{"id":50567,"date":"2016-07-20T12:53:32","date_gmt":"2016-07-20T10:53:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/?p=50567"},"modified":"2016-07-20T16:06:29","modified_gmt":"2016-07-20T14:06:29","slug":"brexit-switzerland-could-serve-as-model-for-future-europe-united-kingdom-aviation-agreement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.voyages-d-affaires.com\/en\/brexit-switzerland-could-serve-as-model-for-future-europe-united-kingdom-aviation-agreement","title":{"rendered":"Brexit: Could Switzerland serve as a model for a future EU-UK aviation agreement?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Until now, Switzerland has been one of the few countries at the heart of the European continent not to belong to the European Union. On the other hand, the Swiss Confederation is aware of its dependence on the EU, sharing borders with four EU countries, not to mention economic exchanges. <\/span><\/span>with the EU. In 2014, 55% of Swiss exports went to the EU, while 73% of Swiss imports came from the EU. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Switzerland <\/span><\/span><\/span>has therefore signed bilateral agreements with Brussels to adopt and benefit from certain advantages similar to those granted to members of the Union, such as the free movement of people when entering the Schengen area, and in air transport. These relatively liberal agreements between Switzerland and the EU come at a price. Switzerland \"contributes\" to various cooperation programmes with the European Union, having paid out more than 1.2 billion Swiss francs (\u20ac1.11 billion) in 2015, for example. A situation that should be watched with interest by the United Kingdom, a priori on its way out of the European Union following the referendum leading to \"Brexit\". <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

The 1999 Air Transport Agreement between Switzerland and the European Union was signed in 1999 and came into force on 1 January 1999.<\/span><\/span>er<\/span><\/span><\/sup> June 2002. In fact, it follows a period of considerable turbulence in Swiss airspace, culminating in the bankruptcy of the national airline Swissair in 2001. The agreement was applied gradually. Initially, it superseded all the bilateral agreements between Switzerland and each member of the European Union. Since 2004, it has been extended to allow Swiss carriers to benefit from rights almost similar to those in force for airlines registered in the European Union. Among the most important measures, Swiss airlines enjoy the same rights to freedom of the air as EU airlines, particularly those relating to the carriage of passengers within the EU. In fact, Swiss airlines enjoy almost perfect equality of treatment compared with their EU counterparts.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Freedom rights for Swiss airlines in the European Union<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n