Swissmem director urges solution with EU

Stefan Brupbacher believes “certain EU circles” are losing patience with Switzerland Keystone / Anthony Anex

Swissmem director Stefan Brupbacher is pushing for a solution with the European Union on behalf of the machinery industry and warns: “When push comes to shove, it has the longer leverage.”

The EU does achieve an export surplus of CHF20 billion ($22.8 billion) in Switzerland, Brupbacher said in an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung published on Tuesday. But: “We earn €12,200 (CHF11,700) per inhabitant with goods exports to the EU, the EU conversely only €270. It’s easier to do without €270 than €12,200.”

He senses how “certain EU circles” are losing patience with Switzerland, said Brupbacher, who is also chairman of the European tech association Orgalim. So far, he said, the EU has been trying to put pressure on stock exchange trading, research and product approvals.

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“But if the talks fail again now after all these years, there is a risk of escalation,” Brupbacher said. “Without privileged market access, secure electricity supplies and internationally networked cutting-edge research, we will not be able to maintain our prosperity in the long term. Pride comes before a fall.”

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The Swiss policy of neutrality with regard to Ukraine has not helped Switzerland so far either. Especially in Eastern Europe, this policy is met with incomprehension, said Brupbacher.

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“While other countries are redefining their role in the face of the war, Switzerland is hiding behind an unhistorical, radical definition of neutrality under pressure from the neutrality initiative.”

In the past, neutrality was a means to an end. “Today, however, every state must ask itself whether our arms and security companies are still reliable.” The Swiss regulation calls this reliability into question.

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