Swatch Group Story (Cultura e società) (Italian Edition)

Why do the majority of Swiss citizens — the most genuine and typical Europeans - not want to join the European Union? Should we join or not? Please consider what I say not as a scientific research presentation but as the views and positions of one Swiss belonging to the majority I mentioned. When it was created in , and for a long time afterwards, I considered what has now become the European Union a magnificent and wonderful achievement. I was at that time a relatively young man. Much later, the then European Commissioner Jacques Delors, who was a passionate European, invited me regularly to his office in Brussels.

I discussed first with him alone and then together with many Europeans, at that time mainly German and French industrialists and entrepreneurs. The discussion was about how they could overcome competition from Japan, then called Japan Incorporated, without financial government aid or the help of the European Union, as we did in Switzerland with the Swiss watch industry that had been severely under pressure from the Japanese watch industry. He also repeated at many of those meetings that I, the Swiss, was for him the most typical and true European because of my language capabilities and because of the deep cultural understanding for the various European entrepreneurs during such meetings.

The most memorable of these meetings took place in Evian, with the heads of the top industries of Germany and France. It was an unforgettable experience for me.

Nicolas G. Hayek si esprime sulla Svizzera e sull’Unione europea - Swatch Group

Not so much because I believed that Switzerland was the ideal version of paradise, but because I was convinced that this was, despite many weaknesses, the best of all possible alternatives for Europe to achieve a wonderful common future at the same time as keeping its rich diversity and overwhelming cultures. It should be a common future not only for its own people, but also a strong example for a democratic and peaceful development for all people on our planet. By the way — what a coincidence that Monnet, this highly respected European, died exactly thirty years ago on March My connection with the EU in Brussels was maintained later on for example with Romano Prodi, who I knew and who also asked my opinion in some committees.

The harmonization and improvement of the economic and partly financial sectors in Europe has not disappointed me up to now, even though it is far from being perfect. The fact that wars between these great nations, France, Germany and Britain which had devastated Europe and shocked the rest of the world were resolved once and for all is no doubt one of the most magnificent and great achievements of the European community.

But the progress in the shaping of structure suddenly stopped. The EU did not continue the process of creating a strong, democratic and peaceful community, involving in every important segment of our life and society the emotional participation and commitment of every one or at least a majority of its citizens. At that time the number of member countries was limited and would then have permitted these few nations to create a federal state similar to that of Switzerland or the United States.

This development stopped because the questions and problems it brought along were not easy to solve among politicians and nations who did not want to give up a significant part of their sovereignty and certainly not their privileges. Instead of working in depth on the important problems to develop and shape future structures, they decided to act on the surface and add as many countries as could be found… and this without asking the people of the countries who created the first phase of Europe whether they agreed or not.

It was apparently very important for the political establishment to involve as many millions and millions of people and countries as possible in a Europe that was not even defined, except in some very limited areas of the political systems. The most important incentive for these new countries was the possibility to cash in on economic and financial rewards.

This enlargement would have been more than welcome after finalizing the structure of a more or less federal Europe. It was then that my hopes were dashed for a strong, powerful, democratic and peaceful Europe in the near future…a Europe that would help improve the quality of life for this whole world, for all of us. It appeared to us then as a heavy, bureaucratic more or less chaotic and isolated mixture of ideological, social, economic and partly financial concepts, while everything else seemed to be left to chance, God and future generations. This, however, does not exclude at all the possibility that the EU, like most extraordinary human constructions, will be a fantastic achievement in the 22nd or the 23rd century, but I hope this will happen much sooner, in this century.

The euro as a currency is a strong example of another very good achievement that was efficiently but not completely put into practice. Britain, for example, refused to adopt the euro, but it was in a position to do so, while many other countries were not in an economic situation to join the currency system. So the European Union has a strong currency for some countries, but not for all.

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The financially weaker countries adopting the Euro in the present financial crisis might become a liability to support. Nevertheless, the euro is in itself so far one of the best achievements of the EU and can be considered a success. But how about harmonizing very important decisions regarding foreign policy, defense and war?

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For a Swiss citizen it is absolutely inconceivable that part of Europe supported without any hesitation the policy of the Bush administration and joined the United States in the war against Iraq. Britain, Spain and other European countries sent troops under the US military fighting contingent, while France, Germany and others absolutely refused to join.

