Swiss Textiles says no to chaos

The SVP's 10 Million Switzerland initiative calls for a strict cap on Switzerland's population. If the limit of ten million inhabitants is exceeded, the initiative calls for the cancellation of the corresponding agreements - including the free movement of persons.

This is linked to the other Bilaterals I agreements, which would also be cancelled by the guillotine clause. These include the MRA, public procurement, research and others.

The cancellation of these agreements would lead to chaos in bilateral relations between Switzerland and the EU. The Board of Directors has therefore clearly spoken out in favour of a NO position and unanimously follows the Swiss Textiles working group on European policy.

Why our industry is dependent on the EU

• Two thirds of the textile and clothing industry's exports go to the EU, in addition to various cross-border supply chains.
• Almost 40 per cent of people employed in the Swiss textile and clothing industry have an EU background. They are well-trained specialists and help to ensure that the domestic textile cluster remains innovative and can thus offset the high structural costs compared to foreign competitors.
• Together with the Bilateral I research agreement, the free movement of persons constantly drives this innovative strength.
• The MRA enables Swiss companies to sell to the EU in the areas of personal protective equipment, textile machinery or medical products without additional certification.
• With the agreement on public procurement, domestic companies can also participate in public tenders in the EU. This gives them access to a huge market.

This makes the European Union our most important trading partner. Read here what medical products, research and the circular economy have to do with this and why electricity supply, air and transport agreements depend on regulated relations. Without these agreements, market access to the EU will become much more difficult and the industry will fall behind. Especially in geopolitically difficult times like now, stable relations are indispensable.

Start of the European discussion

Swiss Textiles is campaigning for a No vote on 14 June and is a member of the No Alliance. In doing so, the association is sending out a clear signal in favour of a constructive European policy and the continuation of the bilateral approach. However, the vote only marks the starting point for one of the most important political debates of the coming years. After the chaos initiative, the debate on the Bilateral Agreements III will begin. Swiss Textiles has already spoken out clearly in favour of the Bilateral Agreements in the past and will continue to actively campaign for them in the coming weeks and months.

Das macht die europäische Union zu unserer bedeutendsten Handelspartnerin. Was Medizinalprodukte, Forschung und die Kreislaufwirtschaft damit zu tun haben und weshalb die Stromversorgung, Luft- und Verkehrsabkommen von geregelten Beziehungen abhängen, lesen Sie hier. Ohne diese Abkommen wird der Marktzugang zur EU massiv erschwert und die Branche gerät ins Hintertreffen. Gerade in geopolitisch schwierigen Zeiten wie jetzt sind stabile Beziehungen unverzichtbar.

Start zur Europadiskussion

Swiss Textiles setzt sich im Rahmen der Gegenkampagne für ein Nein am 14. Juni ein und ist Mitglied der Nein-Allianz. Damit setzt der Verband ein klares Zeichen für eine konstruktive Europapolitik und die Fortsetzung des bilateralen Wegs. Die Abstimmung markiert hierbei jedoch nur den Startpunkt zu einer der wichtigsten politischen Debatte der kommenden Jahren. Nach der Chaosinitiative beginnt die Debatte zu den Bilateralen III. Swiss Textiles hat sich bereits in der Vergangenheit klar für die Bilateralen ausgesprochen und wird sich auch in den kommenden Wochen und Monaten aktiv dafür einsetzen.