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Swiss-EU relations on discussion table in Rome

Switzerland’s relationship with the EU is on the agenda today as Swiss President Didier Burkhalter meets Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi on an official visit to Rome.

Published: 29 July 2014 11:48 CEST

Swiss-EU relations on discussion table in Rome

Burkhalter and Renzi are meeting in Rome. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

The pair will discuss “various bilateral matters” between the two countries including tax, finances and Swiss-EU relations, according to a federal government press statement.

“Swiss policy in relation to the European Union and their mutual interest in maintaining and consolidating bilateral approach” will be the main item up for discussion between Burkhalter and Renzi, after Italy assumed the EU Presidency on July 1st.

The meeting will also “permit an exchange of views with the EU Presidency on cooperation with the OSCE, especially in relation to the crisis in Ukraine.”

Burkhalter is the head of the Vienna-based Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) which is working to reduce tensions in Ukraine.

In addition Burkhalter, who is also Swiss foreign minister, will meet his Italian counterpart in the foreign office, Federica Mogherini, to discuss the situations in Ukraine, the Middle East and Libya.

“Switzerland and Italy have a tradition of good relations, characterised by close political, human and cultural ties and a shared language,” said the statement.

Switzerland is Italy's fourth most important export market, while Italy is Switzerland's third largest trading partner, behind Germany and the US.

Some 500,000 Italian citizens live in Switzerland, while just over 50,000 Swiss citizens live in Italy.

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Why a Swiss-EU deal could be bad news for train users in Switzerland

Bern and Brussels are negotiating various bilateral treaties during the current round of bilateral talks.

One of the topics under discussion is the inter-connected rail network — which sounds like an overall positive development for seamless cross-border travel.

However, Vincent Ducrot, head of national rail company SBB fears that such a deal would be detrimental to Swiss commuters, because it would mean international trains would have priority over Switzerland’s system.

What is it about?

Currently, priority is given to national traffic on Swiss territory.

But a new deal with the EU would mean that European law — and international train traffic — would take precedence.

The problem is that all the train paths in Switzerland are currently occupied, Ducrot said in an interview with Swiss media on Wednesday.

He cited the example of the Geneva-Paris route, on which several European companies would like to bid. But that would mean that SBB would lose out by having to remove an existing train to accommodate a new foreign one.

And there is more: the question of punctuality

The SBB has long had a problem with trains from Germany, as half of them arrive in Switzerland late, disrupting the carefully coordinated Swiss railway timetable.

“Another huge concern we have is that the level of punctuality of the international system is totally different from ours,” Ducrot said. “Delays therefore risk being imported into Switzerland.”

To ease the chaos, the SBB has to keep special trains on standby to replace delayed ICE trains on the Basel-Zurich route, and passengers travelling from Germany to Zurich often have to transfer onto Swiss trains in Basel.

“Today, if a German train arrives late in Basel, we stop it and send a [Swiss] reserve train instead,” Ducret said.

“But if we can no longer do this in the future, it would mean that the train in question is accumulating delays, but above all that it is putting the SBB system behind schedule.”

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