Switzerland and the European integration process: engagement without marriage

Article forms part of a special issue entitled 'The Swiss labyrinth: Institutions, outcomes and redesign'.

Abstract:

Among Western European countries Switzerland currently has the most restricted, and most insecure, access to the EC Single Market. How can one explain this uncomfortable position? In contrast to the widespread interpretation that focuses on the blocking role of core domestic political institutions, this study provides a more nuanced analysis of the sources of variation in foreign policy making, carefully examining the influence of perceptions on the design of policy lines. Switzerland's stance toward the process of European integration, from the late 1950s to the late 1990s, has been the result of trade-offs between perceived risks and opportunities, with no clearly predetermined outcome from domestic political structures. Misperceptions about the range of feasible options at the external level have often reinforced domestic political difficulties and even at times overshadowed them. Domestic institutional reform is not a prerequisite to marriage with the EC in the near future. But there is an urgent need for a government with a firm steering capacity and willingness.