21.12.2021

Director of Land Transport at the European Commission Kristian Schmidt and Director of the Federal Office of Transport (FOT) Peter Füglistaler have signed a decision on Switzerland's continued cooperation with the European Railway Agency (ERA).

24.11.2021

Switzerland cooperates with the European Defence Agency in selected areas. The Federal Council has approved an agreement governing the mutual protection of classified information.

24.11.2021

On 24 November 2021, the Federal Council approved the memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the EU regarding the second Swiss contribution to selected EU member states. Negotiations with partner countries on the relevant implementation agreements can now go ahead.

17.11.2021

The Federal Council has amended the Drivers Ordinance. With a view to the integration of the new EU law into the Land Transport Agreement, it is thus creating equivalent regulations with the EU on the working, driving and rest times of professional drivers. Most of the amendments will enter into force on 1 January 2022.

15.11.2021

On 15 November 2021, Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis travelled to Brussels to meet with Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission. Mr Šefčovič is Switzerland's new point of contact at the European Commission. The talks focused on relations between Switzerland and the European Union.

01.11.2021

The new social security agreement with the UK will be applicable provisionally from 1 November 2021. It coordinates the social security systems of the two contracting states as the CH-EU Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons is no longer applicable as a result of Brexit.

20.10.2021

Switzerland is currently a non-associated third country in terms of the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation 'Horizon Europe' and related programmes and initiatives. The Federal Council instructed the EAER to provide direct funding to the players concerned and approved the necessary credit reallocations.

11.08.2021

The Federal Council approved a new social security agreement between Switzerland and the UK. This is intended to ensure the coordination of the social security systems of both states in the longer term following the UK's withdrawalfrom the EU.

11.08.2021

The Federal Council adopted the dispatch on the new frontier workers agreement between Switzerland and Italy. The agreement significantly improves the current regulation on the taxation of frontier workers and contributes to maintaining the good bilateral relations between the two countries.

19.07.2021

The Swiss-EU Joint Air Transport Committee has decided on the adoption of various EU regulations by Switzerland. In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, the requirements for air carriers on the entitlement to slots will be eased. Various provisions on flight and aviation security will also be adopted. The new regulations will enter into force on 1 August 2021.

01.07.2021

Switzerland and the EU recognise the equivalence of passenger rights in public transport. The Swiss/EU Joint Committee on Land Transport has included the corresponding regulations in the Annex to the Agreement on Land Transport.

30.06.2021

The Federal Council adopted a dispatch on the agreement between Switzerland and the UK on the mobility of service providers (Services Mobility Agreement, SMA). The agreement ensures reciprocal facilitated access for service providers between Switzerland and the UK following the expiry of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (AFMP).

26.05.2021

The Federal Council undertook an overall evaluation of the outcome of the negotiations on the institutional framework agreement (InstA). It concluded that there remain substantial differences between Switzerland and the EU on key aspects of the agreement. The conditions are thus not met for the signing of the agreement. The Federal Council today took the decision not to sign the agreement, and communicated this decision to the EU. This brings the negotiations on the draft of the InstA to a close. The Federal Council nevertheless considers it to be in the shared interest of Switzerland and the EU to safeguard their well-established cooperation and to systematically maintain the agreements already in force. It therefore wishes to launch a political dialogue with the EU on continued cooperation.

04.01.2021

Due to its withdrawal from the EU, the UK has signed an agreement with Switzerland that re-regulates trade in organic products between the two countries. Until now, this was part of the agricultural agreement between Switzerland and the EU. The bilateral agreement came into force at the beginning of the year.