Swiss: Only lunatics want to join European Union

SWITZERLAND has officially withdrawn its application to join the European Union, saying only ‘a few lunatics’ now want to become part of the bloc.

The Swiss parliament voted to formally scrap its membership bid, which has been dormant for more than 20 years.

Thomas Minder, an independent MP, said the state wanted to close the issue ‘painlessly’, adding that only ‘a few lunatics’ want to join the EU as it is today.

The country’s foreign minister Didier Burkhalter said the government would now tell the EU to ‘consider [the membership bid] as withdrawn’.

He had earlier claimed the application, which was sent to the European Economic Community in 1992, was invalid.

Switzerland voted in December 1992 not to join the new European Economic Area, and the application was sus- pended. At the time, becoming part of the EEA was a first step towards full EU membership.

Instead the country, which sells over half of its exports to the EU, struck more than 120 bilateral agreements with Brussels designed to secure access to Europe’s markets. The Swiss economy has boomed and been ranked the world’s most competitive.

EU leaders yesterday admitted they have begun emergency talks on how they would respond to a Brexit vote.

European Council president Donald Tusk said they would be ‘ready’ as a surge in support for Britain’s Leave campaign makes it ‘very difficult to be optimistic’. Earlier this week he warned Brexit could destroy ‘Western political civilisation’ and that it could take seven years for the UK to officially leave.