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GAETAN BALLY
A clear majority of 65 percent would like Switzerland and the EU to further develop their relations. This corresponds to a considerable increase of 13 percentage points compared to the last survey in 2019.
Only 18 percent favor the status quo, according to the poll published annually by leading bank Credit Suisse and the Europa Forum Luzern. The institutional framework agreement has lost part of its approval.
A narrow majority of 53 percent favor the continuation of the bilateral agreements over the framework agreement as the first priority. That is 10 percentage points less than the previous year. 27 percent would like the agreement to be renegotiated (+10 percentage points).
Joining the EEA or joining the EU is still not a problem. “In general, the institutional framework agreement with the EU is recognized by the majority. However, in the course of last year, the contract could not gain more profile ”, the study author Lukas Golder is quoted in the statement.
However, the electorate is increasingly thinking that Swiss policy is too defensive towards other countries. Almost three-quarters of those surveyed wish they had more self-confidence towards their international trading and trading partners.
Self-confidence is also backed by the knowledge that nine out of ten Swiss qualify as good the reputation of their own country abroad. A good quarter of those surveyed even consider Switzerland’s image to be very good.
The Swiss are critical of developments within the EU. Three-quarters of those surveyed believe that the events of the last 12 months have greatly weakened the EU or rather weakened it.
Christoph Wicki, director of the Europa Forum Luzern, sees the high indebtedness of many EU member states, the refugee crisis, Brexit and difficult relations with the US and China as the main reason for this assessment.
On behalf of Credit Suisse and in cooperation with the Europa Forum Luzern, gfs.bern surveyed around 1,800 Swiss voters between July and August 2020 in a mixed mode procedure. The Europe Barometer has been collected since 2017.
