Right wing (in Switzerland) building walls-sovereignty should trump freedom of movement in Europe.

[pampango]

http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/Home/Archive/Rightwing_raises_stakes_over_future_EU_relations.html?cid=29070448

"The rightwing Swiss People’s Party is calling on the government to rule out the option of Swiss membership of the European Union and the adoption of EU law. In an interview with swissinfo.ch Hans Fehr, senior party member and parliamentarian, accuses the government of being ambiguous about future ties between Bern and Brussels.

Switzerland has concluded more than 120 bilateral accords with the 27-nation bloc, but the EU is now stepping up pressure to find different forms of cooperation.

Take the example of the Schengen regulations in Europe . We have been forced to adopt new laws – about 120 modifications just a few years – without being able to consult Swiss voters. At the same time the costs for the Schengen treaty are soaring and the single border policy area is threatened by growing insecurity.

The joint working group in Brussels is discussing ‘institutional solutions’. They want us to take over new laws automatically and be subject to foreign judges. But this is unacceptable for a sovereign state."

It would be nice if the SPP staked its future on the willingness of the Swiss to trade their ability to travel freely around Europe as they do now, for the additional "sovereignty" that border controls would bring. It's the same trade-off that right wing parties throughout Europe (like the BNP in the UK) support and liberal parties oppose.

Ah for the good ol' days of the first half of the 20th century when European countries knew what "sovereignty" meant and exercised it frequently. And national politicians could scare voters with stories about the intentions of the "others" in neighboring countries. It's no secret that open travel, work and trade between France and Germany has produced more peace and prosperity than all the Maginot Lines and tariffs between the two ever did.

I haven't met many Europeans who are not happy to be able to travel across the continent without border controls.

[Hannah Bell]

1. and are they happy with the assault on their welfare states?

[hughee99]

2. The French seem very happy with it, unless it's the Roma

that are doing the traveling.

[dipsydoodle]

3. freedom of movement aspect

is a red herring.

[Democracyinkind]

4. Hans Fehr is a disgruntled old white male that has problems adjusting.

Pretty much like your average Repub in the states.

But then, and I'm happy to say this, what he says is a pack of lies. While his populist idiocratist SVP party - run by a fringe group of the most obscure billionaires you've ever seen - has gained a solid majority on a federal and state level Schengen and the bilateral agreements between Switzerland and the EU are very well received by the Swiss people.

There's no insecurity at any of our borders, and no insecurity means no increase. Empirical evidence tells us that closing most border stations has been a good thing for the people of Switzerland. They would never give up their right to travel unrestricted and without passport within the EU - all else is just the wet dream of the Hans Fehrs of Switzerland that are slowly dying out. (Let's see how much minority bashing there will be in Switzerland once those obscure billionaires die?)

The SVP isn't serious about this. They don't scapegoat and fight counterparts that are able to defend themselves. These weasels spend all their energy on smearing immigrants and those who can't counter. They're not fond on fights over issues where there's no helpless victim - and they FEAR the EU. You can readily read the fear out of what he said. That makes me happy - because by now it is already signed and sealed that Switzerland will become part of the EU to a much larger extent that it already (isn't) is (pun intended): it's the declared will of the people who run this country who clearly aren't Hans Fehr and clearly not the "majority" he pretends to represent.

Rant over. (WUI)

[pampango]

5. Thanks for the informative post. n/t