Switzerland in the area of conflict around the “European question”

French President Emmanuel Macron visited the University of Lausanne on the second day of his state visit to Switzerland. He was greeted by a group of 100 students waving Palestinian flags. The police responded with tear gas and by surrounding the group so that Macron would not be able to listen to them as they voiced their concerns but would be able to visit the Ferme de Dorigny undisturbed. The media barely reported on these events, but the Ferme de Dorigny really is a special place:
  Every country has its “sanctuaries”. Switzerland has set up a museum in Schwyz dedicated to the Federal Charter of 1291. The French have the Panthéon in Paris. Surprisingly, the EU has set up its “shrine” not in Brussels, but in Switzerland on the campus of the University of Lausanne (see the picture). The most important documents of the EU are kept here, such as the Treaty of Paris (1952: Coal and Steel Community), the Treaty of Rome (1957: EEC) or the Treaty of Maastricht (1992: EU), as well as a large number of other important documents concerning the European Community. Why are these EU “birth certificates” not stored in Brussels, but in Lausanne? Although inconspicuous at first glance, the historic building of the Ferme de Dorigny provides an answer and has an exciting history.

Jean Monnet

One of the key figures in the founding phase of today’s EU was Jean Monnet, who is the only honorary citizen of the Community today. Although Monnet was born in France, he spent a large part of his life in the USA. Above all, he had good relations with the American government. After the war, he was friends with the American Secretary of State John Foster Dulles.
  Jean Monnet was one of the key figures who shaped the history of the EU, particularly in the post-war decades. In 1950, he developed the idea of the Coal and Steel Community with Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. The idea was that the Western European countries, especially Germany and France, would place their coal and steel industries under the control of a joint “High Authority”. There was also an idea of peace in this: if Germany and France managed their coal and steel industries together, then another war in Europe should no longer be possible. The Coal and Steel Community was a first step. Monnet’s real goal was the “United States of Europe” modelled on the USA.

9 May 1950 –
Europe Day for EU members

Monnet developed his plan for the Coal and Steel Community in nine drafts in the spring of 1950. He presented them to the then French Foreign Minister Robert Schuman. Schuman discussed the project with his own government and with the German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. On the evening of 9 May 1950, Schuman announced the plan to the public.  – This is roughly the “founding story” of today’s EU. Since then, 9 May has been celebrated as Europe Day in the EU countries.

Monnet comes to Switzerland

In 1952, Jean Monnet was appointed the first head of the “High Authority” of the Coal and Steel Community, based in Luxembourg. He left his post in 1955 to work towards his real goal, the creation of a “United States of Europe”. In 1955, he founded an action committee in which representatives from the six countries of the Coal and Steel Community took part. Jean Monnet came to Switzerland on 15 March 1957 – a few days before the six countries of the Coal and Steel Community took a further step towards integration in Rome and founded the European Economic Community (EEC).
  Monnet set up a permanent office for his Action Committee in Lausanne. A documentation centre was added a little later. He probably had the vision that the desired “United States of Europe” centre should be located in the geographical heart of Europe. The preamble to the founding Treaty of Rome formulated the political goal somewhat more generally, stating that the European Community should unite politically to form an “ever closer union”.
  Opposition came from various quarters. A large number of those European countries that did not participate in the EEC were sceptical. This included Great Britain. For example, the economist Wilhelm Röpke, who taught in Geneva, commented on the problem as follows: “Decentralism is indeed an essential part of the European spirit. If we want to try to organise Europe centrally, to subject it to a planned economic bureaucracy and at the same time to forge it into a more or less closed bloc, that would be nothing less than a betrayal of Europe [...].Committed in the name of Europe and constituting a disgraceful misuse of this name, it would be all the more treacherous a betrayal. We would then be destroying the very thing we have to defend and which makes us as likeable in Europe as we are irreplaceable in the entire free world.” (Röpke, Wilhelm. “Beyond supply and demand”. Zurich 1958, p. 330)

