http://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/0,,3-93919,00.html
MONDAY MARCH 05 2001
Swiss say no to joining the EU
BY MARTIN FLETCHER, EUROPEAN CORRESPONDENT
SWITZERLAND overwhelmingly rejected early membership of the European Union by
a margin of nearly four to one in a national referendum yesterday. Nobody had
expected the 4.6 million eligible voters to back the “Yes to Europe”
initiative that would have forced the Government to open immediate
negotiations with Brussels, but nor had anyone predicted it would be defeated
so heavily. An estimated 77 per cent, and all 26 cantons, voted no. The
turnout was 55 per cent. The Government opposed the initiative, arguing that
it favoured EU membership but only when the time was right. Those campaigning
against joining the EU argued that membership would mean higher taxes and
interest rates, heavy financial contributions and a loss of sovereignty. One
poster showed a Swiss chicken plucked, gagged and shackled by EU handcuffs.
Switzerland’s economy is booming and the country has recently negotiated free
trade agreements with the EU. Christoph Blocher, leader of the Eurosceptic
Swiss People’s Party, was jubilant. He said that the Government should drop
EU membership plans for good. Ruedi Baumann, president of the Green Party,
which was part of the coalition of left-wing and youth groups that collected
the 100,000 signatures required to force the referendum, said: “It’s an
absolutely brutal defeat.” The groups had argued that Switzerland should help
to shape EU decisions that affect it anyway and should join before it has to
negotiate entry with an enlarged EU of perhaps up to 25 members. A European
Commission spokesman said: “The Swiss did not say no to Europe. They chose to
answer the question later and this is obviously a choice that the European
Commission respects.”
