Towards a “Reset” of EU-Swiss Relations?

Abstract

Switzerland is a non-member state without membership aspirations. In fact, less than one in five Swiss have been in favour of EU membership in recent years. Switzerland’s stake in the future of the European project is thus generally limited to managing and developing “bilateralism” – its unique relationship with the EU. At the same time, the politics of EU-Swiss relations are typical of the difficulties of non-members (and the exiting UK) in finding a viable relationship with the EU within the constraints of domestic Euroscepticism and international economic interdependence.