Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 7 July 2016
159. Deputy Paul Murphy asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade his position on the European Union-Swiss bilateral negotiations; if he supports the Commission's suspension of research grants to Swiss universities and the suspension of the Erasmus student exchange programme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20212/16]
View answerIn a referendum held on 9 February 2014, Swiss citizens voted by a very narrow margin to accept a proposal to introduce quotas and restrictions on migrants, the vast majority of whom are EU nationals. The referendum outcome has potentially far-reaching implications for EU-Switzerland relations, not least because any new Swiss legislation introducing quotas on immigration by EU citizens would be incompatible with the existing EU-Switzerland Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons which has been in place since 2002.
Last month, the Swiss Parliament made ratification of Protocol III (extending the EU-Swiss Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons to Croatia) contingent on securing a satisfactory outcome to the discussions with the EU in relation to Switzerland’s 2014 initiative on “mass immigration”.
The opening of the Swiss labour market to Croatia was part of a deal permitting Switzerland to take part in the European research and development programme Horizon 2020 and the Erasmus exchange programme. The EU has always made clear that there is a close link between Swiss participation in Erasmus and the Protocol, as the programme is closely linked to the free movement of persons (exchange of researchers and students). Given the circumstances arising from the February 2014 vote, the EU and the Swiss authorities agreed to suspend on-going negotiations on Swiss participation in Erasmus. Until the current difficulties are resolved, Switzerland will not participate in Erasmus on an equal footing with Member States as initially envisaged, but will rather enjoy the same status as other third countries (as a "Partner Country").
For its part the EU refuses to entertain any negotiation on the principle of the Free Movement of Persons, a position Ireland fully supports.
