Export of goods from Switzerland accounts for 5.2% of the EU's imports; mainly chemicals, medicinal products, machinery, instruments and time pieces.

Switzerland wanted to safeguard the economic integration with the EU that the EEA treaty would have permitted, while purging the relationship of the points of contention that had led to the people rejecting the referendum.

While the bilateral approach theoretically safeguards the right to refuse the application of new EU rules to Switzerland, in practice the scope to do so is limited by the clause.

It allows the Swiss to keep a sense of sovereignty, due to arrangements when changes in EU law will only apply after the EU–Swiss Joint Committee decides so in consensus.

Switzerland has extended the bilateral treaties to new EU member states; each extension required the approval of Swiss voters in a referendum.

In a referendum in February 2014, the Swiss voters narrowly approved a proposal to limit the freedom of movement of foreign citizens to Switzerland.

[22] Since 2008, Switzerland has contributed CHF 1.3 billion towards various projects designed to reduce the economic and social disparities in an enlarged EU.

[27][28] The negotiations on the proposed framework accord between Switzerland the EU were restarted on 23 April 2021, when Swiss Federal Councilor Guy Parmelin and EU-commission president Ursula von der Leyen met in Brussels.

The following week, Stéphanie Riso, Deputy Head of Cabinet for the EU commission, informed representatives of the 27 member countries of the progress with regard to the framework accord with Switzerland.

[29] Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis told reporters that the impasse was due to a different interpretation of the "free movement of people" clause in the framework accord.

[32] On 15 November 2021, Maroš Šefčovič, EU Vice President responsible for Swiss-EU negotiations and Brexit struck a more conciliatory tone with Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis, when they met in Brussels.

[33] In December 2023, the Swiss Federal Council agreed to reinitiate negotiations with Brussels on bilateral relations with regard to the framework accord.

The decision came after a two-year period of previously undisclosed preparations and reflects the opinion of the Swiss population to find a realistic approach for a stable relationship with the EU.

The draft mandate was the result of numerous meetings on a diplomatic level as well as extensive internal discussions with unions and Swiss business representatives.

Mainly the "super guillotine clause", which previously ended the discussion with the EU, was removed to avoid a premature failure of future talks, and the new draft, agreed upon by a joint statement, would allow an open-ended discourse on all levels including the free movement of people, land transport, air transport, which are completely revised, and technical barriers to trade and agriculture as well as electricity, food safety and health, with all three allowing for direct subsidies.

The new draft mandate is now in process to be ratified by the Swiss cantons, the federal parliament and awaits approval by the EU commission by the end of 2023.

[34][35] On March 18, 2024, Swiss Federal Councilor Viola Amherd and chief of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen met in Brussels for a first meeting.

The EU Commission president struck an optimistic tone and expressed hope that the agreement could conclude by the end of 2024, while Amherd stressed the qualitative criteria for Switzerland rather than the tempo of the negotiations.

Amherd also met the vice-president of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic and EU chief negotiator Richard Szostak during lunch.

The EU and Switzerland are economically interconnected to a high degree, and both sides hope for more stability between the European trading zone and the export-oriented economy of the Swiss Confederation.

With the ratification of the second round of bilateral treaties, the Swiss Federal Council downgraded their characterisation of a full EU membership of Switzerland from a "strategic goal" to an "option" in 2006.

[48][49] The Swiss Federal Council, which was in favour of EU membership, had advised the population to vote against this referendum,[citation needed] since the preconditions for the opening of negotiations had not been met.

[citation needed] During the history of EU-Swiss relations, the country has undergone several substantial changes in foreign policies, depending on the democratic outcomes of ballot measures.

A members bill about joining EEA in 2022 was mostly rejected by the Federal council (government) considering the present treaties better for Switzerland.

But in its Security Report 2000, the Swiss Federal Council announced the importance of contributing to stability and peace beyond Switzerland's borders and of building an international community of common values.

Switzerland has contributed staff or material to EU peace keeping and security missions in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo, North Macedonia and the province of Aceh, Indonesia.

Many shops and smaller businesses that accept euros take notes only, and give change in Swiss francs, usually at a less favourable exchange rate than banks.

The Swiss National Bank set an CHF/EUR peg that involved a minimum exchange rate of 1.20 francs to the euro, with no upper bound in place.