Switzerland’s place in Europe

Switzerland lies at the heart of Europe. It is closely connected with its neighbouring states, the other European states and the European organisations – since time immemorial and of its own accord, not because an office in Brussels demands it.
  This is shown by the programmes of the National Council and the Council of States for the current summer session. In the Council of States on 1 June and in the National Council on 7 June, an impressive series of reports were/are on the agenda. These are the reports of the “Delegations for relations with neighbouring states”; the “EFTA/European Parliament Delegation”; the “Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the OSCE”; the “Parliamentary Delegation to the Council of Europe”; the “Delegation to the Interparliamentary Union”; the “Delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophonie”; and the “Swiss Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly”. We are present everywhere, whether as a member or as an observer delegation, and that is a good thing.
  It would be advisable for the members of parliament to use the meetings with EU and NATO members of parliament to introduce them to the Swiss model. For it is striking how little some decision-makers in the Western states – even some ambassadors in Bern! – know Switzerland and understand its position. It is up to our parliamentarians and diplomats to lay the necessary groundwork.

What follows is a brief critical overview of some of the reports and an appreciation of the report on relations with neighbouring countries, the cultivation of which is particularly important for every country.

Swiss Delegation to EFTA and to the European Parliament
(Report 22.010 of 31 December 2021)

With regard to EFTA, the delegates were mainly concerned with new and planned free trade agreements and reviewed the compliance of the contracting states with labour and environmental regulations. Relations with the EU are well known: Brussels insists on “clarification of institutional issues” as a condition for updating existing and concluding new “market access agreements”. (Parenthesis note: Some of these do indeed open up market access to Switzerland for the EU rather than vice versa, for example the overland transport agreement, because north-south truck transit benefits almost exclusively the EU states).
  The Swiss delegation rightly rejects the expulsion from the EU's education and research programmes because of Switzerland’s unwillingness to sign a framework agreement dictated by Brussels: “In the delegation’s view, this political linkage between market access and cooperation agreements remains irrelevant and incomprehensible.” (Conclusions, Report, p. 10) Therefore, it seems that the main activity of the delegates in 2021 was – and will be in 2022 – to lobby from one EU body to the next and from one member state to the other to ask for access to Horizon Europe, Erasmus+ and what they are all called. There are truly more meaningful things to do in the mutual relations of the European peoples! Especially since Switzerland knows how to counter the harassment from Brussels with creative and cost-effective solutions.

Swiss Delegation to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
(Report 22.011 of 31 December 2021)

The scope of activities of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the importance it could also have today for law and peace have already been outlined several times in Current Concerns. Switzerland has always played an active role in the OSCE. The introduction to the detailed report mentions the engagement of Swiss diplomacy since 2014 in the effort to find a solution to the Ukraine crisis, with special mention of Ambassador Heidi Grau’s mandate as OSCE Special Envoy to Ukraine in 2019, 2020 and 2021.
  How much the Swiss diplomats could achieve on the ground of impartiality in this unfortunate country, whose people and their belongings are being sacrificed to the power madness of what was once the only superpower, we do not know. What we do know: Without strict adherence to neutrality towards both warring parties, Switzerland will not be perceived as a trustworthy interlocutor, neither in Ukraine nor elsewhere. But all is not yet over – one should never give up hope that human reason will prevail. By offering Good Offices, Switzerland could contribute far more in today’s as in any war situation than by chasing Russian assets (without any proof of their illicit acquisition!).

