Swiss Senate faces showdown over EU treaty package and wage protection

Switzerland’s Council of States faces a close vote on the treaty package with the European Union after two parliamentary committees reached opposing conclusions, SRF reported on Friday.

The Foreign Affairs Committee backed the Federal Council’s position by a broad majority. Left-wing, Liberal and Centre senators supported the negotiated arrangement on wage protection and the domestic measures agreed by trade unions, cantons and employers.

“If you want to reactivate the bilateral path, you have to accept the negotiated result. Everything else leads to a shambles,” said Centre senator Benedikt Würth of St Gallen.

However, the Economic Affairs Committee took a different position earlier in the week. Several Liberal and Centre senators joined the Swiss People’s Party in rejecting a change to security deposits that companies from the EU must provide before carrying out contracts in Switzerland.

Under the treaty package, companies would only have to provide the deposits if they had previously been fined for wage dumping. People’s Party senator Hannes Germann of Schaffhausen said this would harm domestic businesses. “We see ourselves primarily as having a duty towards our entrepreneurs,” he said.

The Economic Affairs Committee also removed a Federal Council proposal that is important to the trade unions. The measure, negotiated by the social partners, would give employee representatives in companies with more than 50 workers greater protection against dismissal during labour disputes.

The two committees have now set conflicting positions ahead of the Council of States’ decision in September. Foreign affairs committees have traditionally been more supportive of the EU than other parliamentary committees, and Liberal and Centre senators must decide which position to follow.

Germann urged them to put the interests of the domestic economy first. Würth, meanwhile, called on senators to consider the broader picture. “You have to decide whether you want a solution or whether you want to negotiate for another 20 years, assuming the EU is willing to negotiate further at all,” he said.