Following the vote of the swiss Parliament on the federal act on foreigners of 16 december 2016 and following the meeting of european Union-Switzerland joint committee of 22 december, european commission welcomes the progress of bilateral relations between european Union and Switzerland in several areas. The european President expressed the hope that 2017 could be a pivotal year for deepening bilateral relations.
The balance founded on the federal law on foreigners of 16 december 2016 should help preserve the integrity of the contractual commitments binding on the European union and Switzerland. Nevertheless, it will be essential that the implementing order provide both clarifications and guarantees on key elements. The questions of access to information on vacancies and respect for the rights of frontier workers are importance.
The european President, who for more than eighteen months in 2015 and 2016 personally invested in finding a solution with the Swiss partners stressed that:
“The Swiss authorities and the European institutions have worked hard to achieve a concerted solution that guarantees the full integrity of one of our founding principles: free movement of persons. 2017 could be a milestone in deepening relations between european Union and Switzerland in order to further promote the vitality of our area of freedom and freedoms benefit of all our citizens “
In this context, european Commission expresses the wish that the transposition and clarification work could be carried out in a spirit of close cooperation, in particular within the framework of the joint committee of the agreement on the free movement of persons.