For us, it was an example of a weak common foreign policy. In addition and against the wishes of Germany and France, other EU countries for example, signed an agreement with the US government permitting US or NATO radar and rockets systems to be installed in their countries, directed officially against Iran. Russia considered these installations a threat against its territory. Also on this important point, the members of the European Union failed to agree.

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The foreign policy of Europe is not visible, anywhere. The European Union with so many unique democratic and strong countries might, however, have consolidated the whole system by achieving a consensus, clearly defining and agreeing about the direction it wanted to go in Europe and in the rest of the world, and identifying the targets to strive for in all important functions, needs and wishes of our human society and our political systems.

Yet before all that, the European Union decided to enlarge this incompletely defined system as much as possible, inviting several countries to join and possibly also partly in the Near East. It would mean expanding, after the eventual Turkish adherence, to the borders of Syria, Iraq and Iran. Remember that Cyprus is only a few miles from Lebanon where lots of European crusaders had once taken refuge.

If we take this a step further, you might include and bring peace to the entire Middle East with Israelis and Palestinians as part of the EU. What a miraculous achievement this would be for the whole world. Is there any valid reason to stop this development? Not only some Swiss but many Europeans, too, have been asking themselves the same question.

But in the meantime let us come down to Earth again. According to the information I have, the Swiss are among the people best informed about role and activities of the European Union. Switzerland has had more referendums or votes about Europe than any other European country. Many votes, more than 50, about the European Union were held in several European countries during these last decades. The six founding members of the European Union or Community created in , however, never asked their people for their agreement about shaping the European Union, except Britain successfully eighteen years later in In , 48 years later, France asked its citizens if they wished to accept the European constitution.

They refused, as did later Dutch citizens in , and finally the Irish in Based on their direct democracy system Swiss voters like those in Denmark, are the people that are best informed about EU issues in Europe. The Swiss have no social, political, economic or financial incentive to join — on the contrary, they are and will be required to contribute heavily into the EU coffers.

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Chancellor Helmut Kohl for whom I worked as a member of his strategic industrial Committee for Germany, honored me with a private visit in Switzerland. Swiss culture, mentality and education play a very big role in the natural reaction about the EU as we experience it today. Swiss society is one that completely despises power and violence, and violence through power. It is a society that loves peace and is absolutely against all physical violence. A concentration of too much power in one person or political party, for example, is not tolerated.

His political party has the largest number of voters in Switzerland. It was widely agreed that he was an efficient minister but in an attempt to accumulate too much individual power he was voted off and stopped in his tracks by our House of Representatives and the Senate.

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Individual freedom of the citizen is often more important than the state. To express it more clearly: They are part of the basic fundamentals cherished by the Swiss. It is no coincidence that Voltaire and many others fled to Switzerland to be free to write and speak. This is probably at the basis of the very rich tradition of political and financial shelter such as banking secrecy , a right that the Swiss hold in such high regard. Henri Dunant could not accept what he had seen on the European battlefields of Solferino in the late 19th century.

The Red Cross is a typical Swiss creation, and it can only have the impact it has because the Swiss are considered and accepted worldwide as really neutral. What is more they are regarded as totally democratic and respectful of human rights. May I also remind you that tiny Switzerland is a sizable industrial power with one of the strongest currencies in the world.

It is also a financial power, and this will most probably also stay so in the near future, even if banking secrecy laws may be substantially modified or in the improbable worst case even abolished. The strong currency and political stability together with a deeply democratic and neutral environment will consolidate the safe haven message of a Switzerland with an honest financial industry cleaned of illegal criminal excesses.

In addition, the country never had the tendency to invade foreign countries in Africa, Asia, South America or elsewhere to create colonies, unlike many other but not all European countries. Swatch Group is also a key player in the manufacture and sale of electronic systems used in watchmaking and other industries. Swatch Group employs more than 35 persons in over 50 countries. Net sales in amounted to 7. After stopovers in Shanghai, Taipei and Mexico City, among others, Mido celebrated its th anniversary in Singapore on the theme of "Past, present, future".

An event in the form of an ode to women held on 22 November in the exceptional…. With a name inspired by the stars above us, it has sought to redefine the standards by which we measure time and has always done so with elegant beauty…. I agree that this Website uses cookies and similar technologies for providing me this Website and its functionalities and for obtaining insights about its use.

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