Caspian Energy (CE):  Ms. Leuthard, what kind of future does Switzerland predict for its mutual relations within EU including the energy sphere? 

Doris Leuthard, Head of the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications, Switzerland: Switzerland lies at the heart of Europe. The EU is Switzerland’s most important trading partner and the EU has a large trade profit. Energy-wise, Switzerland is a central platform for European electricity trade – the volume of electricity flowing across our borders is in the same order of magnitude as our internal demand. Switzerland is also a major gas transit route, as the volume of gas transiting from Germany and France to Italy exceeds domestic demand by a factor of five. Consequently, we have been negotiating an electricity agreement with the EU for some time now. Its aim is to fully integrate Switzerland in the EU internal electricity market.