Entry into force

Since 1972, Switzerland and the European Union (EU), initially called the EEC and subsequently the EC, have concluded a number of agreements. These agreements improve reciprocal access to markets and form the foundations for close cooperation in areas such as justice, research, transport and security. The table below gives an overview of when the different agreements were signed and entered into force.

Following the first agreements concluded with the EU in the 1970s – the Free Trade Agreement and the 1989 Insurance Agreement – Switzerland signed a first package of seven agreements with the EU in 1999: the Bilateral Agreements I. In 2004 a second package of agreements – the Bilateral Agreements II – was signed to extend cooperation between Switzerland and the EU. The bilateral ties between Switzerland and the EU are continuously developing and improving with the signing of new agreements that take into account Switzerland's needs and interests.

These agreements are automatically extended to new members states upon their accession to the EU. Only the Agreement on the free movement of persons (AFMP) is renegotiated with every new member state. The terms of extension are defined on a case-by-case basis in a protocol modifying the agreement and its annexes.

Agreement

Signing

Entry into force

Free trade

22.07.1972

01.01.1973

Insurances

10.10.1989

01.01.1993

Free movement of persons

21.06.1999

01.06.2002

Technical barriers to trade

21.06.1999

01.06.2002

Public procurement markets

21.06.1999

01.06.2002

Agriculture

21.06.1999

01.06.2002

Research

Since the EU programmes are limited in time, each new agreement needs to be negotiated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1999-2002

21.06.1999

01.06.2002

2003-2006

16.01.2004

01.01.2004

2007-2013

25.06.2007 (with retroactive effect)

01.01.2007

2014-2020

05.12.2014

08.10.2015**

Civil aviation

21.06.1999

01.06.2002

Overland transport

21.06.1999

01.06.2002

Processed agricultural products

26.10.2004

30.3.2005

Pensions

26.10.2004

31.05.2005

Taxation of savings

26.10.2004

01.07.2005

Europol

24.09.2004

01.03.2006

Environment

26.10.2004

01.04.2006

Statistics

26.10.2004

01.01.2007

Schengen/Dublin

26.10.2004

01.03.2008 (formal) 12.12.2008 (operational)

Fight against fraud

26.10.2004

08.04.2009*

MEDIA

Since the EU programmes are limited in time, each new agreement needs to be negotiated.

 

The last agreement expired on 31.12.2013.

11.10.2007

01.08.2010

Eurojust

27.11.2008

22.07.2011

Customs facilitation and security

25.06.2009

01.01.2011

Education, vocational training, youth

Since the EU programmes are limited in time, each new agreement needs to be negotiated.

 

The last agreement expired on 31.12.2013.

15.02.2010

01.03.2011

Cooperation with the EDA

16.03.2012

16.03.2012

Cooperation between competition authorities

17.05.2013

01.12.2014

Galileo and EGNOS**

18.12.2013

 

EASO

10.06.2014

01.03.2016

Company taxation (Joint Statement)

14.10.2014

 

Automatic exchange of information (AEOI)

27.05.2015

01.10.2017

Emissions trading

23.11.2017

01.01.2020

Eurodac Protocol

27.06.2019

01.05.2022

Police Cooperation (Prüm decision)

27.06.2019 01.03.2023

* Early implementation of the Agreement by Switzerland

** Provisional implementation of the Agreement by Switzerland and the EU