Switzerland–United Kingdom Relations
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Switzerland–United Kingdom relations relations encompass the diplomatic, economic, and historical interactions between the
Swiss Confederation Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerlan ...
and the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
. Both countries established diplomatic relations in 1891. Both countries share common membership of the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
,
European Court of Human Rights The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), also known as the Strasbourg Court, is an international court of the Council of Europe which interprets the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). The court hears applications alleging that a co ...
, the
International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...
,
OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...
,
OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...
, and the
World Trade Organization The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland that regulates and facilitates international trade. Governments use the organization to establish, revise, and enforce the rules that g ...
. Bilaterally the two countries have the Berne Financial Services Agreement, a Double Taxation Convention, and a
Trade Agreement A trade agreement (also known as trade pact) is a wide-ranging taxes, tariff and trade treaty that often includes investment guarantees. It exists when two or more countries agree on terms that help them trade with each other. The most common tra ...
. Both two countries are currently negotiating a
Free Trade Agreement A free trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating state (polity), states. There are two types of trade agreements: Bilateralism, bilateral and Multilateralism, m ...
.


History

Ever since the 18th century British politicians have made much of Switzerland's neutrality on the European continent and repeatedly took Switzerland's side when dealing with other European powers. Since 1900 the United Kingdom has maintained 12 consulates in Switzerland. Switzerland represented British interests in
Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
,
Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...
,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
, and the Axis occupied and allied countries during World War II from 1941 to 1945. During the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
Anglo-Swiss relations became even closer, and due to common interests there was cooperation on a number of issues. Both countries worked together to forestall
European integration European integration is the process of political, legal, social, regional and economic integration of states wholly or partially in Europe, or nearby. European integration has primarily but not exclusively come about through the European Union ...
in the 1960s. Contacts and relations between the two countries remain close to this day with the respective countries' foreign ministers regularly meeting up to discuss issues of shared concern.


Economic relations

Switzerland has been a favourite destination for British tourists since the 19th century. The UK is the fourth-most important market in the world for Swiss investors. Around 700 Swiss companies currently do business in the UK with the financial sector playing a large role in Anglo-Swiss economic relations. The British Swiss Chamber of Commerce is an independent organization providing network services for its over 500 members.


Trade agreements

From 1 January 1973 until 30 December 2020, trade between Switzerland and the UK was governed by the Switzerland–European Union Strade agreements, while the United Kingdom was a
member Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...
of the
European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
. Following the
withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU). Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET). The UK, which joined t ...
, the UK and Switzerland signed a continuity trade agreement on 11 February 2019, based on the EU trade agreements; the agreement entered into force on 3 May 2021. Trade value between Switzerland and the United Kingdom was worth £53,551 million in 2022. On 15 May 2023, the United Kingdom and Switzerland talked on an upgraded
free trade agreement A free trade agreement (FTA) or treaty is an agreement according to international law to form a free-trade area between the cooperating state (polity), states. There are two types of trade agreements: Bilateralism, bilateral and Multilateralism, m ...
, with
Kemi Badenoch Olukemi Olufunto Adegoke Badenoch (' Adegoke; born 2 January 1980) is a British politician who has served as Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservati ...
, British trade secretary, flying to Bern aiming to boost financial and professional services exports.


Security relations

During the
Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...
, the
Swiss Army The Swiss Armed Forces (; ; ; ; ) are the military and security force of Switzerland, consisting of land and air service branches. Under the country's militia system, regular soldiers constitute a small part of the military and the rest are ...
unit
Projekt-26 Projekt-26, best known as P-26, was a stay-behind army in Switzerland charged with countering a possible invasion of the country. The existence of P-26 (along with Projekt-27, P-27) as secret intelligence agencies dissimulated in the military intel ...
received covert training from the British intelligence agencies
MI5 MI5 ( Military Intelligence, Section 5), officially the Security Service, is the United Kingdom's domestic counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), Gov ...
and
MI6 The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...
. In the event of an invasion of Switzerland, P-26 planned to relocate its command centre to Britain.


Resident diplomatic missions

* Switzerland has an embassy in
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
. * The United Kingdom has an embassy in
Bern Bern (), or Berne (), ; ; ; . is the ''de facto'' Capital city, capital of Switzerland, referred to as the "federal city".; ; ; . According to the Swiss constitution, the Swiss Confederation intentionally has no "capital", but Bern has gov ...
. File:SwissEmbassyLondon.JPG, Embassy of Switzerland in London


See also

*
Foreign relations of Switzerland The foreign relations of Switzerland are the primary responsibility of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). Some international relations of Switzerland are handled by other departments of the federal administration of Switzerland. ...
*
Foreign relations of the United Kingdom The diplomatic foreign relations of the United Kingdom are conducted by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, headed by the Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom), foreign secretary. The Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, prime minis ...
* Swiss in the United Kingdom


References


Further reading

* Horn, David Bayne. ''Great Britain and Europe in the eighteenth century'' (1967), covers 1603 to 1702; pp 310–26. * Wylie, Neville. ''Britain, Switzerland, and the Second World War'' (Oxford UP, 2003). * Wyss, Marco. ''Arms transfers, neutrality and Britain's role in the Cold War: Anglo-Swiss relations 1945-1958'' (Brill, 2012). {{DEFAULTSORT:Switzerland - United Kingdom Relations
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
Bilateral relations of the United Kingdom