In London, members of the EFTA/EU Delegation will gather information about potential Brexit developments, the UK government’s intentions and the domestic balance of power in the United Kingdom. These highly topical issues will be examined from a parliamentary perspective at official meetings with the MPs Antoinette Sandbach and Hilary Benn, who is chair of the EU Exiting Committee. In addition, talks will be held with Angus Brendan MacNeil, chair of the International Trade Committee, on future bilateral trade relations between Switzerland and the UK.
During the two-day working visit, the Delegation will also meet Alex Ellis, Director General of the Department for Exiting the European Union and Andrew Rosindell MP, the chairman of the British-Swiss All-Party Parliamentary Group, in order to discuss Switzerland’s future relationship with the UK after Brexit and the current state of the Mind the Gap strategy. As part of this strategy, Switzerland and the UK have signed several agreements designed to guarantee that relations in specific sectors continue as smoothly as possible after Brexit. Also on the agenda is a working meeting between the EFTA/EU Delegation and the Lords EU Committee.
The Swiss EFTA/EU Delegation will be represented on this official trip to London by its chairman, member of the National Council Hans-Peter Portmann (FDP, ZH), and by fellow National Council members Kathy Riklin (CVP, ZH) and Thomas Aeschi (SVP, ZG) as well as Council of States members Didier Berberat (SP, NE) and Konrad Graber (CVP, LU).