Course: Switzerland in Europe: Money, Migration and Other Difficult Matters

The EU is developing a Common European Asylum System. Asylum law was originally not a field for European integration. However, at some point the European Union (EU) began with the …

In a previous step of this course week, we heard about the legal regime for people in need of international protection under international law. In this context, we also mentioned …

In the previous step of this course week, we studied the definition of the term ‘refugee’ in the Geneva Convention of 1951. The Geneva Convention deals specifically with refugees. It …

As we heard earlier, in Switzerland citizens entitled to vote may collect signatures in favour of a vote on a change of the Federal Constitution. On 9 February 2014, the …

In the previous step of this course week we discussed the demand, expressed in the Migration Charter proclaimed by theologians in Switzerland, that there should be free establishment for all. …

The present ‘refugee crisis‘ poses a challenge to Europe. The third course week turns from ‘money‘ to ‘migration‘. Today, Switzerland is a country with a particularly strict immigration regime for …

No country is an island, and neither is Switzerland. Having studied the legal links between different European countries when it comes, notably, to economic matters, it must be concluded that …

In our previous steps, we have seen that in terms of their content the Swiss–EU agreements that deal with economic matters are selective in nature in that they provide for …

The previous step in our course week has provided an overview on the Swiss–EU sectoral/bilateral law. We now turn to the nature of this legal system, beginning with its substantive …

The Swiss–EU legal relationship evolved over time into a rather peculiar system. Not being a Community member, Switzerland began already in the 1950s to conclude agreements with the then European …

Switzerland remains suspicious of the legal effects of European Union (EU) membership. European Union law is a particularly strong type of international law that has immediate effects on the national …

Having helped found the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), Switzerland at some time even considered membership of what were then the European Communities. When the European Communities were founded, Switzerland …

The origins of the European Union (EU) lie in the 1950s, when six European States founded three European Communities. On the multilateral level, meaningful European economic integration began with the …

Governmental agreements on economic integration in Europe reflect different stages that are distinguished in the theory of economic integration. In Europe, many countries, including Switzerland, have entered into agreements on …

In our first course week, we saw that Switzerland may appear like an island in the legal landscape of Europe. However, in today’s interconnected world no country can exist as …