Swiss feelings run high over transport deal

Date: 06/03/1997

By Mark Turner

IF SWITZERLAND and the EU do not shake hands on a six-part package of accords by the end of the Dutch presidency, the deal could flounder as accession negotiations with central and eastern Europe take precedence, Brussels sources warn.

While the two sides have largely reached agreement on five-sixths of the deal, they are finding it extremely difficult to see eye to eye on transport.

The Swiss, for whom full access to EU air and roads is a priority, are proving extremely reluctant to meet Union demands for cheap heavy-goods access to their trans-Alpine routes.

When Europe's transport ministers meet next week, they will be faced with the grim realisation that their sector alone stands in the way of a deal which the Union has been in search of for half a decade.

Negotiators have all but cracked open the champagne over plans to bring the Alpine confederation closer to the Union on agriculture, public procurement, research and certification.

Furthermore, the biggest issue of 1996 - granting EU workers free access to Switzerland - is largely settled, with only the question of 'safeguards' (in case of an unexpected influx) and access to service providers left to wrap up.

That marks a huge achievement for talks launched on the back of the Swiss people's refusal to join the European Economic Area in 1992, reflecting concern that liberalisation would let in floods of immigrants.

But until the entire package is agreed, no single part of it will be accepted by the Union.

Two major sticking points remain. The first is the maximum cost lorries would have to pay to cross Switzerland.

Bern has proposed a 350-ecu toll on its longest route, applicable to its own traffic as well as the Union's. To offset this, it plans to build two cross-Alpine rail links which should offer a competitive alternative for lorry drivers.

But the EU does not accept claims that the price fairly reflects the environmental costs of crossing Swiss territory, and is pushing for a 120-ecu toll. Neither side appears willing to split the difference.

The Union is also looking for immediate access for a certain number of 40-tonne trucks, in advance of full access in the year 2005. At the moment, trucks weighing up to 28 tonnes may enter freely, but anything heavier needs special permission.

The Swiss are prepared to authorise 30,000 lorries a year, while the Union is pushing for 100,000, rising to 350,000 by 2001.

The trouble is that although Switzerland's leaders acknowledge the need for a deal, they will quite simply not be able to push one through without large-scale popular support.

Switzerland's direct democracy means that if most Swiss in most parts of the federation (a simple popular majority is not enough without support from the cantons) do not accept the terms of the accord, it will not go ahead.

For its part, the Union is unlikely to settle for conditions it deems too expensive and will be prepared to sit it out.

Although an agreement would clearly benefit trans-Alpine road hauliers, this is not the EU's top priority during a period of internal reform and enlargement to the East.

Furthermore, disagreement over Austrian levies on the Brenner pass - an alternative trans-Alpine route - is making it difficult for the Union to agree internal road-pricing rules, let alone an external deal.

All of this paints a rather bleak prospect for a breakthrough by the summer. Nevertheless, both sides are proclaiming an optimism which suggests their seemingly intractable positions might not be so intractable after all.

“There are ways of reaching compromises which allow both sides to claim victory,” said one Brussels diplomat.