Contracts With Pitfalls

A sober look at the emotionally charged relationship between Switzerland and the EU

This «food for thought» examines the agreement package negotiated between Switzerland and the EU primarily from a legal perspective. It does not focus so much on the advantages and disadvantages that acceptance of the agreement would likely bring for the Swiss economy, politics, and society. These are, after all, assessed and weighed very differently by various groups and segments of the population. Instead, the lawyer and NZZ editor Katharina Fontana attempts a dispassionate analysis of precisely what the agreements contain, how the sensitive passages are to be understood, and where potential pitfalls lie.

The 20 articles and interviews are divided into three thematic sections. They address the contrast between a judicial state and a legislative state, the free movement of persons, and the question of whether a majority of cantons would be necessary in a referendum on the agreements.