Swiss Senate reshapes the EU deal before a national vote

After roughly 24 hours of debate, the Council of States has given Bilaterals III a broad vote of confidence, while rewriting important parts of the route to a national ballot. The upper house has backed most of the new Switzerland-EU treaty package, yet its amendments show that Parliament intends to shape the agreement before Swiss voters see it.

The package covers the next phase of Switzerland’s relationship with the European Union, including market access, free movement, transport, electricity and rules governing state aid. It is also designed to create a more stable system for updating bilateral agreements and resolving disputes. The negotiations followed the collapse of an earlier institutional framework agreement in 2021.

The scale of the undertaking was visible in Bern. The package extends to 2,228 pages, and the Senate’s 46 members spent more than five hours on the first day alone. Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis argued that Switzerland needs reliable access to European markets to preserve its economic influence. “Little Switzerland ranks among the world’s 20 largest economies,” he told senators. “But to retain that strength, we need markets.”

The Senate’s decision moves the debate into a more consequential phase. Its approval is not the final parliamentary verdict, and the amendments may still change in the National Council.

The Council of States wants the EU package to face a mandatory referendum, raising the constitutional stakes before the vote is even scheduled. Under the Senate’s position, the agreement would need a majority of voters across Switzerland and a majority of the cantons. The Federal Council had favoured an optional referendum, which would require only a nationwide majority.

Senators supported both legislation requiring the mandatory vote and a separate constitutional amendment. That creates a further parliamentary task and gives the referendum question a distinctly Swiss dimension. Cantonal approval would become decisive, meaning the package could fail even if it won more votes nationally.

The timing remains unsettled. The National Council, Parliament’s larger chamber, is expected to examine the package during the winter session. The Council of States has also not completed its work on the electricity agreement, one of the package’s central components. Senators are due to begin considering that agreement in December.

The process will determine whether the treaty package reaches voters as one political proposition or through a framework shaped by several parliamentary amendments. The Local reported that many practical questions remain open, including when the public vote will take place. For now, the Senate has made the approval threshold clear while leaving the calendar unresolved.

The Senate approved CHF 3.3 billion in commitment credits for Switzerland’s future contribution to European cohesion. If the package takes effect, payments would be made between 2030 and 2036. The money would support projects connected to economic and social disparities, migration and an additional one-off commitment.

The largest allocation, CHF 2 billion, would target the reduction of economic and social disparities. A further CHF 273.4 million would fund migration-related projects. Roughly CHF 1 billion would be assigned as an additional one-off commitment. These sums will form part of the political case made by both supporters and opponents before any national vote.

The financial decision sits alongside the Senate’s work on state aid. Senators completed legislation to establish a Swiss body that would monitor subsidies and other public support in areas covered by the bilateral agreements. The stated aim is to prevent government assistance from distorting competition.

For supporters of Bilaterals III, the contribution is part of maintaining a workable relationship with Switzerland’s largest economic partner. Critics will examine the cost, the oversight arrangements and the extent to which the package links domestic policy to EU rules. Parliament still has to settle the final text before those arguments reach the wider electorate.

Immigration produced the sharpest break between the Council of States and the Federal Council. Senators endorsed the possibility of an immigration levy if EU immigration created “serious economic or social problems”. The Federal Council would use defined thresholds to determine whether the negotiated safeguard clause could be activated.

The upper house also voted to require EU citizens arriving in Switzerland to provide criminal-record information during the admission process. Another amendment would restrict access to the new permanent-residence status envisaged under the partial adoption of the EU Citizens’ Rights Directive. EU nationals who are unemployed or receiving social assistance would be barred from applying, and their five-year qualifying period would restart.

The Federal Council argued that a blanket exclusion of welfare recipients could conflict with the agreement on the free movement of people. That warning sets up a difficult exchange with the National Council, where the Senate’s amendments will face renewed scrutiny.

The chamber took a more cautious line on wage protection. It largely preserved the compromise negotiated with Brussels and supported by the Federal Council and social partners. A security deposit for foreign firms posting workers would generally disappear, although authorities could demand one from a company that had already breached its obligations. Senators also backed an accompanying measure intended to strengthen protection against dismissal.

The next parliamentary rounds will decide whether the Senate’s amendments survive long enough to reach voters. The National Council is expected to debate Bilaterals III during the winter session. The Council of States will return to the electricity agreement in December, leaving a major part of the package outside the first examination.

The debate also reaches beyond domestic regulation. Justice Minister Beat Jans highlighted the 460,000 Swiss nationals living in EU member states, more than half of all Swiss Abroad. He said the agreement should protect their ability to live, work and study in the EU with fewer administrative barriers and, where applicable, tuition conditions similar to those for Europeans.

That perspective gives the treaty a direct human dimension for Swiss families, students and workers across the continent. The package also carries consequences for employers, cantons, municipalities and public authorities that would apply the new rules on mobility, state aid and market access.

No final referendum date has been announced. Parliament must first reconcile the two chambers, complete consideration of electricity and settle the referendum mechanism. Brussels’ response to any parliamentary or popular rejection also remains uncertain. The coming sessions will show whether Switzerland’s negotiating room expands through parliamentary amendments or narrows as the package moves toward a national decision.