Cassis is rebuilding the EDA - World Today News

The Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA) should be very busy with its own interior in the next few weeks. Ignazio Cassis (59) plans to reorganize his department.

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The idea of the FDP Federal Council to reintegrate the Directorate for European Affairs into the Political Directorate is particularly explosive. The “NZZ” reported on these plans yesterday, the reporting coincides with research by SonntagsBlick.

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A state secretariat of its own, which is solely concerned with relations with Brussels and as it is currently managed by State Secretary Roberto Balzaretti, would be history. However, this also raises the question of what role the dazzling Balzaretti should play in the future. Because instead of two state secretaries as before, only one would soon be needed.

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Framework agreement with the EU

In his role as State Secretary for European Affairs, Balzaretti is responsible for negotiating a framework agreement with the EU – in 2018, the Federal Council withdrew perhaps the most important and at the same time most difficult EDA dossier from Pascale Baeriswyl, then head of the political department.

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Baeriswyl remained at the head of this directorate and, as State Secretary, was still responsible for Switzerland’s relations with other nations around the world – with the not entirely insignificant exception of Europe.

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In Swiss foreign policy, a state secretary and a state secretary are currently operating in parallel – an unusual distribution of competences, which, however, also had the advantage that the Swiss chief negotiator Balzaretti was able to present a prestigious title to Brussels.

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From 2021 in Moscow

Recently, however, Baeriswyl has been heading the Swiss representation at the UN in New York. And her successor, Krystyna Marty, is only temporarily in the position of chief of the political department: from 2021 she will represent Switzerland as ambassador in Moscow.

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In view of this foreseeable vacancy, Foreign Minister Cassis went to the Federal Council meeting on Wednesday with his conversion plans. But his colleagues reportedly reacted with little enthusiasm: Before the vote on the SVP’s limitation initiative, the majority of the Federal Council wants to avoid a public discussion about the framework agreement as far as possible. But that could ignite, of all things, the plans of the Ticino, so an insider told Sunday view.

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Different interpretation of Cassis’ plan

Another interpretation from the environment of the state government is less conflict-prone, but no less spectacular: Cassis’ plan was simply half-baked, so he immediately withdrew it.

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The whole exercise – according to the source – gave the impression that Cassis only wanted to build a bridge for Balzaretti. Because if the controversial top official could be transferred to the only remaining State Secretariat in the FDFA, it would then be possible to send another head of delegation to the difficult negotiations with Brussels.

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