Swiss press react to EU deal with mix of euphoria and scepticism

The press sometimes euphoric, sometimes blasé about the agreement with the EU Keystone-SDA

Swiss media reaction to the historic agreement between Switzerland and the European Union varies widely. Some are celebrating, while others worry about what is to come, pointing to irritating issues that have been swept under the carpet and a general lack of enthusiasm.

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“This December 20 is a day to celebrate,” whatever may be said about the agreement, asserts French-language paper Le Temps. “The battle will be fought later,” wrote the newspaper, which recalls Switzerland’s “deep” interlinkages in Europe and “fundamental” access to its market.

The paper also believes that the negotiated package has been “cleverly” divided up to increase the chances of it being ratified one day. La Liberté also emphasises the extent to which Switzerland needs Europe.

The paper gives as an example the principle of free movement, “tailor-made for Switzerland”, which provides the country with an “indispensable” workforce. Access to European education, research and innovation programs is also “vital” for Swiss universities.

Europhile flame out of breath

In the Tribune de Genève and 24 Heures, euphoria is replaced by skepticism. “Obviously, it is essential to maintain and stabilise our relations with Brussels (…). But the argument has been trotted out for so long that it loses its weight,” writes the two Lake Geneva papers.

People “who are committed and assertive” will be needed to convince the Swiss, but they are “conspicuous by their absence and silence”. We’re looking for the spark capable of rekindling the Europhile flame to save this package, wrote the paper. “Those who want to blow it up have been campaigning for years.”

Cassis points the finger

On the other side of the country, there are doubts about the concrete continuation of the process. The German-language paper Tages-Anzeiger writes: “The federal government has not yet presented solutions for the really burning issues”.

It remains a mystery when and how the safeguard clause on immigration will be incorporated, and what kind of majority will be required for the four ballot items. In the newspaper’s view, the opponents are dominating the public debate, while the government and its supporters are “on the defensive”.

Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis is singled out. The Ticino native, who is in charge of the dossier, “disappeared during the negotiations”, writes the Tages-Anzeiger, while the Neue Zürcher Zeitung claims that he “failed a little in his communication”. The foreign minister’s lack of enthusiasm on Friday “was so striking” that he had to explain himself to journalists, laments the Zurich daily.

Blick even wonders whether the majority of the government is not already convinced that a future agreement will fail. “In that case, honesty would be the order of the day. Otherwise, endless consultations after endless negotiations will become an alibi exercise,” writes the media. Schweiz am Wochenende, for its part, considers the federal government to have handled the negotiations perfectly.

Translated from French by DeepL/jdp

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