Officially known as the Swiss Confederation, Switzerland is a federal parliamentary republic comprised of 26 cantons, which represent four languages and a population of just over eight million . Switzerland is well known for its small landmass yet high standard of living, as well as its banking system and adherence to traditional Swiss culture. While the state is autonomous, it is a part of the Schengen Area unlike all EU members, and remains outside of the European Union (EU) and the European Economic Area (EEA), as it became the sole EFTA member to reject membership by referendum in 1992 . Despite this, Switzerland maintains a staunch economic relationship with members of the EU through a series of bilateral agreements involving trade, free movement of people, agriculture and taxation among others. These provisions between countries provide an increasingly interdependent European continent characterized by trade agreements, free movement of Swiss-EU citizens and a single European market.
A recent referendum against mass immigration has passed through Switzerland’s direct democracy by a majority of just 50.3% , effectively nullifying the bilateral agreements that were reached with the EU in 1999. The referendum is binding in Switzerland and requires the Swiss Federal Council to produce legislation within three years of the vote. As a result, officials within the EU have voiced their regrets regarding the outcome of the ballot, and are carefully considering re-evaluating their relations with Switzerland. The issue of Switzerland’s proposed cap on immigration is a very recent matter, and the results of the referendum will likely be a catalyst for changes in EU policies. This paper will examine steps that the European Union cou...
... middle of paper ...
...immigration." Le Temps, September 2011.
Ryser, Monique. Bilateral Agreements Switzerland-EU. Edited by Integration Office FDFA/FDEA. Bern, Switzerland: Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA, 2009.
Schwok, René. Switzerland - European Union: An Impossible Membership? Brussels: European Interuniversity Press, 2009.
Taylor, Paul, and Richard Mably. "Switzerland Can't Have It Both Ways on Migration: EU's Barroso." Reuters (Brussels), February 12, 2014. Accessed March 2014. http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/12/us-eurozone-summit-switzerland-idUSBREA1B0FG20140212.
Telegraph staff and agencies. "France ready to 'roll out the red carpet' for British exit from EU." The Telegraph (England), January 23, 2013. Accessed March 2014. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9820327/France-ready-to-roll-out-the-red-carpet-for-British-exit-from-EU.html.
Working unitedly is a basic thing to do if you have one to 10 people, but with almost a whole country working as a union is a significant and a spontaneous deal. Which Union am I talking about? The European Union, of course! This Union holds virtually all of the European Countries with 28 countries. Unfortunately, some countries never did join because of losing sovereignty.
Most of the time, countries only let another government set rules for them when they trust the other government. If 28 countries trust another government, the government must be very trustworthy. Also, the parliament is located in Belgium, Luxembourg, and France. There are other countries that do not have part of the government in their country, which means that the countries are uniting together. The European Union also has a common currency, called the Euro.
Economic integration is the joining of economic policies between different states/regions. This eliminates tariff and non-tariff barriers to the flow of goods, services and factors of production between the regions. Economic integration has varying levels referred to as trading blocs; these are a form economic integration. A trading bloc is a group of nations that have been made a bilateral or multilateral agreement. There are four types of trading blocs. The least advanced level is the Free Trade Area. The features of this level is that reduced tariff barriers between signatories, which at times are abandoned altogether and there is free movement of labour and capital and the non-member countries have an independent set of tariffs against member countries. The second level of economic integration is the Customs Union. This is a Free Trade Agreement plus a common external tariff. Member countries agree to reduce tariff barriers among themselves and they have in common, this is referred to as tax harmonisation. The Common Market is the third level of trade blocs. This has features of the Customs Union plus free movement of capital and labour and some policy harmonisation such as similar trade policies to prevent certain member countries having an unfair advantage. The European Union is an example of a Common Market and is an economic and political partnership that involves 28 European countries. It allows goods and people to be moved around and has its own currency, the euro, which is used by nineteen of the member countries (The UK excluded). It also has its own parliament and sets rules in a wide range of areas such as transport,...
With the introduction of the Schengen Agreement in 1985, travel and restrictions within Europe drastically changed. For the first time in the world, a large group of countries banded together and abolished any restriction on travel, creating a massive zone of free travel. Anyone who was a citizen of a country within the European union now had access to every other country also within the area, creating essentially a borderless landmass. This agreement had some major positive factors, but also some blaring negative effects. The most blaring negative side effect of the free tra...
