrictions to 25 countries sharing Swiss values, while regretting that
Ukraine is not included and that the changes are not retroactive;

7. Recommends that special attention be given to potential issues arising from
Switzerland's high wage and price levels by replacing current "accompanying
measures" by EU and / or Swiss legislative measures designed to protect local
wages;

8. Commits itself to support a referendum or a citizen initiative in Switzerland
aiming at closer integration of Switzerland with the EU;

9. Urges Switzerland to become a participating country of the Erasmus+
programme, welcoming that participation is confirmed from 2027 under Bilaterals
III;

10. Strongly calls for full and permanent re-association of Switzerland to EU
research programmes and Erasmus+ beyond the current Bilaterals III timeline,
ensuring long-term stability for Swiss and European students, researchers, and
innovators;

11. Commits itself to support JEF Switzerland in its objectives of improving the
relationship between Switzerland and the EU and to support Switzerland in
becoming a full member of a federal European Union.