Press Release: EU and Switzerland to sign Memorandum on Swiss financial contribution to the new Member States

The European Union and Switzerland on 27 February 2006 signed a Memorandum of Understanding setting up the arrangements by which Switzerland would finance projects in the new EU Member States for a total amount of one billion Swiss Francs (about €645 million) over a period of five years. On the same day the Council of the European Union ratified a number of bilateral agreements with Switzerland, which had been concluded in 2004 and were to enter into force at the beginning of April 2006. Among these was the Protocol to the Agreement for the free movement of persons from the new Member States.