He dared to speak plain language. A little later he was banished to political insignificance.
In 2013, Ambassador Yves Rossier, then responsible for negotiations with the EU, addressed the problem directly: “Yes, there are foreign judges, but it is also about foreign law.”
Even then, the role of the European Court of Justice and the question of how disputes can be resolved in the interpretation of the bilateral treaties were the central issue.
In the talks between Brussels and Bern, two diametrically opposed views collided. According to EU law, only the European Court of Justice can rule on European law in the last instance. In the meantime, Switzerland has called for precisely that ECJ to be excluded from the framework agreement.
Given the confused situation, Rossier set about looking for a creative solution with his EU counterpart. However, this would have included Switzerland accepting the ECJ. For the chief negotiator, this concession was “in principle logical”. Rossier: “It’s about EU law that Switzerland voluntarily wants to apply to itself.”
Eight years and one break in negotiations later, this simple message still does not seem to have reached Swiss politics. So this week, FDP President Thierry Burkart – instead of the ECJ – brought another arbitration court into play. Notwithstanding the fact that the ECJ does not allow a second court to interpret EU law.
Mitte President Gerhard Pfister is also known not to be a fan of the European Court of Justice. He once called it “toxic”. In “Echo der Zeit”, however, he campaigned for “sectoral problem solving” this week. This, too, is completely at odds with the EU’s insistence on a single dispute settlement mechanism.
In short: Both the FDP and the center are making demands that they know will not withstand a reality test. Instead of admitting to themselves and the population that Switzerland cannot have the fiver and the way – continuous access to the EU internal market excluding the ECJ – they keep building castles in the air.
In the meantime, nothing has been heard from the SP. No wonder: your declared goal of joining the EU is in direct contrast to the trade union rejection of the European Court of Justice.
The parties cannot be expected to come up with ready-to-use solutions after the negotiations are broken off by the Federal Council. Nor is it about adopting all of the EU’s demands.
But if the party presidents continue to negate the actual balance of power between Switzerland and the EU and propagate sham solutions that Brussels has always rejected – then we will come no closer to a solution.