MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, the 46-seat Council of States passed a motion, previously supported by the country's National Council, or the lower house of the Swiss parliament, that calls to formally withdraw its 1992 application to join the European Union.
"It is a very old debate in the Swiss parliament to take back the application, because it became irrelevant for both sides. Switzerland is no longer interested in becoming a member of the EU Organization," Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter, who is a member of the National Council Foreign Affairs Committee said, adding that the timing of the vote is "absolutely not" connected to the UK referendum.
On June 23, the UK public is set to vote on whether or not the country should keep its membership of the European Union, with many British media outlets linking the vote in the Swiss parliament with the forthcoming referendum.
"To withdraw the request [for EU membership] was demanded by a motion on March 21, 2014. It is not unusual that a procedural request takes to years’ time until it becomes definitively decided," Georg Därendinger, Head of Communications at FDP.The Liberals, which supported the motion, told Sputnik on Thursday. He also ruled out any link between the two events.
The Swiss Confederation has never been part of the European bloc. Following the signing of the European Economic Area Agreement in May 1992, the country rejected the move in a popular vote just in a few months later.
