Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-05-24-Speech-4-074-000"
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"en.20120524.6.4-074-000"2
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". − Mr President, the EU-Switzerland agreement on the free movement of persons is of fundamental importance to the European Union and for the more than one million EU citizens who live and/or work in Switzerland. It is also a highly beneficial agreement for the Swiss economy and one of the factors which has helped Switzerland overcome the world economic crisis relatively swiftly. Therefore, the decision taken by the Swiss authorities to re-establish quantitative limits for nationals of eight Member States is highly regrettable in the context of very close and very good relations between the European Union and Switzerland.
As Baroness Ashton said in her statement of 18 April 2012, this decision is neither legal, nor justified by the Swiss socio-economic situation. Legally speaking, until 31 May 2014, the provisions of Article 10(4) of the agreement are applicable without distinction to nationals of all the Member States except Bulgaria and Romania, which are subject to another regime. According to the information at our disposal, it seems that the requirements for the application of quantitative restrictions under Article 10(4) of the agreement were not met, as the number of residence permits that Switzerland issued to EU citizens in the past year would not have exceeded the average of the previous three years by more than 10%. The agreement as supplemented by the protocol of 2006 permits no differentiation on grounds of nationality, either for the establishment of ceilings or for the introduction of quotas.
Regrettably, there are hardly any legal tools that the European Union can use to reverse this measure. The only mechanism provided for by the agreement for the settlement of disputes is a joint committee of representatives of the parties. In the past, unfortunately, this mechanism has proved to be ineffective. Nonetheless, the EU will bring this issue up for discussion at the joint committee meeting on 27 June this year.
Beyond the lack of an effective mechanism for the settlement of disputes, this agreement also has other shortcomings. The first is its static nature: the agreement is based on the legal situation in the EU in 1999, when it was signed, and does not take into consideration either EU legal acts or European Court of Justice case-law after that date. There is provision for adaptation in the light of changing EU law only with regard to the coordination of social security systems and the recognition of professional qualifications.
It is particularly regrettable in this context that the agreement does not take account of Directive 2004/38 on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States, and thus, that a different legal regime applies to free movement between the EU and Switzerland.
The second shortcoming is the lack of any mechanism for monitoring Switzerland’s compliance, by contrast to arrangements in the EU or, for example, the European Economic Area. In that context, I regret to inform the House that no concrete progress has been achieved on most of the issues identified by Parliament’s resolution of 7 September 2010, in spite of almost two years of discussions with Switzerland within the joint committee, and in technical talks. The only matter on which I can report some success is the incorporation into the agreement on the free movement of persons of Directive 2005/36 on the recognition of professional qualifications, although the relevant measures have yet to enter into force.
Finally, as regards these institutional issues in particular, following the visit to Brussels in March 2012 by the Swiss President and the Federal Councillor for Foreign Affairs, the Swiss Government launched a consultation domestically. It then announced that it would make concrete proposals on institutional matters to the European Union. The Commission will analyse these proposals and deliver an opinion on them once they have been communicated officially by Switzerland."@en1
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