Switzerland went its own way

The later Federal Councillor Hans Schaffner initiated the founding of EFTA – the “European Free Trade Association”. It was conceived as a liberal association without a centralised superstructure. It was founded in 1960 with seven members. Switzerland and Great Britain were also members.
  This development did not meet with universal approval. On 14 July 1961, the Swiss Federal Council received a visit from US Undersecretary of State George Ball. He reported that US president John F. Kennedy and British president Harold Macmillan had met. Both envisioned a different future for Europe: The EFTA, which had just been founded, could (or should) be dissolved again. The NATO members in EFTA were to join the EEC. Neutral members such as Switzerland would be able to conclude an association treaty supporting the EEC’s political objectives with the EEC. (dodis.ch/30116)

Federal Councillor
Wahlen in the Elysée

George Ball’s visit caused great unease and concern in the Federal Palace. Fourteen working groups were set up to prepare for possible negotiations with the EEC. President Friedrich Traugott Wahlen visited French President Charles de Gaulle in the Elysée in 1961. Today we know what the two presidents said because the minutes of Wahlen’s conversation are now public. De Gaulle thanked Switzerland for its good offices, which had made a significant contribution to ending the Algerian war. Wahlen addressed the problems of the Association Treaty: “[…] Another reason that prevents us from joining the European Community is the constitutional problem. In our referendum democracy, we cannot cede powers to another community, as they are reserved for the people, who are the sovereign in the full sense of the word.” De Gaulle replied: “France understands your desire for a form of understanding with the European Community that will not be easy to find. But you can rest assured that France will not put any difficulties in your way.” (dodis.ch/30270)

Hearing in the
EEC Council of Ministers

In autumn 1962, the Federal Council was given the opportunity to present Switzerland’s position in a letter to the EEC Council of Ministers. President Wahlen’s statement contained the following impressive passage:
  “In the agreement to be reached with the Community, Switzerland must however preserve its neutrality, as it provides the protection of its independence, and its domestic structure of federalism and direct democracy. Direct democracy, federalism and neutrality have shaped the political face of Switzerland. They have grown out of its diversity and have given it a political stability which, it seems to us, has had a favourable effect on its relations with third countries.” (dodis.ch/30371)

De Gaulle vetoes the agreement

An association treaty, which today would be referred to as a framework treaty, did not materialise. French President Charles de Gaulle was concerned about the continuing pressure from across the Atlantic and, in the EEC Council of Ministers, vetoed the admission of Great Britain. The planned negotiations with Switzerland were put on ice. EFTA was now given the space and time it needed to develop. However, the coming months were not entirely without disturbances. Minister Paul Jolles, head of the Integration Office, recounted a conversation he had with the head of the Policy Planning Board of the US State Department as follows: “My interlocutor unreservedly advocated the well-known American view that nation statehood in Europe was historically obsolete [...]. The conversation left me with the impression that the State Department brain trust had lost touch with the realities of Europe.” (dodis.ch/30356)

Free Trade Treaty of 1972

Paul Jolles and his colleagues drew up the free trade agreement that was then concluded between the EFTA countries and the EC in 1972. It was a success: in the federal referendum, it was approved by all the cantons and 72 per cent of the voters. The treaty and the more than one hundred subsequent supplementary agreements have now been in force for over 50 years – without ever giving rise to any major discussions. These rules do work.
  Great Britain joined the EC in 1974 (after the death of de Gaulle) and pulled out in 2020, following a referendum. The UK recently concluded a free trade and cooperation agreement with the EU. In contrast to the UK, Switzerland can look back on more than fifty years of positive experience with its free trade agreement. The treaty has contributed to the phenomenal prosperity we enjoy today.

