Brexit: What can the United Kingdom learn from Swiss-European Union Relations?

Abstract

The article highlights some of the specificities of Swiss-EU relations, the costs for Switzerland if it were to lose access to the EU Single Market and some first related implications for the UK. To begin with, the EU is a very important economic partner for both Switzerland and the UK. The challenge for the UK will clearly be to obtain free trade with selective integration in specific areas such as financial services, the automobile industry, airlines landing rights and nuclear energy. Emphasis is put on the EU position regarding a strong institutional framework, a homogeneous market and the free movement of persons. The analysis highlights the difficulty to partially join the Single Market without systematically taking over EU new legal provisions and accepting EU Court of Justice interpretations of EU pertinent law. Based on the Swiss experience, the article points to some red lines, which ought to be of interest for the UK.