European Economic Area (Hansard, 8 December 1992)

§ Mr. Heseltine

The Swiss people voted on membership of the European economic area on 6 December. A majority of both the populace and of the cantons was required to enable Switzerland to ratify the EEA agreement. The results announced on 6 December were as follows: 50.3 per cent. of the populace voted against ratification, 49.7 per cent. in favour. Sixteen of the cantons voted against, with seven in favour. The proportion of the electorate that voted was 78.3 per cent.

The Government regret the Swiss decision not to join the EEA. The Foreign Affairs Council on 7 December took note of the result of the Swiss referendum. It also noted that the agreement provides arrangements to consider the situation in the event that a signatory of the agreement fails to ratify. It commented that, without Switzerland, the agreement will require modifications, which will have to be satisfactorily agreed. It expressed the hope that the agreement should be rapidly pursued. It therefore invited the Commission to have early contacts with the EFTA countries on the timing of the next steps, and to report back to the Council on 21 December.

It is the clear hope of the Community that the agreement should go ahead. It is too early to determine precisely when the agreement may now come into force. If the agreement is to be amended, a diplomatic conference will agree the necessary changes. The Government believe that every effort should be made to ensure that the agreement can be implemented as soon as possible, and we shall, in the remaining weeks of our presidency be working towards this objective.

The European Economic Area Bill was introduced in this House on 25 November, having passed through all its stages in another place. The Government will announce in due course how it proposes to proceed with the Bill when the impact of the Swiss vote on the Community and EFTA has been fully assessed.