The Swiss government has terminated a multi-year process to reach a comprehensive partnership agreement with the European Union, which may have a profound impact on the economic relationship between the two parties.

The Swiss Federal Council stated that it is suspending negotiations with Brussels, the purpose of which is to reach an agreement with the European Union, on the grounds that there are “significant differences” between the two parties. However, it added that it wanted to maintain the existing trading network.

The move led to a swift condemnation from the European Commission, which warned that cooperation would inevitably deteriorate.

The commission said in a statement: “Without this agreement, it would be impossible to modernize our relationship, and our bilateral agreement will inevitably age.” For the EU, the deal “is important for reaching further participation in Switzerland. Necessary conditions for possible future agreements [in] Single market”.

The relationship between the EU and Switzerland has been the source of long-term frustration in Brussels. Brussels has devoted hundreds of hours of negotiating time to the multi-year talks that began in May 2014.

This relationship allows Switzerland to deeply integrate into the EU’s single market. This relationship is different from any other country’s status and can be traced back to the early 1970s. It is based on about 120 industry-specific agreements, rather than general arrangements such as membership in the European Economic Area.

The desire to completely change the arrangement Become more urgent After Brexit, due to concerns within the European Union that the United Kingdom could use the Swiss model as evidence to prove that the United Kingdom should be able to stand out from the single market advantage, while still remaining outside the formal EU structure.

The goals of the European Union Talks with Switzerland Including the establishment of a stronger dispute settlement mechanism.

In a statement on Wednesday, the Swiss minister insisted that Switzerland remains committed to the “bilateral path” in the relationship between the two countries and called for “organized political dialogue to strengthen our cooperation.” The Swiss government stated in the statement that Switzerland is the EU’s fourth largest merchandise trading partner and the third largest service trading partner.

However, Brussels was very frustrated because Berne decided to abolish years of negotiations.

In recent weeks, including During a visit to Brussels The President of the Swiss Confederation, Guy Parmelin (Guy Parmelin) said that it is becoming increasingly clear that Bern has little will to ratify the agreement. In an interview earlier this month, Petros Mavromichalis, the EU’s ambassador to Switzerland, warned that the dying negotiations were “a chronicle of predicted death.”

Pamelin said at a press conference on Wednesday that the two sides are “opening a new chapter” and that the relationship between the two countries “we hope to be fruitful.”

The Swiss side has requested that the three aspects of the agreement be resolved: freedom of movement, social benefits and wages for EU workers in Switzerland, and state aid rules. EU officials say these requirements are unacceptable because they are the core area of ??any single market access agreement.

In recent years, the failure of the EU and Switzerland to reach an agreement has had consequences: Swiss stock exchanges have lost the right to provide services to EU customers, and have recently obtained important regulatory approvals to allow the sale of medical devices manufactured and inspected in Switzerland Threatened in the European Union.