Swiss-UK deal to grant consultants privileged mutual access
British service providers will retain access to the Swiss market, and vice versa.
Keystone / Patrick Seeger
Switzerland and Britain have agreed on the free movement of service providers, such as management consultants and IT specialists, after the transition period between Britain and the EU ends on December 31.
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The ‘Services Mobility Agreement’ will allow such specialists to travel to each other’s countries for limited periods of time. The treaty is expected to be signed by ministers from both countries on December 14.
Britain officially left the European Union on January 31, 2020, beginning an 11-month transition period during which the two sides were to negotiate their future relationship.
This year, some 3,800 British service providers registered with the Swiss authorities. “The agreement thus allows the Swiss economy to continue to use short-term services from companies in the UK in a timely manner,” read a press release.
Britain has also loosened up its measures for Swiss service providers, allowing them to stay for a maximum period of 12 months in any two-year period. Britain has also pledged to review which qualifications are required to take Switzerland’s vocational educational schemes into account.
Swiss service providers will get preferential treatment, so they would not have to prove English language proficiency and would be exempt from an economic needs test for these sectors.
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