ZURICH: The Swiss government wants arbitration panels to help settle disputes with the European Union under a new treaty that would bind the neutral country more closely to its biggest trading partner, it said on Monday.

Bern also spelled out for the first time just what it wants under a treaty that would replace the patchwork of 120 bilateral accords that now govern ties.

Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told reporters that getting seven cabinet members from four parties to agree on a unified platform for talks marked a major step forward after their squabbling hamstrung years of talks and irked top EU officials.

“The government is ready with this proposal to take a realistic approach ... but it will be hard,” he said. At least it should be possible to know this year whether a deal was politically possible, he added.

Brussels has put pressure on non-EU member Switzerland to sign a treaty that would see it adopt EU laws governing the single market as the price of enhanced access. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) would give its opinion on disputes involving how to interpret single-market rules.

This is anathema to the anti-immigration Swiss People’s Party, the largest in parliament, which has two cabinet seats.

Many Swiss conservatives are also wary of giving “foreign judges” such power, so setting up arbitration panels could help move talks forward.

Cassis said Switzerland would decide for itself which EU laws to adopt. Brussels could impose countermeasures in cases where Switzerland did not take on EU laws, and the arbitration panels could rule on whether these measures were appropriate.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2018