Swiss Say Non! and Nein! To Europe

Ulrika Lomas, Tax-news.com, Brussels

06 March 2001

On Sunday an overwhelming 77% majority of Swiss voters rejected a referendum proposal to enter into membership negotiations with the European Union.

The referendum's proposal - 'Yes to Europe' - was the third EU membership referendum to take place in Switzerland since 1992 and was originated by a group of pro-European campaigners who successfully filed for a popular referendum in 1996 with a petition of 100,000 signatures.

The 'No' vote was cast heavily in the German-speaking cantons where approximately 85% of voters were against the proposal. But surprisingly, in the French-speaking areas which traditionally are more supportive of joining the EU, an estimated 58% of the electorate were in agreement with their German-speaking neighbours.

Ruedi Baumann, President of the Green Party and advocate of joining the EU, described the defeat as 'brutal.' And a disappointed Marc Suter, member of the conservative Radical Party and leader of the 'Yes to Europe', said: 'We lost the vote very clearly, but what's not so clear is who won it - our government which said not now but later, or those who say the EU never?'

Traditionally, Switzerland has been severely protective of its independence to the point of refusing to become a member of the United Nations for fear of relinquishing too much power to the multinational agency. Switzerland's neutrality, low taxes and its strong currency are too precious to the country to risk losing. The coalition government itself was against the campaign saying it had too much to lose at this point in time and described the move as premature. However, the government has consistently taken the stance of 'never say never' and after the referendum and in response to Marc Suter's comments, declared: 'We are very pleased with the result, it is a unified political response from the whole country ... [but] The vote cannot be read as a rejection of an eventual Swiss membership in the EU. It is merely a 'No' to starting immediate talks.'

The recent controversy over the EU's decision to pressure the Swiss government into relaxing its banking secrecy laws and clamp down on tax evasion probably did not help matters much. A spokesman for the European Commission interpreted the referendum result thus: 'The Swiss did not say no to Europe. They chose to answer the question later. And this is obviously a choice that the European Commission respects.'

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