Switzerland has threatened to impose unilateral curbs on immigration should it fail to agree with the European Union on limiting the influx of migrants.
After months of tough negotiations, Berne and Brussels are still gridlocked over how to implement a 2014 Swiss referendum for immigration quotas that would violate a bilateral pact guaranteeing freedom of movement for EU workers.
The bid to seal an agreement has been stalled by EU member Britain's similar demand to limit immigration from within the EU, making it hard for the EU to offer a preferential deal for Switzerland before it has settled matters with Britain.
With just over a year left before the quotas must come into effect, Swiss leaders have now taken the most dramatic move yet in the negotiations.
"If there is really no solution ... we would be ready for a suspension of a part or all of the bilateral agreements," Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter told a news conference on Friday.
The government has asked its justice department to draft unilateral curbs on immigration by March 2016 in the event there is no breakthrough.
Swiss President Simonetta Sommaruga said this was not the preferred path and the country would continue EU talks in the hope of finding an agreement.
A European Commission spokeswoman said discussions were "difficult" but continuing and Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker would meet Sommaruga again before the end of 2015.
The February 2014 referendum, spearheaded by the anti-immigration Swiss People's Party, has jeopardised a host of other Swiss-EU treaties that govern bilateral economic ties with the country's largest trading partner and stand or fall together.
A study commissioned by the government found exiting key bilateral pacts could cut output by up to 630 billion Swiss francs ($A861 billion) by 2035, or as much as seven per cent of GDP.
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