SWISS ROLL?

There are some interesting developments in Switzerland.  They narrowly voted in a referendum i n 2014 to curb freedom of movement of people and have been negotiating with the EU ever since. The deadline is fast approaching and new talks are scheduled for next week (19th Sep).  Switzerland seem to be backing down in the face of the EU's hard line (HERE) with most political parties now supporting a plan to ask companies to prefer local candidates over those from the EU, a significant watering down of the original proposal and even then the EU may not accept it.

I think it shows how much Switzerland values the limited access to the single market that they have (it excludes financial services).

However, now they are to visit the UK for discussions with our government on ways in which the two countries together can force the hand of the EU.  The Swiss are some 8 million people so they don't add an enormous amount of weight and many eastern European countries are adamant about the free movement principle. Nonetheless, it will be interesting to see how it all pans out.