The European Union and Switzerland - the bloc's fourth largest export market - reached a political deal on Friday to overhaul their trade ties, setting in motion a lengthy approval process.

Switzerland and the European Union agreed on a deal to ensure the country’s access to the bloc’s single market, hitting an unofficial end-of-year deadline after lengthy and intense talks.Most Read fro

The European Union and Switzerland announced Friday they had sealed a new set of agreements aimed at recalibrating relations between the two neighbours.Relations plunged when Switzerland suddenly slammed the door on the talks in 2021.

Switzerland and the European Union on Friday unveiled a deal to carry out the biggest overhaul of their trade ties in years, overcoming Swiss concerns about immigration and setting the scene for a fraught and lengthy approval process.

The EU and Switzerland reached a bilateral agreement on Friday worth an estimated €550 billion in trade. But ratification of the deal is far from a foregone conclusion, as the Swiss have yet to vote on it.