Swiss Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly¹

What are Swiss parliamentarians doing at NATO? Well, they attend the meetings of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA)² as well as its seminars and working meetings and are “informed” there about NATO’s views and objectives. The president of the NATO PA is – as one would expect – a US-American, Gerald E. Connolly, and he set the tariff at the spring session of 2021 (i.e., one year before the Russian military operation in Ukraine). There was talk, for example, of “revitalising transatlantic relations through a renewed US commitment” or of the upcoming “revision of NATO’s [outdated] strategic concept”, because it “still talks about Russia as a partner, and China is not mentioned and climate change is barely mentioned” (Report, p. 3). On a total of 14 pages, the entire programme of the USA/NATO war power can be read, which was announced to the Swiss delegates on various occasions.
  Conclusions of the Swiss delegation: “Many of the topics dealt with by the NATO-PA are also important for Switzerland's security policy”, for example the new NATO Strategic Concept, the tensions between NATO and Russia, the rise of China or the fight against terrorism and cyber threats (Report, p. 14).
  What is urgently recommended to the National Councillors and Councillors of States of neutral Switzerland is to obtain security and geopolitical information from states and alliances of states outside NATO as well as from independent experts. It would be necessary! (See box “Who is pushing Switzerland into NATO”?)

Delegations for relations with the neighbouring states: a happy thing

Since 2003, Swiss parliamentary delegations have maintained regular relations with the parliaments of the five neighbouring states (Delegation for relations with the German Bundestag (Del-D), the Austrian Parliament (Del-A), the French Parliament (Del-F), the Italian Parliament (Del-I) and the Parliament of the Principality of Liechtenstein (Del-FL).)³ The activities of the individual delegations vary according to the current situation; in the reporting year 2021, they had to be resumed after the break resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
  As an example, the Del-A is singled out here; it consists of six members of the National Council and four members of the Council of States; its counterpart comprises twelve members of the Austrian National Council and one member of the Federal Council. Their meeting last year took place on 1-2 July in Brunnen on Lake Lucerne. It served to cultivate relations and gave the visitors an insight into the economic and cultural background of the region. The programme included a visit to the production site of the world-famous Swiss pocket knives, the Victorinox company, as well as to the Bundesbrief Museum and the Morgarten memorial. (Del-A report of 19 July 2021).
  A central topic of discussion in 2021 was understandably the conclusion of the negotiations on the institutional framework agreement between Switzerland and the EU. The exchange with the Austrian parliamentarians was enjoyable and forward-looking. The Swiss participants explained the reasons which, from their point of view, had led to the breakdown of negotiations. “They emphasised that Switzerland remains a close and reliable partner of the EU even after this decision and that it is in the interest of all parties to continue the proven cooperation in many areas.” The Austrians and Swiss agreed that Switzerland’s participation in the EU Framework Programmes, in particular the Horizon research programme, should be considered separately from the question of an institutional agreement and [...] is in the interest of the entire European research landscape.” The Austrians showed understanding for Switzerland’s situation and assured that Austria would “work at EU level for the closest possible relationship between Switzerland and the EU” (Annual Report 22.017, p. 6).
  The return visit of the Swiss to Vienna has now taken place on 4/5 April 2022. The focus here was on the implementation of the strategic partnership that the two foreign ministers had decided on in the summer of 2021.⁴ The two parliaments see themselves as “providing impetus for concrete projects, for example for a cross-border exchange in the area of apprenticeship training”. A happy thing.  •

¹ Report 22.015 of the Swiss Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly of 31 December 2021 https://www.parlament.ch/centers/kb/Documents/2022/Kommissionsbericht_NATO-V_22.015_2021-12-31.pdf
² The NATO PA is a discussion forum in which a total of 269 parliamentarians from the 30 NATO member states deliberate on security and defense policy issues. In addition, delegates from eleven associated states (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Finland, Georgia, Austria, Republic of Moldova, Sweden, Switzerland, Serbia, Ukraine) can participate in the deliberations. Russia’s participation has been suspended since 2014. (Source: German Bundestag, NATO Parliamentary Assembly)
³ Annual Report 22.017 Report of the Delegations for the Maintenance of Relations with Parliaments of Other States of 31 December 2021.
⁴ “Federal Councilor Cassis on visit to Vienna: signing of a declaration of intent on the new strategic partnership between Switzerland and Austria”. Federal Council media release of 10 June 2021