Switzerland and the European Union, a long history

As the question of the future of Switzerland's relationship with the European Union (EU) is central to the future of our country in general, and as we will shortly be called upon to vote on this issue several times, it seems appropriate to retrace the history of this relationship and to refocus a debate which too often focuses on the emotional rather than the rational.

Unfortunately, many of the thoughts we hear are straight out of a collective imagination about the EU. What's more, it has become clear in a number of post-vote surveys that young people in our country regard Switzerland's position in Europe as either an achievement or an injustice. We need to show just how difficult this path has been for our country to those who have only experienced the current situation, or are unaware of the past.

I'm not going to retrace the relationships