Switzerland Withdraws Application to Join European Union

Lausanne is the capital of the canton of Vaud.

Switzerland’s long-pending and possibly moribund application to join the European Union will be withdrawn, following a vote in parliament last week.

The Federal Assembly voted to invalidate the 1992 application, made before the European Union came into existence, one week before Britain votes on its own EU membership.

The news was first reported in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung.

Thomas Minder, who serves as counselor for the canton of Schaffhausen, told the paper that only “a few lunatics” would want to join the European Union now. The measure passed in the Council of States 27 to 13, with two abstentions. In March it passed in the National Council 126 to 46.

Iceland withdrew its application to join the European Union in 2015 and the Swiss application had had little impact on domestic politics for more than two decades after Swiss voters narrowly rejected a bid to join the European Economic Area in 1992. In addition, the European Union has not considered the Alpine country an official candidate for membership for many years.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)