‘Negotiate with me’: Juncker urges Switzerland to wrap up EU treaty talks

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has urged Switzerland to quickly wrap up negotiations on a new bilateral treaty, adding that time is running out and attention turns to the crunch phase of Brexit talks. “Negotiate with me, wrap it up with me,” Juncker, whose term ends next year, said in an interview aired late on Thursday by Swiss broadcaster RTS. If a deal is not done soon, “it could really get bad,” Reuters quoted him as saying. The Swiss government has been wrestling with its approach toward treaty talks, which have run aground because of opposition from both the anti-EU far right and the usually pro-Europe center left. Non-member Switzerland has a patchwork of around 120 sectoral accords that govern ties with its most important trading partner. They will remain in effect even if treaty talks fail.