Swiss Diplomat Yves Rossier: EU's Operations Mirror Switzerland's

Yves Rossier, a Swiss diplomat deeply involved in European affairs, draws a striking comparison between the operational mechanisms of the European Union and Switzerland. Rossier, who was instrumental in the now-defunct institutional agreement negotiations between Switzerland and the EU, suggests that the EU's functioning is "astonishingly very similar to that of Switzerland."

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The functioning of the EU is astonishingly very similar to that of Switzerland.

Rossier's engagement with Europe began early, pursuing a scholarship to the College of Europe in Bruges in 1985, where he felt a heightened sense of Swiss identity. He describes his attachment to Switzerland and his European convictions as parallel forces that mutually nourish each other. His interest in Europe was further shaped by Professor Henri Rieben, an associate of Jean Monnet, and a formative year spent in West Berlin during a turbulent period.

Reflecting on the evolution of the European question in Swiss politics, Rossier notes that before the 1992 vote on the European Economic Area (EEA), the topic received little public attention. However, he observes that the EU has since become a potent political tool, particularly for the Swiss People's Party (UDC), allowing it to mobilize voters by projecting national fears onto the bloc. Rossier explains that the EU often serves as a "perfect nightmare" onto which various political factions project their anxieties: the left fears unchecked capitalism, while the right worries about bureaucracy and the erosion of national identity.

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My attachment to Switzerland and my European convictions have always been parallel; the two feed each other.

Rossier, speaking from his holiday home in Burgundy, avoids dwelling on the failure of the institutional agreement negotiations, which were unilaterally halted by the Swiss Federal Council in May 2021. Instead, he focuses on the broader significance of Europe, both the EU and the continental entity, in his life and in the lives of the Swiss people. He acknowledges the complex relationship Switzerland has with its neighbors and the ongoing questioning of its identity, which has been amplified by European integration since the 1990s.

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A foreign policy debate is always a domestic policy debate, you know. And the European Union is often the perfect nightmare.