Campaign for closer links with Europe

A group of Pro-Europeans have launched an initiative to secure Switzerland’s relationship with the European Union in the constitution.

Campaigners say the country is at a crossroads with Europe and the aim is to give a voice to the silent majority who want Switzerland to be more actively involved with Europe – especially with the climate crisis and the war in Ukraine. 

The initiative would introduce an article into the constitution which would commit the Confederation to actively participate in European integration. How to achieve those objectives would still be the decision of the Federal Council.

But the campaigners stress they’re not calling for EU membership.

Switzerland and the EU have just re-started talks on cooperation. The first talks failed around a year ago. There’s hope they will be more successful this time.

More from Bitesize News

  • Annecy mayor visits local school

    Antoine Armand, elected mayor of Annecy in March, has made his first back-to-school visit as head of the cross-border city, meeting pupils and teachers at Cran-Gevrier's Vernay school on Tuesday morning

  • Climate change affecting rainfall patterns

    Rain in Switzerland is falling less often but more heavily when it does, and the trend is likely to continue, according to MeteoSwiss

  • More security checks after Aarau shooting

    Every big public event is likely to face tighter security after the fatal Aarau festival shooting, according to former national security chief André Duvillard

  • Swiss Life job losses

    Zurich-based insurer Swiss Life will cut around 600 jobs by the end of 2028, with half of them in Switzerland

  • Crans Montana bar missed crucial checks

    The security officer for Chermignon has told Valais prosecutors that no proper inspection of the Constellation bar ever took place before it opened in December 2015

  • Fire cause revealed

    Authorities now believe a lithium battery may have triggered Friday's warehouse fire at the Thévenaz-Leduc recycling site in Ecublens, though the cause has not yet been formally confirmed

Download our app

  • Available on the App Store
  • Available on Google Play