The United Kingdom and Switzerland have reached an agreement to allow professional workers to travel freely between the two countries after the Brexit transition period ends on Dec. 31.
Britain’s International Trade Secretary Liz Truss said this deal “provides vital continuity for businesses and paves the way for a more advanced deal with Switzerland in the future.”
It is “an important part” of the UK’s attempt to “create a cat’s cradle of deals with dynamic economies that share our values and commitment to rules-based free trade,” she said.
But under the new Services Mobility Agreement, “UK professionals will be able to do business as they do now and will not face economic interest tests, work permits or lengthy processing times for the first 90 days,” said the UK government.
This agreement will benefit Britain’s finance, consultancy, legal services, the tech sector, and the creative industries, which are vital to the UK economy, it said.
The two countries also committed to work together on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications.
Miles Celic, CEO of TheCityUK, called this “a positive outcome.”
“Given Switzerland’s place as one of the UK’s largest trading partners in services, we hope that this will be a further important step towards an ambitious and comprehensive Free Trade Agreement between the two countries in the future,” he said.
Liz Truss is expected to sign the agreement with Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin in London on Dec. 14.