33It is important to note that the Agreement falls within the more general context of relations between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation, which, although it did not opt to participate either in the European Economic Area or in the Union’s internal market, is nevertheless linked to the Union by numerous agreements covering a wide range of areas and prescribing rights and specific obligations, analogous, in some respects, to those laid down by the Treaty. The general objective of these agreements, including the Agreement at issue in the main proceedings, is to strengthen the economic ties between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation. Therefore, the reasons, exhaustively listed in Article 5(1) of Annex I to the Agreement, as justifications for derogation from the fundamental rules of the latter such as the principle of equal treatment, must be interpreted strictly.