Switzerland green lights talks with Brussels to update EU relations

The Swiss government on Friday approved a new negotiating mandate for talks with Brussels to modernize the country’s relationship with the European Union after a previous bid unraveled in 2021.
Switzerland has said unrestricted access to the EU marketplace is the cornerstone of the plan, which aims to update existing accords with the single market, and seal new sectoral agreements in areas including electricity and food safety.
“The negotiations on the package aim to stabilize and further develop bilateral relations between Switzerland and the European Union,” the government said in a statement.
Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told a press conference he hoped talks could begin this month, and that his government wanted an “equitable” outcome. The quality of an accord would not be sacrificed in the interests of speed, he said.
Both sides had previously spent years thrashing out a new bilateral deal, but critics argued it excessively infringed Swiss sovereignty, leading to the collapse of the plan in 2021.