A former member of the Federal Council says the only way Switzerland will achieve its European goals is by becoming a full member of the European Union.
Joseph Deiss was in the council between 1999 and 2006 – he was president in 2004.
He says the current talks are going from one makeshift solution to another.
Speaking to the NZZ newspaper he says joining the EU is not political suicide, but would strengthen sovereignty.
He points out, that despite the scare stories surrounding free movement of people which started in the year 2000 there has not been more unemployment and suppressed wages.
He casts his mind back to the 1992 referendum which narrowly rejected membership of the EEA. He says that was a historic mistake and if it had passed, many of the problems today would not exist.
He says the current Swiss delusion is that it thinks it will be treated better as a country outside the union than as a member.
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