Red lines at discretion – Switzerland: Standard



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Today is tomorrow, round is angular, red can be blue and in general: the opposite is also true.

What appearance of Ignazio Cassis ! With ease the Minister of Foreign Affairs That said, and sometimes even until the head of the last present reporter and the last reporter present is completely confused, it was very impressive in his own way.

The press conference focused on the current state of negotiations on the framework agreement, and Ignazio Cassis says the following things (several times):

  • "The Federal Council confirmed the red lines. "
  • " Accompanying measures remain and are not to be taken. "
  • to be interpreted. "
  • " We need the framework agreement. "
  • " If we do not have the framework agreement, then we simply do not have it. "

That's the situation, or not, for each of his arguments, Cassis found the appropriate counter-argument, he said everything and always the opposite.In short, we defined the red lines – and now we are negotiating them again.

The appearance in Bern was the preliminary conclusion of a domestic upheaval, as Cassis in his eight-month tenure as foreign minister often incited – but rarely in a such Volume

During two sessions, the government has negotiated the burning issue.Belgian policy has been virtually paralyzed in recent weeks.Such was the situation at the Federal Council, that magistrates literally with Mitberichten and submissions. demonstrated by the fact that the Federal Council has made a trip back in time to the pre-digital era for fear of indiscretions.Instead of mailing, the documents The most explosive meetings were distributed only in paper form. An effective measure: The day before yesterday, a correspondent from the "Aargauer Zeitung" surprisedly realized that, for once, no one in the Federal Parliament knew what the Federal Council would decide in session [19659014] 19659002] The fact that it would lead to such a finale before the summer holidays, is evident for months. At the end of June, when the Ministry of Foreign Affairs gave the impression at the end of the winter, we could finally have clarity. Before July, Ignazio Cassis wanted to end the technical talks with Brussels and finalize the political milestones of the framework agreement. After years of scrambling in the clouds under his predecessor Didier Burkhalter, this announcement suddenly appeared as a limpid announcement. Cassis might have found the reset button Bern had been mocking in the meantime?

As the deadline approaches, the signs that this may not have been the case. That negotiations with Brussels weaken and that there is no simple solution. But Ignazio Cassis, but his counterpart Ueli Maurer has not planned a first escalation of foreign policy. He said exactly four weeks ago that Switzerland intends to react if the EU does not renew the recognition of the Swiss stock exchange at the end of 2017 for a limited period only at the end of the year. # 39; year. Maurer officials wanted to use only a small loophole in EU legislation. But the finance minister's performance in the media went down so much that it seemed that the relationship between Bern and Brussels was at zero, as they were facing an economic war. "The Federal Council responds," said the "Blick". Even "reprisals" were mentioned

A balloon exploded

Hardly this crisis was it resolved that Foreign Minister Cassis intensified the internal political situation with a journalist of Radio SRF. Not only did he say that Switzerland must be ready to jump over its own shadow and find creative ways in its accompanying measures against wage dumping. He even ridiculed the Federal Council's negotiating mandate with the EU, saying that the accompanying measures were an "almost religious" issue.

The outcry broke out, the Cassis test balloon exploded and exploded. Unions, employers, all parties: all insisted that the protection of wages and salaries in Switzerland be regulated by Switzerland – and not by the EU. In spite of the mainly negative reactions to Cassis' "creative ways", the Foreign Minister tried to extend his negotiating mandate during the last two meetings of the Federal Council: he wanted to talk about the adaptation of the measures. accompaniment in Switzerland and negotiate the framework agreement in Brussels. not through. He had to turn his defeat in the Bundesrat into a victory. the delay of the negotiations in an intermediate stage planned for a long time on the way of its agreement. "I've always said that foreign policy is domestic politics."

As vague as the former Minister of Foreign Affairs

However, the internal political debate with the cantons and the social partners on a possible scope of accompanying measures The Council Federal government did not confide Cassis, but the Minister of Economic Affairs Johann Schneider-Ammann. The fact that he can not negotiate for the moment with the EU has calmed Cassis. "Domestic support is more important than timing, quality comes before timing in this agreement," he said.

The secretary of state said this in a relaxed and mellow way; More than once, media professionals had to smile. Joy in the hall. No comparison with communication sings of his predecessor Burkhalter, who has led even intractable political nerds to the brink of despair. Refreshing how the new Minister of Foreign Affairs has expanded the state of negotiations, progress in the dispute settlement process and in the framework of the agreement. But basically, the new foreign minister remained as vague as the former foreign minister. The big questions: all open

"It's complicated"

What will happen if the cantons and the social partners are not ready to reinterpret the red lines? How will the EU react when the red lines of Cassis and the Federal Council remain red lines in reality and will no longer be "interpreted"? Nobody knows for sure.

"It's, oh, how can I say it, rather complicated," said Cassis at the end of the event. It was one of the few sentences – probably the only one – that the Minister of Foreign Affairs did not turn a few moments later into its opposite. (Tages-Anzeiger)

created: 04.07.2018, 22:00

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