The Vice-President of the German Bundestag, Omid Nouripour, evokes a support from Switzerland to the European Union, in the context of the customs conflict with the United States. The Greens’ representative expressed himself with the German news agency (DPA): “The federal government should now propose to Switzerland to quickly deepen cooperation, up to Switzerland from the EU”.
Mr. Nouripor added: “If, under the sign of new times, our Swiss friends wish to get closer to the European Union, Germany should actively support this approach”. “For centuries, the Swiss have cultivated a tradition of strict neutrality,” said Mr. Nouripor, “but the recent customs conflict with Donald Trump painfully shows how vulnerable the small states are vulnerable when they are left to themselves. Politically neutral, economically global – it is no longer possible in the new era ”, not in a world where the established rules are increasingly threatened by the law of the strongest.
“Switzerland may be rich, it is nonetheless delivered to the arbitrary game of the big ones. In this context, the EU may not be the best choice from a Swiss point of view, but it is by far the most reliable. ” Switzerland would undoubtedly be an asset for the EU, but the EU also has a lot to offer the Confederation in these necessary times of cohesion.
Open social democrats
Before him, Markus Töns, spokesperson for the social democratic parliamentary group in the Bundestag for European issues, had already been open to the idea of welcoming Switzerland as a 28th member of the European Union. “If Switzerland requests the EU membership, it will be welcome,” Tetöns told Spiegel.
President Donald Trump imposed a 39% customs right on imports from Switzerland, in force since August 7. For most products from the European Union, the rate is set at 15%. In response to these American customs rights, closer cooperation with the European Union was requested in Switzerland. However, membership in the EU is not envisaged. It is rather the package of agreements with the EU which is at the center of the debates.