4 ms·
It doesn't make a lot of sense that Switzerland is the EU's version of MA or NY or that Zurich is the EU version of NYC or SF given that Switzerland is not in t
by phd514 8y ago
It doesn't make a lot of sense that Switzerland is the EU's version of MA or NY or that Zurich is the EU version of NYC or SF given that Switzerland is not in the EU and quite happy that way, too.
- barrkel 8y agoSwitzerland has a big complex web of treaties and agreements with the EU that make it almost, but not quite, a member. Neither the EU nor Switzerland are entirely happy with the situation; the EU doesn't like all the tradeoffs that need to be balanced just for Switzerland rather than in the standard EU bundle, while Switzerland doesn't like things like freedom of moment being made a condition of market access. See e.g. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/22/switzerland-votes-for-compromise-to-preserve-relations-with-eu https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/22/switzerland-vo... More than 120 treaties as of that writing, with guillotine clause - break one, break them all.
- throwawayjava 8y agoThe analogy makes perfect sense. They're both instances of a relatively small area with very tight historical ties to a much larger region. The relationship between the local economies and the regional economies bears enlightening similarities. US states are not sovereign nations. but the analogy b/w EU member states and US states still makes perfect sense in some economic discussions. The analogy is useful. A more apt criticism of the analogy might be "Switzerland's economy is not tightly integrated and dependent on the EU's economy" or "Switzerland has lots of tariffs", but neither of those things is true.