Listening: ‘Europe’ initiative halts signature collection to focus on Swiss-EU treaty
The organisers of the “Europe” initiative, which started in April 2024, announced on Wednesday that they will stop collecting signatures. Instead, they plan to focus on getting the set of agreements “Bilaterals III” ratified.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Français
fr
Initiative “Europe”: récolte de signatures stoppée
Original
The initiative aimed to anchor Swiss relations with the European Union (EU) in the Federal Constitution. According to the initiators, the outcome of the Swiss government’s negotiations meets the initiative’s “essential objectives” and provides “a solid foundation for ensuring the long-term strengthening of bilateral relations between Switzerland and the EU,” they wrote in a press release.
They added that the main goal of the initiative is now “within reach” thanks to the “Bilaterals III” treaty package. This is why the initiators will do everything they can to see it through, even though “achieving this won’t be easy, despite “Bilaterals III” being clearly positive for Switzerland,” they added.
The “Europe” initiative, launched in April 2024 by 11 organisations including Operation Libero and the Green Party, has kept the number of signatures collected so far under wraps, according to the Keystone-SDA news agency.
What is your opinion? Join the debate:
External Content
Translated from French with DeepL/sp
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
As a Swiss Abroad, how do you feel about the emergence of more conservative family policies in some US states?
In recent years several US states have adopted more conservative policies on family issues, abortion and education. As a Swiss citizen living there, how do you view this development?
The image of foreigners in Switzerland has deteriorated
This content was published on
The Federal Statistical Office has found that Swiss people’s views of foreigners have worsened over the last couple of years.
After mild winter, nature wakes up earlier in Switzerland
This content was published on
Once again this year, nature has woken up earlier than normal, between a week and ten days ahead of schedule due to a mild winter.
Computer failure disrupts air traffic at Geneva airport
This content was published on
A computer breakdown has disrupted operations at Geneva Airport since midday on Tuesday. Significant delays are expected.
Swiss show high willingness to pay for sustainable flats
This content was published on
Tenants in Switzerland are in favour of sustainable flats. However, the willingness to pay differs by income according to a new study.
Swiss customs intercepted over 200 tonnes of smuggled meat in 2024
This content was published on
The Federal Office for Customs and Border Security intercepted around 208 tonnes of smuggled meat at border crossings in 2024.
Switzerland faces infrastructure gaps for CO2 capture
This content was published on
Switzerland must actively remove CO2 from the air in order to become climate-neutral by 2050. However, the infrastructure for this isn't sufficient.
Swiss parliament prohibits sale of Swiss space company Beyond Gravity
This content was published on
The Swiss parliament has said that the Swiss government should not sell the Swiss space company Beyond Gravity, which is part of RUAG.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.