Switzerland and the other member states of the AELE concluded a free trade agreement with Mercosur on Wednesday, the Federal Department of the Economy (DEFR) announced on Wednesday. The debates promise to be tense in parliament.
The signing of the agreement must take place in the coming months, wrote the DEFR in a press release. Negotiations between this free trade area in Latin America and Aele, which includes Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, have been lasting for years.
The Minister of the Economy Guy Parmelin is currently in Buenos Aires in Argentina. The Vaudois indicated during the 19:30 of the RTS that this agreement “is very important for the diversification of our economy” and “gives alternatives”. A press conference is scheduled for Friday at Zurich airport on the return from the Swiss delegation.
However, such a partnership is not unanimous, especially in agricultural circles. The EU, which signed an agreement in December with Mercosur, faces the honey of France in particular, blocking a ratification of the text within the European block.
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Farmers take note
Contacted, the Swiss Union of Peasants says it takes note of the conclusion of the agreement between Bern and Mercosur. “We will carefully analyze the result in order to assess the opportunities and risks for Swiss agriculture,” said his spokesperson Sandra Helfenstein.
The challenge is to know which concessions have been made for sensitive agricultural products such as beef, milk or wine, she says. In which case support measures will be necessary to compensate for “competitiveness losses”.
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For its part, the DEFR recalls that the federal administration has led a dialogue followed on this subject with the Swiss agricultural sector.
The “ready” worms for the referendum
The Greens indicate for their part to fear that the protection of the tropical forest and the rights of local populations “will be definitively sacrificed on the altar of a frantic agricultural free trade”. They already say they are “ready” for the referendum.
Switzerland risks, with this agreement, “to unilaterally support the interests of the agricultural lobby and conservative forces and to promote deforestation in the Amazon”, warns Voices, formerly the society for threatened peoples. And it is the indigenous communities that will pay the consequences.
The uarmness of the Swissmem industry salutes it a “new stage for the external commercial policy of Switzerland”. It sees an opportunity to lighten the burden of customs duties weighing on the country.
The Economiesuisse ugly also salutes the agreement, an “important success for the Swiss external economy”. In a context of increasing protectionism, this agreement sends a strong signal in favor of the opening of the markets, she notes.
Once signed by all parties, the agreement will have to go through the Parliament and a possible popular vote in the event of a referendum. National Councilor Jean-Luc Addor (UDC/VS), member of the parliamentary friendship group with Latin America, said in February expect harsh debates.
ats/ebz
