ABSTRACT

The chapter provides a comprehensive account of the negotiations and ratification of the Second Bilateral Agreements between Switzerland and the European Union. We begin by presenting the major phases of the negotiations with a focus on its most important dossiers, namely taxation of savings and the fight against fraud on the one hand, and Schengen/Dublin on the other. We then address the ratification process in Switzerland and in the EU, and most notably the main themes and strategies of the actors involved in the referendum against the adhesion to the Schengen Area. Finally, we provide an assessment of these second bilateral agreements and suggest some possible paths Switzerland might take as regards its relations with the European Union.