An analysis of the relationship between Switzerland and the European Union

Abstract

My thesis is about the relationship which exists between Switzerland and the European Union (EU). Switzerland is one of the European countries which, till today is not a member of the EU. However this does not mean that it has no relations with the EU. In fact, the purpose of my thesis was precisely this, to analyze the relationship which exists between the Swiss Confederation and the EU. The main aim behind this thesis is to see how the Swiss position with regards to European Integration has changed over the years, from 1957 till the present day. All this was is put in the context of the Swiss neutral status and how this has altered to meet the new circumstances which has taken place in international relations. Being the author, I must admit that it was not easy to write such a thesis because of the lack of material which exists on the subject. In fact if I have chosen to write my thesis about Switzerland it is because there is not much information available on the political aspect of the country and so I wanted to present a clear picture of it. I hope that through my thesis I have managed to present Switzerland in its most simplest form: its history, its neutral status and its policies vis-a-vis European Integration.