Archiv | [Demission-MCR] For an active Switzerland in Europe – now!

10.09.11

[Demission-MCR] For an active Switzerland in Europe – now!

After the demission announcement of federal councillor Micheline Calmy-Rey, young european swiss | yes asks the Federal Council to grant European policy priority. As foreign minister, Calmy-Rey contributed substantially to the deepening of the EU- Swiss relations through static sectoral bilateral treaties over the last decade. History will credit her resolute countering of isolationist rhetoric and her capacity to find popular majorities for an open Switzerland. Yes demands that the Federal Council pursues Calmy-Rey’s “active foreign policy” and paves the way to full EU member- ship.

Micheline Calmy-Rey served as foreign minister for nine years and shaped Swiss foreign and European policy of the new millennium decisively. During her term, numerous popular votes on Europe took place (in which the people supported her without an exception) and which deepened the sectoral bilateral approach with agreements on movement of labour and Schengen/Dublin. In the same period, the EU Commission opened its first embassy in Switzerland (on a parliamentary initiative inspired by yes). Shortly, during Calmy-Rey’s era, the relations between Switzerland and the EU were developed quantitatively as well as qualitatively and she may take credit for this development.

Calmy-Rey’s biggest achievement is her determination to fight verbal critique on all Europe- an issues uttered by certain isolationist forces. Thanks to an ingenious and at times surpris- ing mix of rhetoric callousness and francophone charm, she managed to convince by argu- ment and win majorities in the electoral population. Part of her success was that the Swiss never knew her true convictions on the EU questions and that she staunchly defended the majority opinion of the Federal Council abroad as well as domestically.

Despite her honorable merits in deepening the EU-Swiss relations, yes welcomes Calmy- Rey’s demission decision. The last two years have witnessed a period of accentuated diffi- culties in finding solutions and have displayed the institutional weaknesses of static treaties. How many times have we seen how powerless the Swiss government was just following events in Europe recently? Examples are the 24-hour rule, the Libya affair and the current monetary challenges. Calmy-Rey’s personal frustration became obvious when she recently criticised the EU for alleged delaying tactics.

Yes expects the Federal Council attribute European policy a top priority for the next four years. Current static treaties lead to systematic discrimination of Switzerland in many do- mains and therefore, new ideas for more sustainable solutions are needed. No new visions need to be developed as Swiss foreign policy is well-situated after the era Calmy-Rey. Yes wishes that the courage which Calmy-Rey already displayed on global level (ie. reconcilia- tion policy between Armenia and Turkey) in promoting “an active Swiss foreign policy” may also be applied in the politics with our closest neighbours.

Even in the age of globalisation, the future of Switzerland lays predominantly on its doorstep – a full EU membership is therefore the logic and right continuation of Calmy-Rey’s „active and open“ foreign policy!

For questions and comments, please do not hesitate contacting

Sabrina Würmli, Generalsekretärin yes

sabrina@y-e-s.ch / 079 723 03 31

www.y-e-s.ch