What makes Switzerland different from other European countries
Switzerland is not only a backdrop for fairy tales in the middle of Europe
I’ve been living in Switzerland for over 2 years and have crossed multiple valleys, towns and adventures which have allowed me to observe differences between Switzerland and European Union Countries.
1- Its democracy
Switzerland has a democratic system known as "direct" democracy. This system allows its citizens over the age of 18 to vote on how the country is run. People’s initiatives (Volksinitiative) can be held up to four times a year and over 300 referendums have taken place since 1891. Successful popular initiatives are quite rare since less than 22 were successful up to 2014. There were more than 30 years during 1949–1982 during which not a single initiative found favour with the electorate.
Other facts on its democracy :
The voting-right was only extended to women in 1971 (and even 1991 in Appenzell Innerrhoden).
In Appenzell Innerrhoden, the Landesgemeinde (People’s Assembly) votes by show of hands to choose its representatives.
Most Swiss people vote by mail : over 90% of the ballots are cast before the voting date
This democratic system does wonders for political engagement.
The next referendum being held on September 26th will be on two topics :
Federal Popular Initiative 'Reduce tax on salaries, tax capital fairly'
Marriage for all : While registered partnerships was extended to all couples in 2005, same sex marriage still isn’t allowed in Switzerland
2- Switzerland is 60% mountain
The topography of Switzerland, very heterogeneous, was born from the collision of the Eurasian and African tectonic plates. This collision resulted in the formation of the three major geographic structures of the country: the Alps, the Plateau and the Jura. Switzerland is home to 48 peaks of over 4000m altitude. Its highest point is the Dufourspitze that culminates at 4634m and is in the Canton of Wallis at the Italian border. Many glaciers are also located in Switzerland like the UNESCO World Heritage Aletsch Gletscher that is Europe’s biggest glacier.
3- Multicultural but united
Switzerland has a lot to tell us about how a country can remain united without becoming uniform, with several languages, several cultures, several geographies.
Switzerland is what we can call a “cultural melting-pot”. First of all, it has a total of 4 national languages (in order of popularity) : German (Deutsch), French (Français), Italian (Italiano) and Romanche (Rumantsch). Moreover, Swiss German (Schwi(i)zerdü(ü)tsch, Schwy(y)zerdütsch, Schweizerdeutsch) has 5 million native speakers in Switzerland but dialects differ from canton to canton.
Also, 25% of Switzerland’s population is foreign with 80% of that population being European.
4- Rich & Happy Swiss
Switzerland performs very well in many measures of well-being like happiness, income, education and low income inequalities. Switzerland is above average in Europe according to the Better Life Index that takes into account subjective well-being, jobs and earnings, income and wealth, health status, social connections, environmental quality, education and skills, work-life balance, housing and personal securit and civic engagement.
When considering the Happy Planet Score, Switzerland ranks second of European countries after Spain. Switzerland has room for progress in terms of sustainability.
The standard of living in Switzerland remains one of the highest in Europe. While cost of living in Switzerland is quite high compared to its neighbors, the population of Switzerland seems to make up for that by earning more than average in Europe so that the population's financial situation is more comfortable than that of countries in the European Union. The unemployment rate in Switzerland is also lower than most of its neighbouring countries with less than 3% unemployment rate.
5- Federalism
Switzerland is a federal state since 1848. This means that state powers are divided between the Confederation, the cantons and the communes. Each entity has its own tasks. With its four national languages and highly diverse geographical landscapes, federalism makes and important contribution to social cohesion.
There are a few other countries in the EU that are federal states :
Belgium
Austria
Germany
Bosnia and Herzegovina
6- Switzerland isn’t part of the EU
All but one (the state of Lichtenstein) of Switzerland's neighbouring countries are part of the European Union.
While Switzerland has multiple treaties with the European Union or European Union countries, the citizens of Switzerland voted (through a referendum, who would have guessed?) not to be part of the Union in 1992 with a 50.3% rejection. Switzerland however became a participant of the Schengen Area by popular referendum in 2005 and it was put in place in 2005.
However, Switzerland did close its border to non Swiss citizens between March 2020 and July 2020 during the first wave of the Covid 19 pandemic.
7- Its public transportation system
If you’ve been following me for a while, you may have noticed that I spend a lot of time on trains or on public transportation in general. I find it’s more environmentally friendly. Also, I haven’t found the need to buy a car here in Switzerland thanks to its great public transportation system.
The Swiss rail network is reknown for its density. It's the world's most dense railway network with 128.9 km/103km2. It covers over 5000km in network length despite the Alps covering over 60% of its surface. As I am writing this blogpost, I am on a TGV between Paris and Basel that is, once again, 3 minutes late making me miss my 4 minute connection. From my experience, Swiss transportation is reliable and punctual… or at least a bit more timely than the French railway.
*Waves at IC61 train to Bern leaving the opposite platform as my train is arriving*
I am not surprised that Switzerland was ranked first among national European rail systems in the 2017 European Railway Performance Index for its intensity of use, quality of service and strong safety rating.
World record breaking Switzerland :
The Gotthard Base Tunnel (Gotthard Basistunnel) is a 57km long railway tunnel in the Alps. As of 2020, it's the longest tunnel in the world. It helps connect Milano to Zurich in no more than 2 hours and 40 minutes at 230km/h maximum speed in the tunnel.
This tunnel also allows an easy access to Ticino, the most Southern canton of Switzerland.
Its geographic remoteness due to its mountainous relief does not make it an isolated country.