Fondation Jean Monnet pour l’Europe

Jean Monnet was often in Switzerland in the sixties and seventies, and he left his mark: in 1978, shortly before his death, he established the Fondation Jean Monnet pour l’Europe. The Ford Foundation (USA) financed the establishment of a Centre for European Studies. The University of Lausanne established the first Jean Monnet Chair for European Integration. Students from Switzerland and abroad were trained in the “spirit” of Monnet, i.e. prepared for the future “United States of Europe”. The most prominent student was the later Federal Councillor Jean-Pascal Delamuraz, who brought Switzerland closer to the EU than anyone before or since.
  Over 300 personalities from all over Europe – many of them politicians and senior civil servants – are members of the Foundation Board. The President today is a former President of the European Parliament, the Irishman Pat Cox. Politicians and economists from non-member state Switzerland are also members. Jakob Kellenberger was President of the Foundation for a short time (2008/09). As State Secretary, he led the negotiations on the Bilateral Agreements I and was subsequently President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC).
  Ever since 2000, the Fondation Jean Monnet pour l’Europe has annually awarded gold medals to personalities who have rendered outstanding services to the foundation’s goal of a “United States of Europe”. The prize-winners include Helmut Kohl and Helmut Schmidt, Jean-Claude Juncker, Jacques Delors, Romano Prodi, Mario Draghi and others. Swiss Federal Councillors Felber, Delamuraz and Ogi had previously been honoured. The centre is financed by the Swiss Confederation, the canton of Vaud and the US Ford Foundation, among others. The “Holy Grail” of Europe is to remain in Lausanne and – as it says on the homepage – will remain a “place of reflection and a place of debate and encounters”.

Parallels to today

Today, too, the focus is on an association or framework agreement that is intended to institutionally integrate Switzerland even more closely into the EU. During his state visit, French President Emmanuel Macron said that Switzerland is de facto integrated into Europe and is part of it. “We all love Switzerland, which has a unique relationship with Europe, namely that it is not joining the EU.” To this president Alain Berset added: “Switzerland is profoundly European, not only through its geographical location, but also through its values and culture.”
  What more do we want? Do we need to extend even further the political integration we already have today? Do we really have to automatically adopt EU laws? Should the EU Court of Justice really have the last word? Should we give the EU Commission the right to respond with compensatory measures if a referendum in Switzerland does not comply with EU law? – In the run-up to the 1972 Free Trade Agreement, the federal councillors had a clear position on such questions.

Closing remarks
by Jakob Kellenberger

Jakob Kellenberger joined the diplomatic service of the Swiss Confederation in the 1970s. He experienced all the “turbulence” with this “recalcitrant” people – in connection with the EEA, the application for membership, or the long-standing strategic orientation towards EU accession of the Federal Council’s policy. Kellenberger was very close to the EU. He was in favour of institutional integration and actively helped to shape and initiate the relevant policy. – In 2014, he wrote the book “Wo liegt die Schweiz? – Gedanken zum Verhältnis CH – EU (Where is Switzerland located? – Thoughts on the relationship between CH and EU)”. On the last page (p. 186) of his contemplative report on the past decades, he writes:
  “A return to the free trade concept of 1972 is perhaps indeed the obvious way forward for a country that is struggling with the prerequisites for successful post-92 bilateralism and has no political ambitions which could only be realised by joining the EU.”  •

For in-depth study:

Wüthrich, Werner. Wirtschaft und direkte Demokratie in der Schweiz, Geschichte der freiheitlich-demokratischen Wirtschaftsverfassung der Schweiz (Economy and direct democracy in Switzerland, a history of the liberal-democratic economic constitution of Switzerland), Verlag Zeit-Fragen, Zürich 2020
Roussel, Eric. Jean Monnet. Paris 1996
Numerous documents from the Dodis archive (Diplomatic Documents of Switzerland)
Clarification order of the Foreign Affairs Committees (FAC-S) of 11 January 2021 – “Brexit versus InstA”
Kellenberger, Jakob. Wo liegt die Schweiz? Gedanken zum Verhältnis CH–EU (Where is Switzerland located? Thoughts on the CH-EU relationship). Zurich 2014