France-Switzerland: unprecedented agreements for Lake Geneva and the Rhône

Nearly fourteen years after the first discussions, French Minister Laurent Saint-Martin and Swiss Federal Councilor Albert Rösti signed two historic bilateral agreements in Geneva on September 4, 2025, for the sustainable management of Lake Geneva and the Rhône.

• The first agreement concerns cooperation on the waters of the Rhône and establishes a bilateral cooperation framework commission with alternating presidencies at the ministerial level. It aims to harmonize sustainable water management policies and anticipate future challenges, providing a tool to respond to the challenges of climate change on the management of the river, whose flow has been declining since the 1960s.
• The second agreement, concerning the regulation of Lake Geneva’s water levels, provides for close coordination between the two countries in managing the lake’s water levels to better prevent crises. In the event of flooding or drought, the “Franco-Swiss crisis management units” will take decisions together by consensus.

These agreements lay the foundations for a future agreement on the management of the waters of the Doubs.