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As someone now living in Switzerland, I've found it largely futile trying to explain anything about Switzerland to most non-Europeans. For starters, no one seem
by vinay427 7y ago
As someone now living in Switzerland, I've found it largely futile trying to explain anything about Switzerland to most non-Europeans. For starters, no one seems to bother with what countries are in the EU, let alone the EEA, let alone where Switzerland is in all of this. Apparently "everyone in Europe" has free government-paid healthcare and never has to pay for any medical expenses. I could go on...
- vonmoltke 7y agoA lot of Europeans on this site make similar statements.
- DoofusOfDeath 7y agoWell, if you're willing to take one more shot at explaining the situation, I for one would be interested.
- zaarn 7y agoTbf the borders of "Europe" are fairly complicated, there is the EU itself, the EEA, the Schengen Area, the Eurozone, EFTA and CEFTA, the EUCU, the EEU, the CISFTA, the OBSEC, the Eastern partnership (or EPA), the OECD Countries, the CEI, and finally the Council of Europe. There is more that I probably forgot about but this should about cover it. None of these political areas and borders have 100% coverage amongst eachother, they're all different groups.
- vinay427 7y agoDefinitely. One could even add NATO to that alongside OECD. I don't really expect most people to understand all of these groups, but just to avoid making sweeping statements about the continent (which already has an ambiguous definition) without understanding the groups. I guess this problem of generalizing is a concern with nearly every issue, though.