ABSTRACT
This chapter explores Switzerland’s relations with the EU from a political and legal point of view. An extensive range of agreements, notably the Bilateral Agreements from 1999 and 2004, has created a very dense relationship that covers many areas of the EU’s internal market. In terms of institutions, the bilateral agreements provide for a classical intergovernmental mechanism to ensure their proper functioning and effective application on the territories of the contracting parties. However, the institutional set-up is regarded as having attained its limits. Negotiations on an Institutional Framework Agreement were concluded at the end of 2018. Following an overview of the main challenges Switzerland and the EU are facing, this chapter outlines and analyses the proposed new institutional framework, notably as regards new developments in EU law. It considers: the procedures to be employed to adjust agreements to new legal developments in the EU acquis; how the homogeneous legal interpretation of the bilateral agreements will be ensured; how the consistent application of the bilateral agreements will be guaranteed; and how it is proposed that disputes between Switzerland and the EU will be settled.
