Switzerland

Switzerland's economic and trade relations with the EU are mainly governed through a free trade agreement and through a series of bilateral agreements, where Switzerland has agreed to take over certain aspects of EU legislation in exchange for accessing part of the EU's single market.

Trade picture

• The EU is Switzerland's main trading partner, whereas Switzerland is the EU's fourth-biggest trading partner after the United States, China, and the UK. In 2025, our bilateral trade in goods amounted to over €362 billion, accounting for 7% of the EU’s total trade in goods.
• In 2025, the EU’s main imports from Switzerland were chemical and pharmaceutical products, machinery and appliances, optical and photographic instruments, and pearls and precious stones and metals. In turn, the EU’s main exports to Switzerland were pharmaceutical and chemical products, machinery and appliances, pearls and precious stones and metals, and motor vehicles.
• EU-Switzerland total trade in services recorded growth of around 6.2%, year-on-year, reaching €273 billion in 2025.
• The EU’s foreign direct investment (FDI) in Switzerland reached €777 billion in 2024, while Swiss FDI in the EU totalled €629 billion. 

The EU and Switzerland

Relations between the EU and Switzerland are governed by a series of bilateral agreements. The cornerstone of EU-Swiss trade relations is the Free Trade Agreement of 1972.

As a consequence of the rejection by Switzerland of membership of the European Economic Area (EEA) in 1992, Switzerland and the EU agreed on a package of seven sectoral agreements signed in 1999 (known in Switzerland as 'Bilaterals I'). Some of these are relevant from a trade perspective:

• The Free Movement of Persons Agreement allows for the provision of services, limited in time.
• The Mutual Recognition Agreement in relation to conformity assessment ensures that, in twenty regulated sectors, the conformity assessment provided by one party is recognised by the other, which facilitates trade between the parties.
• The Public Procurement Agreement builds on the WTO Government Procurement Agreement.
• The Agreement on trade in agricultural products includes sanitary and phytosanitary rules, as well as tariffs and tariff rate quotas for agricultural products, except for cheese that is fully liberalised.
• A Protocol on processed agricultural products (Protocol 2), which was added to the Free Trade Agreement in 2005. It includes a mechanism whereby in practice Switzerland receives compensation for the very significant price differential of basic agricultural products – which serve as inputs to processed agricultural products – between the EU and Switzerland. 

A further set of sectoral agreements was signed in 2004 (known as 'Bilaterals II'), covering, inter alia, Switzerland's participation in the Schengen area and Dublin asylum system, and agreements on taxation of savings, processed agricultural products, statistics, combating fraud, participation in the EU Media Programme and the European Environment Agency.

Latest developments

In November 2023, after 18 months of exploratory talks, the Commission and the Swiss authorities reached a Common Understanding on a broad package of measures to address the structural issues across their various bilateral agreements. 

Based on this package, both the Swiss Federal Council and the Council of the European Union adopted negotiating directives in March 2024. The formal negotiation process on this new package was launched on 18 March 2024 and completed on 20 December 2024. Over 200 negotiating meetings were held to reach an agreement. 

The completion of the negotiations was followed by the signature of the broad package by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and the president of the Swiss Confederation, Guy Parmelin, which took place in Brussels on 2 March 2026.  The signature is an important step towards completing the ratification of the broad package. It will enable both sides to advance their respective ratification processes. 

The package will establish a modern framework for the EU and Switzerland, enabling frictionless access to a market of 460 million consumers in key sectors, delivering economic benefits to both sides. 

By aligning standards and rules in closely integrated areas, it will provide legal certainty, simplify trade in goods like medical devices and food products, and ease cross-border supply for businesses on both sides of the border. 

Additionally, it will ensure more consistent rules for individuals who live, work, or study across the EU-Swiss border. 

Switzerland will contribute to the development of legislation in the areas covered by the package and will have the opportunity to influence these rules as they are being designed. 

• Q&A on the bilateral package of agreements

Committees and Dialogues

The EU and Switzerland meet regularly to discuss issues and best practices and oversee the proper functioning of the Agreement.

Technical committee meetings - agendas and reports

Trading with Switzerland

• Importing into the EU from Switzerland
  • EU trade defence measures on imports from Switzerland
• Exporting from the EU to Switzerland
  • Trade defence measures in force in Switzerland
• Trade relations are part of the EU's overall political and economic relations with Switzerland
• Switzerland is a member of the World Trade Organization