British nationals will be able to use e-gates at Zurich airport from later this year, with Basel and Geneva to follow in 2025, after Prime Minister Keir Starmer sealed a £5.2bn trade deal with Switzerland. The agreement, likely his last major international accord, also scraps mobile phone roaming charges and maintains trading terms for medicines, cars, art, jewellery, and photographic materials.
E-gates and border improvements
Starting with exit checks at Zurich airport, e-gate access will expand to Basel and Geneva airports next year. The move aims to shorten passport queues for British travellers at Swiss airports and border crossings, reducing friction for business and leisure visitors.
Trade and economic impact
The UK’s Department for Business and Trade projects the deal could “unlock £5.2bn a year in additional UK services exports to Switzerland in the long run.” Switzerland is the UK’s sixth largest market for services, currently worth about £30bn annually, predominantly in financial and services sectors.
Starmer described the agreement as the “sixth landmark agreement” in his two years as prime minister, alongside tariff deals with the US and trade agreements with India, South Korea, and Gulf states. “Whether you’re growing a business or travelling for work, this agreement is about making life easier and creating more opportunity for people across the UK,” he said.
Rain Newton-Smith, chief executive of the CBI business lobby group, said the deal recognised “real opportunities for growth” in services, which she called the UK’s “super power.”
Business travel and visa-free access
The deal includes visa-free travel for up to 90 days per year to Switzerland for UK services professionals, eliminating complicated immigration conditions for short-term business trips. For longer stays, the visa route with sponsor companies in Britain remains. Similarly, the UK allows visa-free travel for up to 90 days for Swiss companies bringing personnel to deliver contracts.
Chris Hayward, policy chair of the City of London Corporation, called the deal “gold standard,” noting that reducing border friction through e-gates “and allowing business travellers more time to do business” was a priority.
Pharmaceutical patent protections
Both sides agreed to maintain existing pharmaceutical patent protections. Richard Torbett, chief executive of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, said both countries “made explicit their commitment to maintain a strong and proportionate intellectual property regime.” Earlier reports suggested the UK, under pressure from the Department of Health and Social Care, sought to reduce patent lengths to allow the NHS quicker access to cheaper generic drugs.
Mark Samuels, chief executive of Medicines UK, which represents suppliers of nine out of ten NHS medicines, said the deal ensures “safeguarding the NHS’s access to affordable generic medicines by maintaining current terms of protection in the UK domestic system.”
