On 8 and 9 April 2019 the president of the Council of States, Jean-René Fournier, will attend the Conference of the Presidents of the European Union in Vienna. Switzerland is invited to attend this annual conference as an observer. The meeting in Vienna will focus on the EU’s relations with its neighbouring states and the upcoming elections to the European Parliament. Mr Fournier will use the occasion to conduct a number of bilateral meetings.

​The president of the Council of States, Jean-René Fournier (CVP, VS), has been invited by the Austrian parliament to attend the Conference of the Presidents of the European Union, taking place in Vienna on 8 and 9 April. The two-day event will focus on the EU’s relations with its neighbours, including the EU enlargement process in the Western Balkans, the Eastern Partnership and other aspects of the European Neighbourhood Policy. The 2019 European Parliament elections and Brexit are also on the agenda.

Delegations from all EU member states, the European Parliament, the accession candidate countries, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the EFTA states will be represented at the conference, at which the various parliaments can actively maintain their contacts. Mr Fournier will take the opportunity provided by the conference to hold bilateral meetings with delegations from Switzerland’s neighbouring countries and the European Parliament. These meetings will be devoted to bilateral relations between Switzerland and the EU and the consultations on their institutional agreement currently taking place in Switzerland.