Swiss welcome mat? Swiss citizens will stand at a crossroads when the referendum question on September 25 asks them to strengthen ties with the EU by extending the agreement on the free movement of people to ten new EU member states. The path they choose could provide a shortcut to a more fruitful union.

AuteurAnderson, Robert
Fonction Politics

Switzerland's daunting Alpine mountains and stringent policy of neutrality have kept the country isolated, but also protected, from the rest of Europe for nearly 400 years.

But the times they are a changin', and Switzerland is changing too, emerging from years of isolation, neutrality and, some say, aloothess and heading down a new road toward closer relations with the European Union.

The country's 4.5 million eligible Swiss voters now face the decision of giving thumbs up or down to the federal decree of December 2004, extending the Swiss/EU accord on the free movement of people to the new EU member states, as well as the additional protocol together with the revision of the flanking measures governing salaries and working conditions.

Opponents of the proposal gathered enough signatures to command a popular vote on the matter, the second federal referendum of 2005, slated for September 25.

A long road

Since Swiss voters rejected membership in the European Economic Area in 1992, Switzerland has adopted the bilateral approach to its relationship with the European Union. In the wake of multi-year negotiations and some 'horsetrading,' Switzerland succeeded in reaching an agreement with its primary economic partner covering seven bilateral accords, referred to as Bilateral 1.

In May 2000, by a margin of 67 per cent, the Swiss citizenry gave thumbs up to the bilateral accords, which have been in effect since June 2002. But one of these seven accords, the free movement of people, constitutes an especially significant part of the Swiss/EU pact: it harbors the greatest potential for economic impetus for Switzerland.

The deciding factor

With the entry of ten member states to the European Union on May 1, 2004, the EU underwent the largest expansion in its history, growing overnight to a union of 25 nations. With the expansion--to include the Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Slovenia and Slovakia--existing bilateral accords between Switzerland and the EU were automatically extended to these ten countries as well.

One exception, however, was the agreement on the free movement of people, which stipulated further negotiation with the EU over special conditions. Since June 2004, this freedom allows people from the EU-15 to work unconditionally in Switzerland without a permit, but it does not automatically extend this freedom to the ten new EU members.

An additional protocol called for separate transitional...

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