During a first-ever Swiss-EU Summit in Brussels on Wednesday, Switzerland and the EU signed nine bilateral agreements, ranging from tax to the free movement of people. The agreements were hailed by both sides as an important step forward in EU-Swiss relations. Commission President Romano Prodi and Swiss President Joseph Deiss stressed the mutual importance of such relations.
Savings Tax Directive
Switzerland's agreement to the long-awaited deal on the EU Savings Tax Directive is viewed in Brussels as a major step towards combatting tax evasion. The country had agreed to the accord on the provision that certain conditions were met, including its entry into the passport-free Schengen zone and its exclusion from certain exchange of information clauses under the Schengen agreement. Effectively, although Switzerland will join the Schengen area, it will not be obliged to share information about tax evasion; this had been a major concern for Bern, as tax evasion is not recognised as a
