Switzerland's president said on Sunday the European Union was mainly interested in securing tax money without offering Switzerland fair conditions, such as better access to the EU market, in return.
"The situation is difficult at the moment. The EU has an interest in tax money, meaning a deal that will guarantee tax income from its citizens and firms," Micheline Calmy-Rey told Swiss newspaper SonntagsZeitung.
"Brussels needs to know that we do not only speak about money. We only want to discuss a package that also regulates better market access for our companies," she said.
Switzerland is finalising tax deals with Germany and Great Britain to regulate untaxed money stashed in secret Swiss accounts.
"Unfortunately, the EU makes our life unnecessarily and unjustifiably difficult. Brussels is passive. This passivity of the EU annoys me," she said.
Automatically adopting EU legislation is out of the question for Switzerland as a non-member of the EU, she said. "We do not give up our independence to Brussels."
Interrupting negotiations with the European Union is, however, not an option. "We live in the middle of Europe, we earn one franc out of three abroad. The EU is our most important political partner and our natural market. That is why we need a structured relationship with the EU," she said.
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