Brexit: a stress test for the ‘Swiss way’

Look hard enough for things that Switzerland and Britain have in common and you’ll eventually find something – even if it’s Winston Churchill or the first conquerors of our mountains. By and large, however, Brits and Swiss, despite their “splendid isolation”, are rather different. That said, there is one thing that unites the two nations: a deep scepticism of Europe’s head office in Brussels. According to the latest poll from the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETHZ), 16% of Swiss still support Switzerland joining the European Union. This is the lowest level since records began two decades ago. Now you could be forgiven for assuming that the Swiss are in a state of feverish excitement about Thursday’s referendum and are hoping fervently that the Brits opt for life outside the EU. But Brexit euphoria is by no means the case. Even those political parties and organisation which would like to scale back Switzerland’s integration in ...