More than five years have passed since the Brexit referendum on 23 June 2016. The UK left the EU Single Market and Customs Union in early 2021 following withdrawal negotiations and a deal with the EU on future relations in the form of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. It its dialogue with the UK, the Committee is interested in learning how this new 'third-country relationship' with the EU is working in practice and what the economic impact of Brexit has been. Of primary concern will be how the UK export industry is dealing with the new non-tariff barriers and customs controls in the trade of goods with the EU, whether there have been changes to supply chains and trade flows, and the extent to which the labour shortages currently affecting the logistics sector, among others, are due to Brexit.
A second focal point of the working visit will be bilateral relations between Switzerland and the UK. Brexit marked not only a new beginning in the relationship between Brussels and London, but also affected numerous third countries, including Switzerland, whose relations with the UK were regulated via the EU until the UK’s departure. A few months after the Brexit referendum in 2016, the Federal Council set out the goal of securing existing rights and obligations, to the greatest extent possible, in its bilateral relations with the UK. This was to ensure planning security and continuity as part of its ‘Mind the Gap’ strategy. The follow-up regime that has since been negotiated with the UK comprises a total of nine bilateral agreements. Switzerland was one of the first third countries with which the UK concluded a rollover trade agreement.
The next phase will be to further consolidate and build on these relations. The UK is Switzerland's sixth most important trading partner, and in terms of service exports, even the third most important destination country. The EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement goes further than the trade agreement between Switzerland and the UK on a number of points (for example, with regard to services, digital trade and intellectual property). The parliamentary delegation will reaffirm Switzerland's interest in further expanding trade relations during their talks, and similarly to cooperation in the financial sector, where the intention is to facilitate mutual market access for financial services.
In talks with the chairs of the Foreign Affairs Committee and the International Trade Committee in the House of Commons, the delegation will discuss the new direction of British foreign policy. Following the completion of Brexit, the UK government is preparing to make its own foreign and security policy more international under the slogan 'Global Britain'. At the heart of its new foreign policy strategy is the government’s commitment to promoting democratic societies and open sea routes worldwide. The UK also intends to give more attention to the Indo-Pacific region in the future.
The working visit will take the Commission not only to London, but also to Edinburgh and Belfast. As the majority of Scottish and Northern Irish voters opposed leaving the EU in the 2016 referendum, the Swiss delegation is interested in learning how the Brexit process has affected the political situation in these parts of the country and the union between the four nations of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. At the centre of the talks in Edinburgh will be the local government's quest for a second independence referendum, while the Committee will seek information on the tensions surrounding the Northern Ireland Protocol when in Belfast.
The FAC-N delegation is headed by Committee President Tiana Angelina Moser (GLP, ZH) and also comprises National Council members Christine Bulliard-Marbach (The Centre, FR), Christa Markwalder (FDP, BE), Roger Köppel (SVP, ZH), Fabian Molina (SP, ZH), Yves Nidegger (SVP, GE), Eric Nussbaumer (SP, BL) and Nicolas Walder (The Greens, GE).