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Final game of the framework agreement: Our Federal Council should do it like Boris Johnson
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The framework agreement with the EU seems to be dead – or is it not? The bilateral path, which must be secured institutionally, is too important for the Federal Council not to try everything now. There is a role model.
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Go then! In the end, Great Britain and the EU agreed on a Brexit deal, in the picture: Boris Johnson and Ursula von der Leyen.
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Can Switzerland get the EU to make last-minute concessions on the framework agreement? Impossible! Most of the actors in Bern and Brussels say that.
Can the UK get a last-minute concession from the EU for a Brexit deal? Impossible! Most of the actors in London and Brussels said that.
Until Prime Minister Boris Johnson managed to do just that just before Christmas 2020. He got in the ring in person and pulled out a deal that he sold as a success domestically.
Is it possible for Switzerland to achieve something similar? Difficult!
The starting position is different and Switzerland in Brussels is a smaller number than Great Britain. Nevertheless: there is nothing to lose. Because almost everyone is assuming that the framework agreement will fail, the Federal Council can actually only win.
The entire Federal Council has a duty
The government now has to throw all its weight into the scales after chief negotiator Livia Leu in Brussels was apparently hardly able to get anything out of it. According to the Boris principle, she has to get involved personally – and be ready at any time to run away from the negotiating table.
It is incomprehensible that the entire Federal Council slowed Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis when he wanted to lead the way in Brussels personally. The whole government is now all the more responsible, especially Federal President Guy Parmelin.
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