Former Federal Councillor Joseph Deiss: 1992 EEA Rejection Was a 'Historic Mistake'

Joseph Deiss, ancien conseiller fédéral : le rejet de l'EEE en 1992 est une "erreur historique".

mar, 23 avr 2024

Former Federal Councillor Joseph Deiss argues for Switzerland’s EU membership, criticising current measures.

Joseph Deiss remains an advocate of Switzerland’s accession to the EU. Switzerland is basically hanging from one provisional arrangement to the next, said Deiss in an interview.

“With Europe, there is only one way to achieve the goal: accession,” said Deiss in an interview with the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung” published on Tuesday.

The former Federal Councillor does not mind being alone with his opinion. For him, joining the EU does not mean suicide, contrary to the prevailing opinion, but a gain in sovereignty.

Since the adoption of the Bilateral Agreements with the free movement of persons in 2000, the opposite of what was conjured up at the time has happened. “Has there been more unemployment here? Was there wage pressure? Not at all!” said Deiss. Instead, there were 100,000 job vacancies and 26,000 unfilled apprenticeships.

‘Historical Error’

In 1992, Swiss voters rejected accession to the European Economic Area (EEA) and thus embarked on the bilateral path. According to Deiss, the “no” vote was a “historic mistake”.

If Switzerland had joined the EEA, many of today’s problems with the EU would have been solved long ago, he was convinced. “Our mistake remains that we think we are entitled to be treated better as a non-member than as a member of the EU,” said the former Federal Councillor.

©Keystone/SDA

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Joseph Deiss, ancien conseiller fédéral : le rejet de l'EEE en 1992 est une "erreur historique".

Joseph Deiss, ancien conseiller fédéral : le rejet de l'EEE en 1992 est une "erreur historique".

‘Historical Error’

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