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Proposal for Immediate Start of EU Membership Negotiations Rejected in Switzerland
Swiss voters have overwhelmingly rejected a proposal to start immediate negotiations on joining the European Union (EU) with nearly 77 percent of them voting against it, according to final results available on Sunday.
The turnout was 54 percent -- relatively high by Swiss standards.
However, the Swiss federal government, whose medium-term goal is EU membership, played down the impact of the vote.
Swiss Radio International cited cabinet ministers as saying that the result was not a "no" to negotiations at a later stage; it was merely a rejection of starting negotiations immediately.
The Swiss government has already made it clear that it wants to begin negotiations in 2004. In a statement, the government said it would decide whether and when it was in Swiss interests to begin the negotiations.
The European Commission said the Swiss people's "no" on Sunday showed only that they wanted the issue of EU membership discussed at a later stage.
Switzerland made a formal request for EU membership in 1992, but it was shelved after voters rejected the European Economic Area treaty, seen as a halfway house towards EU membership, in the same year.
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