Europe Minister, Thomas Byrne TD, is in Switzerland today as part of diplomatic efforts ahead of Ireland taking over the rotating presidency of the European Council in July.
Switzerland is not in the EU, but is closely integrated and an important trading partner.
But EU-Swiss relations have been rocky in recent years as the alpine country has pushed a harder right wing political stance.
The relationship is governed by dozens of individual agreements and attempts by the EU to formalise the arrangements within the framework of an overarching deal have failed.
At their lowest point, Switzerland was ejected from the EU’s multi-billion EU research programme, Horizon. The country was only allowed to rejoin last year.
But a new argument is brewing over migration that could once again put the EU and Switzerland at loggerheads.
Later this year, Switzerland is expected to vote whether to cap its population below 10 million.
Opinion polls suggest the referendum could win majority support.
That would mean Switzerland would deny entrance to newcomers like asylum seekers and families of foreign residents when the population reaches 9.5 million.
Switzerland currently has a population of 9.1 million and is expected to breach that threshold within the next four years.
Many EU nationals including around 6,000 Irish people live and work in Switzerland and the European Commission is understood to be watching with concern.
On the visit to Switzerland today, Ireland’s Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence, Thomas Byrne is due to meet counterparts in the Swiss Foreign Ministry, including Patric Franzen, Switzerland’s chief negotiator with the EU, State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Alexandre Fasel, and Markus Mäder, State Secretary for Security Policy.
The Minister is also expected to meet members of the Irish community in Switzerland. In Berne, Minister Byrne will deliver remarks to the Swiss Society for Foreign Policy.
Speaking before the visit, Minister Byrne said: “Switzerland is an important partner for the European Union. As we prepare for our upcoming Presidency of the Council of the EU, I look forward to learning more about Swiss perspectives, including on the new package of bilateral agreements between Switzerland and the EU. I also look forward to exchanging security and defence perspectives as two militarily neutral states.
“Ireland and Switzerland have a rich and historic bilateral relationship. I look forward to renewing these ties of friendship, including through meeting with the new Swiss-Irish Parliamentary Friendship Group and with my counterparts in the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.”