European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has welcomed the 14 June Swiss referendum result rejecting population caps, saying it clears “a significant source of uncertainty” in EU-Swiss relations. In comments reported by SWI swissinfo.ch on 15 June, von der Leyen said Brussels now expects negotiations on the ‘Bilaterals III’ package—including updates to the free-movement accord, electricity trade and an institutional dispute-settlement mechanism—to accelerate. For businesses, the political goodwill reduces the risk of retaliatory measures such as restricted single-market access for Swiss medical-device makers or research bodies frozen out of Horizon Europe. It also reassures the 340 000 EU cross-border workers who commute to Switzerland daily that their status is unlikely to change abruptly. However, diplomats caution that thorny issues remain: Switzerland still resists automatic dynamic alignment with EU law, and the Commission insists on a level playing field for state aid. Mobility managers should therefore continue to monitor work-permit quotas, which the Federal Council renews each December, in case political tensions resurface.
Source: SWI swissinfo.ch
