In Brussels has added Ursula von der Leyen on the weekend, your work, and yourself, from the Swiss perspective, you can wish of the successor of Jean-Claude Juncker in the powerful office of the head of the EU Commission, only a lot of success. Your success is also a success for Switzerland would be to the stable island of Prosperity in the midst of this peaceful Federation of States. Because Europe is facing troubled times. Since the end of loss of importance and on the other hand, the increasingly hostile environment, on the one hand, the creeping.
The times are fortunately long, as European powers colonized the world and dominated. The pendulum strikes back in a time in which Europe as a “Soft Power” is a good Hegemon could be. At the beginning of the last century the Europeans found 20 per cent of the world’s population. At the end of this century it will be 4 per cent. The ageing of the continent is the last stronghold of liberal democracy, beset by despots in Moscow, Ankara or Beijing. And even the American allies since the arrival of US President Donald Trump in the White house, only leave limited.
More Europe, not less
The answer may actually be more Europe, not less. It would certainly be the wrong time to break down into national components. In Switzerland, the British example has electrified right national circles initially. However, the Brexit scare now. Switzerland as a neutral freeloaders of the story with the offside are so far quite well. Even if it has become since the end of the Cold war and with growing globalisation, more and more difficult for the country in the midst of Europe, to assert its place.
It is a question of who determined in the future, the Standards, an authoritarian Regime in China, or a law of the state of Europe.
It is uncertain how long a small country between the blocks, keep your distance, or you can tack. The Swiss foreign Minister is trying to make with the EU, our bilateral relationship to a new, more stable basis. A so-called framework agreement is intended to secure our partial access to the single market in the longer term. The new basis of the Switzerland that would eliminate the need for the foreseeable future accession to the EU or to the EEA.
at the same time, our Federal President has this year, with some Pomp of China Xi Jinping, U.S. President Donald Trump, the Saudi king Salman including the controversial crown Prince Muhammad and Russia’s Vladimir Putin has visited. The head of state of Switzerland (the changes in our System every year) in this year of the right national people’s party. The current incumbent, Ueli Maurer, in a sort of parallel foreign policy very different accents. It sometimes seems as our national President wanted to show the EU partners the finger. Anyway, he left the decision-makers in Brussels during his one-year term on the left.
The descent into oblivion can be halted
The neutral country, Switzerland is driving so for the time being, still a two-pronged approach. The question is how a smaller country in the multipolar and unstable world should be based. Make a good impression with the despots and the Powerful of this world. Or more in line with the EU approach. Even large EU countries such as Germany can not cope alone in the future problems of climate change on the Migration to digitalization or to the international terrorism.
Against this Background, it promises to be Ursula von der Leyen the “geo-political Commission”. It is a Europe that speaks the language of Power. A Europe that can preserve its unique European Way of Life. It’s a question of who determined in the future, the Standards, an authoritarian Regime in China, or a law of the state of Europe.
Switzerland is to assume about the data protection Standard of the EU global has set. The British will accept after the Brexit with a free trade agreement Trumps grace American food standards and chlorine have to import chickens and hormone-treated meat. Well possible that in the future, China sets the Standards for the use of artificial intelligence. Still shrink-Europe can stop the descent into irrelevance.
This post is published in cooperation with Lena, the Alliance of leading daily Newspapers in Europe.
Created: 01.12.2019, 22:27 PM