A Democratic Deficit in the EU The question over the legitimacy of the EU has been a nearly continuous debate and many commentators appear to agree that the EU suffers from a severe ‘democratic deficit’. There are many reasons why this perception is so widespread. As a multinational body it lacks the grounding in common history and culture upon which most individual polities can draw.
Problems with the Maastricht Treaty and its Goal to Unify Europe My position is in opposition to the unification of Europe as proposed under the Maastricht Treaty, as beneficial to Europe. We will prove beyond a reasonable doubt about the uselessness of the treaty. The main principle of the Maastricht Treaty is European Unity. Unity is a nice warm hearted word.
Peterson, J. and Shackleton, M. 2002. The institutions of the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Thomassen, J. 2009. The Legitimacy of the European Union after Enlargement. In: Thomassen, J. Eds. The Legitimacy of the European Union after Enlargement. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 67-86.
Bloemraad, Irene. “The Debate Over Multiculturalism: Philosophy, Politics, and Policy.” www.migrationpolicy.org. September 22, 2011. Web.
The EU shares sovereignty with its member states just like a federal system would .At the same time its member states retain much of their traditional autonomy and are still viewed as nation states as confederation would. Thus the EU may be described as a multi-level governance supranational organization that resists strict classification as either a confederation or a federation but it has both confederal and federal character .
Dinan, D (2010): Ever Closer Union. An Introduction to European Integration (4th ed.) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan
The Swiss federal government is greatly divided over joining the European Union (EU). In a March 2001 referendum 70% of Swiss voters rejected steps toward EU membership (The World Factbook, 2007).
In order to be a member of the European Union, an applying nation must first meet the requirements of membership as described in the Copenhagen Criteria. There are geographic, democratic and economic criteria. Geographically, the applying nation must be classified as a European nation, as exemplified by Morocco’s rejection. The applying nation must also have a secure and functional democratic government that only acts in accordance with the law. This means that any citizen should be able participate in the political system and that there are free elections with a secret ballot. The government must also respect human rights and have protection policies for minorities, meaning that a persons’ inalienable rights are protected by law and minority groups can retain their culture and language without discrimination. Economically, a country must have a functional market economy on which it can feasibly support itself and other member nations if need be. The country’s economy needs to be able to compete on a global scale and deal with economic pressures. There are also separate guidelines for countries wanting to convert to the Euro. Finally, countries that want to join must agree to uphold laws and regulations t...
The enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004 and 2007 has been termed as the largest single expansion of the EU with a total of 12 new member states – bringing the number of members to 27 – and more than 77 million citizens joining the Commission (Murphy 2006, Neueder 2003, Ross 2011). A majority of the new member states in this enlargement are from the eastern part of the continent and were countries that had just emerged from communist economies (EC 2009, Ross 2011), although overall, the enlargement also saw new member states from very different economic, social and political compared to that of the old member states (EC 2009, Ross 2011). This enlargement was also a historical significance in European history, for it saw the reunification of Europe since the Cold War in a world of increasing globalization (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). For that, overall, this enlargement is considered by many to have been a great success for the EU and its citizens but it is not without its problems and challenges (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). This essay will thus examine the impact of the 2004/2007 enlargements from two perspectives: firstly, the impact of the enlargements on the EU as a whole, and thereafter, how the enlargements have affected the new member states that were acceded during the 2004/2007 periods. Included in the essay will be the extent of their integration into the EU and how being a part of the Commission has contributed to their development as nation states. Following that, this essay will then evaluate the overall success of the enlargement process and whether the EU or the new member states have both benefited from the accessions or whether the enlargement has only proven advantageous to one th...
Between January and November of this year more than 750,000 migrants have been estimated crossing into the EU’s borders compared to only 280,000 in the whole year during 2014 (www.bbc.com). This influx of refugees and asylum seekers from the Middle East has become a heavy burden for European Union policy makers. Many state leaders have opposing viewpoints and varying solutions to the crisis that is plaguing their region and as a result there has been little to no actions taken to solve this ever growing problem. This crisis should serve as prime example of global cooperation, and it should highlight the ability to come together internationally and deal with important problems that affect all individuals. The solution of the refugee crisis will