BERN, June 16 – Swiss voters support a new agreement to deepen economic ties with the European Union by a two-to-one margin, an opinion poll showed on Tuesday, suggesting the biggest overhaul in bilateral ties in a generation could pass in a referendum.
Swiss leaders sealed the deal with Brussels soon after U.S. President Donald Trump’s re-election in 2024. Parliament has been discussing it since March, and if lawmakers approve it, it would be put to the public for a vote.
The agreement encompasses issues ranging from state aid, transport and free movement to how Switzerland updates EU laws linked to its market access to the bloc.
According to the voter survey of 2,050 people conducted between April and May by pollster GFS Bern, 62% of respondents said they would vote in favour of the package, with 31% against.
The poll was commissioned by industry association Interpharma, which represents Swiss pharmaceutical companies for whom the EU is a crucial market.
The country’s biggest political group, the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, opposes the deal. On Sunday, Swiss voted to reject the party’s proposal to cap the population at 10 million, a move that could have jeopardised key Swiss-EU agreements.
The most common arguments against adopting the agreement were concerns about EU bureaucracy, Swiss wages and immigration, Urs Bieri of GFS Bern said. Supporters most often cited the importance of access to the EU marketplace.
RELIANCE ON EU COOPERATION AND FREE MOVEMENT
Interpharma’s chief executive Rene Buholzer said the sector relies on cooperation with the EU and free movement of people.
“The EU is by far our most important market,” Buholzer told reporters in Bern. “46% of our exports go to the EU, and in that sense, how the relationship with the EU is regulated, and that it is regulated, is of great importance.”
Trump rattled Switzerland last year when he imposed the highest U.S. tariffs in Europe on Swiss goods, prompting the country’s political leaders to stress the importance of maintaining stable relations with the EU. REUTERS
