CULTURAL REVOLUTIONSrnSWITZERLAND has resisted thernforecs of eentrahzation that seem to bernsweeping Europe. Last December 6, inrna referendum that was widely consideredrnthe country’s most important sincernit established its confederation in 1848,rnSwiss voters rejected a plan to help formrna 19-nation European Economic Arearnin which people, goods, capital, and servicesrnwould ha’e moved freelv as of Januaryrn1, 1993. The referendum elicitedrnthe highest voter turnout (78 percent)rnsince the 1947 plebiscite on adopting arnsocial security system, thus delivering arnresounding “no” to the idea of Europeanrnunion in spite of its consistent endorsementrnby the multiparty Swissrngovernment. Perhaps there is hope thatrnattachment to the European Communit’rnis still a long wav off for this mountainrnnation of approximately 6 millionrn(if not completclv out of the question,rnas the “E.G. NEVER” graffiti onrnbridges outside its capital, Bern, wouldrnsuggest).rnMost Swiss politicians were—and stillrnare—enthusiastic about participatingrnwith the 12 members of the EC and thernother six members of the European FreernTrade Association (Austria, Sweden,rnEinland, Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein)rnin the tariff-free trading zone.rnBut approval of the EEA plan by thernSwiss was an uphill battle from the start:rndespite the numerous concessions grantedrnSwitzerland in the negotiations thatrnled to the signing of an EEA accord byrnEFTA members last April, anti-EC sentimentrnin the countrv remained strong.rnSwitzerland’s success in protecting itsrnbanking secrecy laws, its generous subsidiesrnfor farmers, and its limitations onrnthe number of trucks that cross itsrnAlpine roads was apparently small comfortrnfor the Swiss people, who fear therneffects of open borders and centralization.rnAnd it was the Swiss people who,rnunder a constitutional provision that requiresrnpopular ratification of all laws andrnaccords affecting the constitution, ultimatelyrnhad the last word. Politicians inrnSwitzerland had viewed participation inrnthe EEA as a stepping stone to membershiprnin the EC (for which they officiallyrnapplied last spring). Yet theyrnshould have seen the low voter turnoutrn(37 percent) in last May’s referendumrnto approve their country’s applicationrnfor membership in the Wodd Bank andrnthe IMF as a sign that Swiss interest inrnjoining the various international organizationsrnis less than overwhelming—andrnthat Swiss opposition to the EEA planrn(not to mention EC membership)rnwould be stiff.rnBut the EEA referendum did morernthan highlight popular opposition to thernSwiss government’s steps toward Europeanrnunion: it pointed up some interestingrn(and potentially grid-locking) divisionsrnwithin the Swiss populace itself.rnWhile labor, industry, bankers, and thernintelligentsia backed the government inrnits aggressive campaign on behalf of thernF]EA accord, farmers and small businessmenrnvehemently opposed the plan.rnThe large corporations and less heavilyrnsubsidized farmers of the EC would presentrnharsh competition to the 99 percentrnof Swiss plants that have fewer thanrn100 emplovees and to the Swiss livestockrnand dair- farmers whose products arernsubsidized to the tune of over $ 1 billionrnper year.rnBut deeper than the divisions betweenrneconomic sectors is the apparentrnsplit between the different cultures thatrnmake up the Swiss confederation. Forrnwhile the popular vote on the EEArnscheme was close and somewhat ambiguous,rnwith 50.3 percent against andrn49.7 percent for, the cantonal ‘ote (referendumrnrules require a majorit of therncountry’s 23 cantons to approve a measurernfor it to pass) sent a clearer message,rnwith 16 (generally German-speaking)rncantons voting “no,” 7 (generallyrnFrench-speaking) cantons “yes.” Whyrnthe split among Switzerland’s two majorrnlanguage groups? While the Frenchspeakingrnminority favors closer ties withrnFrance and the rest of Europe, the German-rnspeaking cantons are concernedrnthat open borders may have destabilizingrnconsequences, as in Germany in recentrnmonths, hi effect, the immigrationrnissue was perhaps the opposition’srnmost effective card. Christoph Blocher,rna German-speaking millionaire industrialistrnwho is also a legislator for thernconservative Swiss People’s Party, usedrnthis card in leading the “no” campaign.rn”Europe has 15 million unemployed,”rnhe argued, “The French, the Portuguese,rnthe Italians arc going to work here.rnSalaries will go down, the quality of ourrnproducts will fall, unemployment willrnrise.”rnAs important as the immigration issuernin determining the results of the referendumrnwas a concern of a more politicalrnnature or, as Rene Felber, presidentrnof Switzerland’s seven-member FederalrnCouncil, termed it, a “fear of big nations.”rnThe Swiss, who have a proudrnhistorv of rejecting closer internationalrnlinks (as when they voted three to onernagamst joining the United Nations inrn1986), carefully guard both their nationalrnsovereignty and their particularrnform of grass-roots democracy in whichrnthe federal government has little powerrnand citizens have the right to vote (afterrnpetitioning the government \ith 50,000rnsignatures) on any issue. This peculiarrnpolitical system was directly threatenedrnby the EE^A accord, which gives the ECrnfinal say on all laws, cen those that affectrnEFTA members. The Swiss werernworried that, in signing on through thernaccord to the EC’s so-called “AcquisrnCommunautaire” (some 40,000 pagesrnof regulations), they would sec a transferrnof their decision-making powers to Brussels.rnSuch a cession of sovereigntyrnwould mean (posit Michel Legris andrnJean-Marc Gonin in a 1989 article forrnL’Express) that 16 of the 76 federal referendarnheld in Switzerland from 1977rnto 1985 would have fallen under the authoritrnof the EC’s ruling body, the EuropeanrnCommission. The Swiss, inrnshort, were not ready to stomach such arngross usurpation of their powers.rnI’hcir caution parallels the growingrnskepticism of many Europeairs towardrnunion. The Swiss vote may have onlyrnslowed participation of the other Fl’TArnmembers in the nev and expandedrncommon market, but it had a significantrnpsychological effect on the rest ofrnEurope. Following on the heels of thernDanish rejection and the narrow Frenchrnratification of the Maastricht treaty lastrnyear, the Swiss “no” underlined the uneertaintvrnof the EC’s future.rnYet pro-EC politicians, even inrnSwitzerland, continue to press on. Reactionrnamong members of the Swissrngovernment to the referendum comprisedrna mixture of regret, reproof, andrndogged persistence in the face of defeat.rnRene Felber, who expressed his disappointmentrnby calling the rupture betweenrnthe federal authorities and thernpeople “grave,” went on to argue forrncontinued overtures on the part ofrn6/CHRONICLESrnrnrn