Europe at Present [Spring 2003]
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Federal Department of Foreign AffairsDirectorate for Political Affairs, Directorate for International Law, Swiss Agency for Development Co-operation, State Secretariat for Economic Affairs The role of Federal Department of Foreign AffairsIn order to present the wide perspective of goals set ahead of the Swiss existence on the international scene let me concentrate on the role of the main actor on this scene from the Swiss party – the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) is responsible for representing Switzerland's interests abroad, in particular its relations with other countries. It is supported by a network of foreign missions, which are obliged to protect interests of the Swiss abroad and maintain godd polictical and economic relations with other countries. The Swiss Federal Council and Parliament delegate responsibilities to them. In the process of creation of Swiss foreign policy the FDA deals with all issues of a cross-border nature. These include questions of security, trade and industry, development cooperation, environmental matters, and cultural relations, etc. The representatives both on the bilateral and multilateral level work for achieving the objectives of FDA by participating in international negotiations, confering with foreign governments and serving as contacts for the Foreign Embassies in Switzerland.
Neutrality is the basic concept of Swiss foreign policy and this is a reason for my decision to begin presenting Switzerland’s place on the global scene by discussing this important issue first. Swiss neutrality originates from three hundred years of history of a small mulitinational state in the middle of European wars. The cantons were almost torn apart by the religious conflicts in the XVI century, which seemed to be a good reason for the Swiss to opt for neutrality. The Swiss neutrality was recognized at the Peace of Westphalia in 1648 and was reaffirmed at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Other states taking part in the Congress claimed that the Swiss neutrality is in the interest of all European nations. This concept allowed Switzerland to stay neutral during both world wars. Law of neutrality There arises a question of the meaning of neutrality. The common definition is as follows: “Neutrality is the non participation of a State in an armed conflict among other States”265. There exist two types of neutrality: occasional which is declared by a state according to the circumstances and permanent one, which prevents the country from taking part in any sort of conflict. Switzerland’s neutrality is of the second type, which means that it will never take part in any conflict. The basis for neutrality law was laid down in Hague in 1907 ( The Hague Convention) Participation in a conflict is forbidden to the neutral state. Therefore Switzerland must not support a warring party with its own armed forces. Its territory cannot be used for any military actions. The sovereignty of Switzerland must be respected by the warring parties. What is very important - and profitable as well - is the fact that it is allowed to maintain free economic and trade relations with warring parties. Let me quote the part taken from the Hague Convention: ”The export of armament and ammunition by neutral states and their citizens is expressly allowed. Should these be reduced with regard to any particular warring party, the neutral state is then obliged to reduce its armament exports with all other states at war in the same measure”. The concept of neutrality has changed over time, but lives its evolution with certain regularity: it is always more restrictive when the times and less peaceful and global tensions arise. Defense and security policy Military – “Zivilschutz” Due to its traditional neutrality, discussed wider above, Switzerland does not have its own army. The only troops that Switzerland possesses are the “Zivilschutz” – formations of civil defense, which are in fact organized as a regular army, well-trained and fully equipped. The military (or rather “civil”) service is obligatory and organized on a very interesting basis: each young man man has to be trained militarily and afterwards commit one month a year to the civil service as long as a 20 years old man turns 52. This allows the “Zivilschutz” to be ready to intervene at any time required. These include crisis situations, accidents and other dangers. Switzerland is currently undergoing a military reform aimed at personnel and equipment reduction. To quote some curiosity let me remind, that these are the Swiss that protect Vatican and the Pope. Security issues and international cooperationWith regards to the policy of nonalignment Switzerland tried to defend its neutral position but as some dangers such as drug trade, terrorism and organized crime do not respect the borders and are a threat of the transnational scope, Switzerland understands that it it for its own good to cooperate internationally to prevent these. That is why Switzerland is committed to security based on international efforts at co-operation, and is actively engaged in promoting peace. The Confederation pursues its objectives through various institutions and organisations, the most prominent of which include the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Partnership for Peace, and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. Switzerland’s position in the contemporary worldSwiss/EU relations History of Swiss/EU relations Although Switzerland is not a member of the European Union, the relationship between Switzerland and the EU is of key importance; it is part of a national political debate. To characterise the EU/Switzerland cooperation two words should be used: long-lasting and intensive. Switzerland is geographically located in the middle of the EU and shares culture, language and economic integration with its neighbouring countries. The very beginning of the these relations dates back as far as the creation of the European Coal and Steel Community in 1956. But the act of even greater importance is the Free Trade Agreement of 1972. On 2 May 1992, Switzerland signed the EEA