Scandinavia and Switzerland: small, successful and stubborn towards the EU

Abstract

Economic theory of integration expects small states and highly industrialized states to be more likely to integrate than larger or less advanced countries. Why then, did Norway, Sweden and Switzerland choose for a long time not to join the European Union? Existing political economy approaches cannot fully explain this stubbornness because they neglect the 'hidden' impact of national identities. Constructivist approaches, in turn, offer insights on identity-related variables but fail to assess tangible bene ts. This article argues that economic incentives for EU membership coexist with and are often dominated by domestic and geo-historical constraints. Hence, both material interests and ideational factors are necessary to explain reluctant integration policies.

Barriers to Socialization: Turkey and Regional International Organizations

“…Member states will allow applicants into an IO if applicants abide by the IO's norms (Gstöhl 2002;Sjursen 2002, 499-501). Enlargement will proceed (a) if members endorse and similarly interpret an IO's underlying norms, and (b) if applicants interpret the norms in a community-consistent fashion.…”

Eastern enlargement and differentiated integration: towards normalization

“…Some new member states were initially 'unwilling' because they were sceptical of giving up state autonomy -and sufficiently wealthy and economically successful to be able to afford refraining from integration (Mattli 1999). This applied, for instance, to Britain, the Nordic countries, and Switzerland initially (Gstöhl 2002). Others were willing but lacked capacity.…”

Different Varieties of Euroscepticism? Conceptualizing and Explaining Euroscepticism in Western European Non‐Member States

“…Swiss (right‐wing) Euroscepticism contains four of the six varieties discussed above: it is political, cultural, economic and rural society‐based. Swiss Eurosceptics are worried about their particular political institutions: direct democracy, federalism and neutrality (Gstöhl, , p. 541; Schwok, , pp. 99–116); the EU is commonly seen as a threat to Swiss identity (Gstöhl, , b; Schwok, , pp.…”

“…Swiss Eurosceptics are worried about their particular political institutions: direct democracy, federalism and neutrality (Gstöhl, , p. 541; Schwok, , pp. 99–116); the EU is commonly seen as a threat to Swiss identity (Gstöhl, , b; Schwok, , pp. 93–4); and both the population and the economic elites have reservations about the EU because they ‘fear a [ sic ] erosion of their relative economic advantage’ (Schwok, , p. 117; see also Christin and Trechsel, , p. 432).…”