Does Switzerland really benefit from EU bilateral accords?

As Switzerland moves closer to implementing the initiative “against mass immigration”, the country’s politicians, economists and business leaders have clashed in a fierce debate over the pros and cons of the bilateral agreements with the European Union. The free-market camp says the accords are crucial for maintaining strength and growth in the Swiss economy.  “Anyone downplaying the importance of the bilateral accords is actively playing with fire,” warned Economics Minister Johann Schneider-Ammann last year. But isolationists, led by the conservative right Swiss People’s Party which was behind the  immigration initiative, argue the country will be no worse off without the accords. “Switzerland will not fall apart without these so-called bilateral agreements,” argued People’s Party strongman Christoph Blocher recently on his private television channel, Teleblocher. Worse off The first series of seven EU bilateral accords (known as Bilaterals I) was adopted in ...