At the centre but outside” “

Not all the countries of Europe have taken the road towards European integration. Of the few States that still remain outside the frontiers of the EU, Switzerland is looking to the Union with interest, signs bilateral accords with Brussels (the problems of “banking confidentiality” and the Schengen treaty for the circulation of persons still remain unresolved), but at the same time intends to maintain her own independence and historic neutrality. We spoke of Switzerland’s position in Europe with one of the most attentive and open-minded exponents of Swiss Catholicism, Alberto Lepori . A jurist and advocate, Lepori comes from the Ticino. He graduated in law at the university of Bern and in political sciences in Milan. He was professor of public law at Fribourg. For several years he was a deputy in the Grand Council and cantonal minister of justice and police. Actively involved in the Swiss Church, he chaired the national Commission of Justice and Peace for four years. He is now president of the Association for the history of the Catholic movement in the Ticino. The European Union is about to enlarge its borders, while the negotiations on the European Constitution are still in progress… “Personally I judge this long and passionate challenge in a positive light. Even as an adolescent I followed with enthusiasm the birth of the EEC. My formation as a democratic Catholic led me along this road; besides, Catholicism and nationalism cannot be reconciled. That’s what we are taught by the social doctrine of the Church, by personalities such as Sturzo, Maritain and Mounier, and by those Catholics who politically contributed to the construction of united Europe, such as Adenauer, Schuman, De Gasperi and Spaak. And the experience itself of government in my country fosters the coexistence of various levels of government: local, cantonal and federal”. Europe is not an island, it’s said. Is not the union of several states, that together intend to tackle the challenges of globalization, another basic reason for constructing the “common home”? “The globalization of economic, cultural and communicational processes must urge us to shared actions. That goes especially for those typical phenomena of our age that transcend national frontiers: we may think of immigration. These are issues that often recur in the Swiss debate: it’s enough to think that 20% of the Swiss population are foreigners. But the results of this debate have so far propelled us far from the Union”. Who is favourable, and who contrary, to the EU in Switzerland? “The majority of the Swiss remain contrary to entry into the EU: they expressed this preference only recently in a referendum. In favour of closer ties with the Union are big business, the French urban area, Zurich and Basel. The socialists and the liberal-radicals are also in favour. The rural population, those of the mountain areas and of the internal cantons, on the other hand, are against. The same goes, from a political point of view, for the people’s and right-wing parties, who have seen their support grow during this period”. What’s the role of Swiss Christians? “The Swiss Church has pronounced itself more than once in favour of Europe and significant documents have been published by the bishops arguing this position. But the population is more conservative; it’s the jealous guardian of a neutrality maintained for centuries. Moreover, the threat of growing unemployment, the fear of opening the borders to uncontrolled and highly polluting automobile traffic and road transport, tends to discourage the removal of frontiers. Just think that Catholics form the majority in Switzerland, but perhaps they don’t have enough say, or enough political representation, in the internal debate”. But to go back to the Union, do you think that sooner or later the Constitutional Treaty will be signed? And will enlargement prove a success? “I’m convinced that the reasons that blocked the negotiations are rather insignificant. The divisions will soon be overcome and finally the Union will have the constitutional treaty it needs. This will also help the success of enlargement to Eastern Europe. In the former Communist countries there’s a great ideal aspiration towards the unity of the continent and this is important for overcoming those concrete obstacles and those economic and social difficulties that admittedly exist between the ten new member states and the Fifteen. I would like, on the other hand, to express my doubts on future EU enlargement to Turkey and Russia. We need to reason about the frontiers of Europe, not from a religious perspective, as some would like, but from a social and cultural viewpoint”.