Swiss justice minister advocates for greater sovereignty through bilateral agreements

Switzerland has experienced the effects of such "power play" first-hand: the EU's measures against the Swiss stock exchange, the Swiss medical technology centre and Swiss research are a bitter memory. Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle

Justice Minister Beat Jans believes that Switzerland's sovereignty and ability to act will be strengthened by potential new bilateral agreements with the European Union (EU).

In a networked world, sovereignty can be enhanced by regulating relations with important partners, he wrote in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) commentary on Tuesday.

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Binding rules agreed upon and relied upon in extraordinary situations are crucial, stated the Federal Councillor in a guest commentary in the NZZ. With two partners of unequal size, such rules are almost existential for the smaller one. The larger partner can “also assert its interests with power,” said Jans. Switzerland has experienced the effects of such “power play” first-hand: the EU’s measures against the Swiss stock exchange, the Swiss medical technology centre and Swiss research are a bitter memory.

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Switzerland was unable to prevent these measures because the two sides had not yet agreed on a new package of agreements and a binding set of rules, Jans continued. “With an agreement, we are therefore strengthening our sovereignty and defining clear rules that protect us.” The proposed “Bilaterals III” would create legal certainty for Swiss scientists and SMEs wanting to do business with European partners.

Jans countered the assertion that the European Court of Justice (ECJ) would have the final say on disputes: This is “simply wrong,” according to the Federal Councillor. The ECJ interprets European law just as the Federal Court interprets Swiss law. Disputes would not be decided by one court or the other but by an arbitration tribunal with equal representation. In his commentary, Jans also rejected the claim that dynamic adoption of law undermines sovereignty.

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According to the Justice Minister, dynamic does not mean automatic. The dynamic adoption of law would only apply to new EU regulations affecting access to the EU internal market. It is Switzerland that seeks this access. It would also still be possible to reject such regulations, albeit at the cost of proportionate equalisation measures.

Adapted from German by DeepL/amva

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