4 ms·

I think it will kind of happen by proxy as European Union members are slowly turning into administrative regions rather than remaining as proper countries.

sneak 6y ago
Switzerland is not a member state of the EU. (They are part of the EEA and Schengen agreement zone, so people often forget this.)
- varispeed 6y ago
  I am aware of that, but my prediction is that they will be slowly less and less sovereign over time and at one point there will be one unified european superstate. Who knows, maybe German will become the main language?
  - sneak 6y ago
    What mechanism do you propose causes Switzerland, which is 100% sovereign (and even isn't part of the EU, despite all their neighbors being such), to become "less and less sovereign over time"? Who rules them? How? Why?
    - _ph_ 6y ago
      There are considerations amongst the Swiss to gain full EU membership. I don't know whether they are a majority though.
      - dgellow 6y ago
        Nop, definitely not. We (i.e swiss people, not me specifically) rejected it multiple times and that's clearly not going to change in the near future.
    - bellyfullofbac 6y ago
      https://www.dw.com/en/switzerland-ignores-eu-deadline-for-treaty/a-46639844 https://www.dw.com/en/switzerland-ignores-eu-deadline-for-tr... The EU is obviously Switzerland's biggest trading partner, and whatever trade is subject to rules and regulations they would negotiate with each other. But guess who has the upper hand in negotiations, if you guess the side with more money and the bigger market, i.e. the bigger economy, correct. I do find it strange that Switzerland allows anyone from the EU to come and live there if they have a job in the country (AFAIK this includes menial jobs like being a waiter). maybe it was something the EU offered as a package that the country had to take as a whole. In return obviously Swiss people are allowed to live and work anywhere in the EU as well. More on that: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54316316 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54316316 So in short, Switzerland is sovereign to do what it wants, but going too much against the will of its big brother would damage itself as well. And I imagine if the big brother decides for something new, Switzerland doesn't have unlimited power to say otherwise.
      - devdas 6y ago
        It's part of the trade agreement with the EU. https://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/switzerland/ https://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/coun...
      - ClumsyPilot 6y ago
        This argument about switzerland becoming part of Eu because of trade, is like argying that Mexico or Canada is becoming part of US
      - foldr 6y ago
        The EU is the UK's biggest trading partner, but that didn't stop us leaving after we were already in (sadly). There's a long history of people overestimating the importance of economic considerations in international relations. See e.g. all of the people who thought that the First World War couldn't happen because it would be an economic disaster. Turns out that it did, and was.
  - PicassoCTs 6y ago
    No, english is the neutral communication language european wide. One of the major players extending their language union wide (France, Italy, Germany) is not possible. It also wouldn't make sense. One romanic language would be easier to learn for the whole romanic language family. And eastern europe would inevitable and rightfully so feel alienated. Such imperialistic nonsense is just eating resources and getting nowhere. That road would certainly lead to resentment and then a fracturing of the EU.
    - em-bee 6y ago
      english as a language is not really neutral (but neither are other languages) but then, with great britain leaving the EU, english became a much more neutral option than it was before. however i would interpret the parent comments in the light of popularity. german and french may dominate the EU culturally without intending to do so. so it is reasonable to ask. putting this down as imperialistic nonsense suggests a political motivation that i just can't read from the parent comment
  - johnnycerberus 6y ago
    Your question sounds imperialistic. There are more people speaking a Romance language (French, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, Catalan) than a Germanic one. And the cherry on top of the cake... what about the Slavic ones? EU will be a federation like Switzerland is.
- rgblambda 6y ago
  Switzerland is not part of the EEA, although they have many treaties with the EU that more or less comprises the relationship the EU has with an EEA country.
  - sneak 6y ago
    Ahh, thanks for the correction! I knew I should have consulted that venn diagram[1] to double-check. [1]: https://boingboing.net/2011/03/12/venn-diagram-illustr.html https://boingboing.net/2011/03/12/venn-diagram-illustr.html

sneak 6y ago

Switzerland is not a member state of the EU. (They are part of the EEA and Schengen agreement zone, so people often forget this.)

varispeed 6y ago
I am aware of that, but my prediction is that they will be slowly less and less sovereign over time and at one point there will be one unified european superstate. Who knows, maybe German will become the main language?
- sneak 6y ago
  What mechanism do you propose causes Switzerland, which is 100% sovereign (and even isn't part of the EU, despite all their neighbors being such), to become "less and less sovereign over time"? Who rules them? How? Why?
  - _ph_ 6y ago
    There are considerations amongst the Swiss to gain full EU membership. I don't know whether they are a majority though.
    - dgellow 6y ago
      Nop, definitely not. We (i.e swiss people, not me specifically) rejected it multiple times and that's clearly not going to change in the near future.
  - bellyfullofbac 6y ago
    https://www.dw.com/en/switzerland-ignores-eu-deadline-for-treaty/a-46639844 https://www.dw.com/en/switzerland-ignores-eu-deadline-for-tr... The EU is obviously Switzerland's biggest trading partner, and whatever trade is subject to rules and regulations they would negotiate with each other. But guess who has the upper hand in negotiations, if you guess the side with more money and the bigger market, i.e. the bigger economy, correct. I do find it strange that Switzerland allows anyone from the EU to come and live there if they have a job in the country (AFAIK this includes menial jobs like being a waiter). maybe it was something the EU offered as a package that the country had to take as a whole. In return obviously Swiss people are allowed to live and work anywhere in the EU as well. More on that: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54316316 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-54316316 So in short, Switzerland is sovereign to do what it wants, but going too much against the will of its big brother would damage itself as well. And I imagine if the big brother decides for something new, Switzerland doesn't have unlimited power to say otherwise.
    - devdas 6y ago
      It's part of the trade agreement with the EU. https://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/switzerland/ https://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/coun...
    - ClumsyPilot 6y ago
      This argument about switzerland becoming part of Eu because of trade, is like argying that Mexico or Canada is becoming part of US
    - foldr 6y ago
      The EU is the UK's biggest trading partner, but that didn't stop us leaving after we were already in (sadly). There's a long history of people overestimating the importance of economic considerations in international relations. See e.g. all of the people who thought that the First World War couldn't happen because it would be an economic disaster. Turns out that it did, and was.
- PicassoCTs 6y ago
  No, english is the neutral communication language european wide. One of the major players extending their language union wide (France, Italy, Germany) is not possible. It also wouldn't make sense. One romanic language would be easier to learn for the whole romanic language family. And eastern europe would inevitable and rightfully so feel alienated. Such imperialistic nonsense is just eating resources and getting nowhere. That road would certainly lead to resentment and then a fracturing of the EU.
  - em-bee 6y ago
    english as a language is not really neutral (but neither are other languages) but then, with great britain leaving the EU, english became a much more neutral option than it was before. however i would interpret the parent comments in the light of popularity. german and french may dominate the EU culturally without intending to do so. so it is reasonable to ask. putting this down as imperialistic nonsense suggests a political motivation that i just can't read from the parent comment
- johnnycerberus 6y ago
  Your question sounds imperialistic. There are more people speaking a Romance language (French, Romanian, Italian, Spanish, Catalan) than a Germanic one. And the cherry on top of the cake... what about the Slavic ones? EU will be a federation like Switzerland is.
rgblambda 6y ago
Switzerland is not part of the EEA, although they have many treaties with the EU that more or less comprises the relationship the EU has with an EEA country.
- sneak 6y ago
  Ahh, thanks for the correction! I knew I should have consulted that venn diagram[1] to double-check. [1]: https://boingboing.net/2011/03/12/venn-diagram-illustr.html https://boingboing.net/2011/03/12/venn-diagram-illustr.html