Dynamic Law and Direct Democracy: The Swiss Case of Constraining Dissensus on Transposition of EU Law

Abstract

While being at the heart of Europe, Switzerland is notably outside of the European Union (EU). Nevertheless, there is a considerable degree of European integration of Switzerland in some policy areas covered by bilateral treaties, most notably in the dynamic law mechanism; the obligation to transpose certain EU acts into Swiss federal law. The direct democratic political system of Switzerland makes federal law subject to referenda. Giving Swiss citizens the option to directly challenge specific aspects of European integration. This thesis looks at the reasons behind such referenda by exploring the case of Switzerland from a postfunctionalist perspective of European integration being constrained by exclusive national identity. Two recent referenda are studied. First analysing how the campaigns constrain integration, employing a frame analysis of the kind and degree of resistance to this form of European integration. In a second step, interviews were conducted with cueing committee members of those referenda to assess exclusiveness of their national identity. The campaigns vary in their framing of transposition as European integration, both in kind, as well as in degree. The EU-Diktat-Nein campaign resists European integration with higher intensity than the NoFrontex referendum. The committee members of EU-Diktat-Nein articulate exclusiveness of Swiss national identity, while NoFrontex committee members articulate an unattached territorial identity. The findings suggest that exclusiveness of Swiss national identity does influence the kind and degree of resistance to European integration in the case of direct democratic referenda against transposition of EU law in Switzerland. Understanding the reasons behind resistance to integration is crucial for the future trajectory of Switzerland, as the political system allows such resistance to be easily put to action and can result in rapid isolation of this state at the heart of the continent.