On 22 March the members of the EFTA Parliamentary Committee will gather in Brussels for an ordinary meeting. At the meeting the members of the committee will have the opportunity to speak with representatives from the European Parliament, the European Commission and the EFTA Secretariat against the backdrop of the imminent start of the process surrounding the United Kingdom’s departure from the European Union.

​At an ordinary meeting of the EFTA Parliamentary Committee on Wednesday, 22 March, the members of the Swiss EFTA/EU Delegation will discuss the current global trade climate, the European Union’s trade and investment strategy (Trade for all) and various questions in connection with the imminent start of the process surrounding the UK’s departure from the European Union.

To that end, the members of the EFTA Parliamentary Committee will be speaking with, amongst others, EU trade commissioner Cecilia Malmström, the MEPs Catherine Stihler (S&D/UK) and Ian Duncan (EKR/UK), and EFTA Secretary General Kristinn F. Árnason, Deputy Secretary General Dag Wernø Holter and Assistant Secretary General Georges Baur.

Given that relations between Switzerland and the UK are largely regulated through the bilateral agreements with the EU, the members of the EFTA/EU Delegation attach great importance to the process surrounding the UK’s departure from the European Union and the matter of shaping the future bilateral relationship with the fifth largest export market for Swiss goods (2015: CHF 11.7bn).

The EFTA/EU Delegation of the Swiss Parliament will be represented at the ordinary meeting of the EFTA Parliamentary Committee by National Council members Thomas Aeschi (SVP/ZG) [president], Hans Egloff (SVP/ZH), Eric Nussbaumer (SP/BL), Hans-Peter Portmann (FDP/ZH) and Kathy Riklin (CVP/ZH), and by Council of States member Didier Berberat (SP/NE).