Swiss authorities said they had "taken note" of a fresh negotiating mandate adopted by finance ministers from across the 27-nation EU.
"Back in 2009, Switzerland had already declared its willingness in principle to discuss extending the EU savings tax agreement so as to close loopholes," the Swiss finance department said in a statement.
"As soon as the request from the EU to conduct negotiations with Switzerland on extending the savings tax agreement has been submitted, the Federal Council will examine the request and then respond," it added.
The Federal Council is the seven-member cabinet of Switzerland, which remains staunchly outside the EU but is surrounded by the bloc's members and has tight economic ties with them.
Often criticized for allowing EU residents to stash what may be undeclared cash in its banks, Switzerland has over recent years made deals with the EU to tax the savings of such depositors and pay the funds anonymously back to member states.
The country's banks are a traditional refuge in tough times, and with the crisis afflicting Europe stoking the debate, Brussels has pushed the Swiss to go further by revealing information about clients automatically.
Switzerland, however, has insisted that any efforts in its part must be matched by those of other financial centres both within the EU and beyond.
"In its assessment of future frameworks, Switzerland will use developments in important international financial centres outside the EU in addition to developments in the EU," the finance department said.
"Switzerland will also collaborate with the OECD bodies which are involved in drawing up global standards for the exchange of information," it added, referring to the 34-nation Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The tax evasion issue has sparked bitter debate within the EU itself, though resistance has been chipped away.
Austria has been seeking guarantees before it drops resistance to the automatic sharing of bank records.
Luxembourg was long the other main obstacle to such transparency covering savers agreed by the rest of the EU fully five years ago, but it has said it will now ease its banking secrecy restrictions.
EUROPEAN UNION
Swiss wait for EU tax evasion initiative
Switzerland said Tuesday that it was ready to boost cooperation with the European Union in the latter's battle with international tax evasion, provided Brussels made a formal request for talks.
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EUROPEAN UNION
Why does Switzerland have to comply with European court rulings?
Europe's top rights court ruled that Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle climate change, condemning it to a hefty fee. But why does Switzerland have to abide by this decision?
In a landmark ruling handed down on April 9th, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg sided with a group of Swiss pensioners who ‘sued’ the country for not doing enough to mitigate the effects of global warming.
The ECHR ruled that Switzerland had violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the “right to respect for private and family life,” and ordered the government to pay the complainants a fine of €80,000 (78,555 francs).
READ ALSO: Who are Switzerland’s victorious climate ‘Elders’?
While environmental groups and a number of political parties welcomed the verdict, questions also arose about why Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU, must comply with the decision handed down by the Council of Europe’s court.
This fact was not lost on the populist, anti-EU Swiss People’s Party (SVP).
One of its MPs, Jean-Luc Addor, questioned not only the court’s judgment, but also the fact that foreign judges have ‘meddled’ in Swiss matters.
“What is the legitimacy of the ECHR to pronounce such a ‘condemnation’?,” he asked.” Is it now going to send the European army to Switzerland?”
So why is Switzerland obligated to conform to the ECHR’s judgment?
In 1974, the country, though neutral, signed the European Convention on Human Rights.
As the European court was established expressly to monitor the parties’ compliance with the provisions enshrined in the Convention, Switzerland must heed its judgements. (The ECHR hears only matters related to human rights. It does not handle any criminal cases).
To ensure that rulings are just and impartial, the ECHR’s judges come from the 46 countries that ratified the Convention.
Switzerland is represented by Andreas Zünd, who has served on the ECHR since January 2021.
How do Swiss cases end up in front of ECHR judges?
Switzerland has different court levels: district, cantonal, and federal.
Complainants first file their cases in the district court. If they are not happy with the verdict, they can appeal it within 30 days, at which point the case will go to the higher judicial level, that is, the cantonal court.
The next step up the judicial ladder is the Federal Supreme court, the highest judicial authority in Switzerland.
Headquartered in Lausanne, it is the final instance on all appeals against decisions of the cantonal courts.
But though this final judgment can’t be appealed in Switzerland, the case — if it relates to rights outlined in the Convention — can be taken to the ECHR.
READ ALSO: What you should know about Switzerland’s courts
What ‘Swiss cases’ have been judged by the European court?
The climate activists’ case is the latest of dozens of rulings involving complaints from Switzerland.
Some of the other successful ones involved a widower whose pension benefits were denied by a Swiss court; a Romanian woman fined for beginning in Geneva; and a Sudanese man who won his appeal against deportation from Switzerland.
You can see all the ECHR rulings for Switzerland (in German or French) for the last 45 years here.
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