Agreement. To deepen the cooperation Switzerland’s government applied for accession to the EEC in 1992, but the referendum held on the 6th December 1992, rejected the ratification of the EEA agreement. Nevertheless Swiss policy is still open towards integration with the EU. Current EU – Swiss relations There is no structured framework between EU and Switzerland. The Swiss have a permanent mission to the European Communities in Brussels as many other countries do, but the European Commission hasn’t opened its Delegate Office in Bern. The rejection of Swiss membership in the EU by means of referendum still does matter in these relations and has its negative impact. But in order to minimise these consequences several agreement between EU and Switzerland were negotiated and signed on 21 June 1999. These include seven crucial: sectors Free Movement of Persons, Trade in Agricultural Products, Public Procurement, Conformity Assessments, Air Transport, Transport by Road and Rail, Swiss Participation in the 5th Framework Programme for Research. After ratification by the Swiss in referendum entered intro force in 2002. Other questions still wait for their solutions and agreements e.g EUROPOL, savings taxation, liberalisation of serices. EU is Switzerland’s main trading partner. 61% of Swiss exports and 79% of its imports constitue tight economic relations. Also to the EU Switzerland is one of the most important trading partners. Some of the agreements will have to be updated as the admission of ten new member countries will require new arrangements for them. For this purpose a new round of negotiations is to be held and concluded in 2003. Swiss/United Nations relationsHaving discussed the main issues of Switzerland’s foreign policy it will be quite easy to describe the reasons for which it joined the United Nations. As the organization deals essentially with questions concerning security, peace, human rights, promoting prosperity, social cohesion, humanitarian aid and environmental protection and these correspond with the goals set by the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs266 and “Swiss Foreign Policy Report 2000” Switzerland can therefore support the UN in achieving its objectives even though the traditional neutrality was the basis of Swiss being no party to any international affairs and treaties for many years. Although Switzerland was a member of the Nations’ League, some of the UN member country obligations made it resistent towards joining. Nevertheless Switzerland was a party to many of the UN agendas which did correspond to its values267. In 1948 Switzerland became an observer to the UN and lived this status till 2002 when it was admitted to membership in the United Nations on 10 September and became the 190th member. Since then there is no country outside the UN system. Membership allows Switzerland to strengthen its position on the global scene and fully protect its interests. The policy of non-alignment defended so courageously for so many years is now gone. Switzerland understood that it is for its own good to keep in touch with the world and have the right to vote and create the international affairs. International GenevaSwitzerland is also a party to many international treaties and organizations268 such as: Organization for Security and Economic Cooperation, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, European Free Trade Association and Council of Europe. It plays also an important role as an international centre in Geneva. It is the home of many different types of organizations which are active in fields as varied as humanitarian aid, trade, human rights, the environment and sustainable development, training and education, peace-keeping and security, meteorology, intellectual property, nuclear research, health, telecommunications and labour. The United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG) is the most active centre for multilateral diplomacy in the world and has been the setting of many historic negotiations. Switzerland is a host to 28 international organizations. 20 international organizations with are based in Geneva. These are for example: the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and the World Trade Organization (WTO). Among these 20 organizations, eight are United Nations agencies, for example: the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the International Labour Organization (ILO), and others. But it is also a place where more than 150 NGOs (non-governmental organizations) have their seats. These include the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the World Council of Churches (WCC), the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Organization for Standardisation (ISO) and many others. Chapter IV. SWITZERLAND – BOTH TRADITIONAL AND PROGRESSIVEHaving regard to the Swiss long tradition of neutrality, strong economy and protection of natural environment it must be stressed that this gave the country the unique position in the world. It is a host to many organization and also a party to it, always within the frames of non-engagement. This brings objectiveness to the Swiss foreign policy. Switzerland develops itself internationally and does not close itself to the global matters by staying outside which may be comfortable in the short run, as the Swiss neutrality is being respected globally. But the Swiss seem to know it perfectly well that without engagement in the world’s largest issues such as humanitarian aid, security and defense policy, research and development strategies it is not possible to maintain its position and role in the world. This brings Switzerland towards cooperation with other countries without forgetting its tradition. To visualise this Swiss vision of the future of international relations let me quote sentence by Joseph Deiss, the Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs told in Geneva, on 7 of June 2002: ”In order to meet the challenges of globalisation today, a commitment is needed at a new level of international co-operation… Economic globalisation must go hand-in-hand with more and deeper political dialogue… States must meet global challenges together.” Paweł Jakubowski, Bartosz Kędzia, Łukasz Wasilewski |