“Give the people pure wine!”

Ironically, former SVP federal councilor Adolf Ogi (80) ensured that a majority in the state government demanded the start of EU accession negotiations, ie only the start of membership negotiations and not accession itself. This is evident after 30 years. Federal Council Protocols published for the first time.

And it was precisely this membership application that was the decisive factor in the failure of the EEA vote on December 6, 1992. 50.3 percent of those who voted refused to join the European Economic Area.

“Yes,” admits Ogi to Blick, “probably the application for EU membership was actually the deciding factor. But was that why filing this application in Brussels was wrong? No! In this way, Swiss citizens could vote for the EEA in the science of the Bundesrat’s long-term objective.” It is good and important to serve the people with pure wine.

Made a mistake, but a different one

So the Federal Council didn’t make a mistake in 1992? “Yes, but probably not that we hesitated, as newspapers like ‘BZ’ and ‘Bund’ accuse us, since the minutes of the Federal Council from then are now unlocked,” says Ogi. Apparently they are saddened by how the Federal Council behaved 30 years ago. “Instead, we underestimated the effect of postal voting, which was new at the time,” he admits. The Bundesbriefarchiv’s EEA voting program and other appearances by Federal Councilors in French-speaking Switzerland and Italian-speaking Switzerland came too late. The people had already thrown the voting envelope into the ring.

To the “stupid explanation” that he was nervous when the Federal Council dealt with the EEA issue and that he “broke down”, the former SVP magistrate simply says: “I had concerns and voiced them”, as if that were his job been. Some things were also not correctly reflected in the translation from French – “and the strategic decision to join the EU was made in 1991”. He doesn’t understand the criticism, the despondency.

But what is true: in conversation with the other members of the government, he was convinced that the request sent the right and fair signals to Brussels and that Switzerland had time – “yes, time!” – purchase. “It would have taken four to five years to reach an agreement with the EU or not. After the Bundesrat and Parliament, the people would have had the last word. “As the SVP always demands,” adds Ogi.

mood recorded

“You also have to look at the decision from the perspective of the times,” Ogi emphasizes. On May 17, voters voted yes to join the Bretton Woods and World Bank institutions. “Against this background, the Bundesrat decided on Monday to submit the application. That was certainly not wrong, the vote was open to multilateral organizations.”

As can be seen today, but not surprisingly, it was the Latin Federal Councilors who favored the filing. “And the German-speaking Swiss, on the other hand.” But he always voted with the minority and especially with the Romans. “After all, I come from a bilingual canton and lived in Romandie for three years,” says the Bern resident.

“For me, the question today is not: was it wrong to submit the request to start accession negotiations before the EEA vote? But it is: Is it true that the state government is acting with the utmost openness? And here the answer can only be: Yes! » He agreed with the opinion of Federal President René Felber (SP, 1933-2020), Federal Councilor Jean-Pascal Delamuraz (FDP, 1936-1998) and Federal Councilor Flavio Cotti (CVP, 1939-2020).

Not once with Blocher

And that attitudes to the issue of EU accession were not just black and white, as evidenced by the sudden split between the parties – “which is actually quite astonishing!” Otto Stich (SP, 1927 – 2012), Kaspar Villiger (FDP, 81) and Arnold Koller (CVP, 89) sat on the other side. And that he was not on the same side as the later Federal Councilor Christoph Blocher (SVP, 82) “is no surprise”, laughs Ogi.