EU report highlights Swiss tops and flops

Every two years, the EU issues a report on relations with every state in the European Free Trade Association. Keystone

Switzerland does a good job in terms of helping refugees, finds the European Union, but there are other areas for improvement.

On Tuesday, the EU wrapped up a reportExternal link on its relationship with Switzerland, which is not an EU member. 

The EU states say they will be monitoring Switzerland’s implementation of the initiative to curb immigration, and they are calling on Switzerland to rethink its terms for extending freedom of movement to Croatians – the newest members of the EU.

The report acknowledges Switzerland’s desire to stay on a bilateral path, but calls for a new framework to regulate Swiss access to the internal EU market. The EU has also taken note of the recent voter rejection of corporate tax reform and encouraged Switzerland to find other solutions.

The new Gotthard Base Tunnel, the world’s longest rail tunnel, got good marks in the EU report, as did Switzerland’s participation in EU foreign missions to Mali and Ukraine. The report also praises Switzerland’s collaboration on EU immigration and resettlement programmes for refugees.