BERN – After years of talks, Switzerland scrapped efforts aimed at agreeing an over-arching treaty with the European Union (EU).
Switzerland is not in the EU but has signed up to many of its policies, such as freedom of movement.
The relationship is governed by more than 120 bilateral deals, and a failure to replace them with one framework deal could harm ties.
The EU-Switzerland free trade agreement dates back to 1972.
The EU Commission said that without an EU-Swiss framework agreement, modernizing that relationship would not be possible.
Existing deals were “not up to speed” and the impact of Switzerland’s decision would have to be analyzed, it warned.(BBC)
