Switzerland’s relationship with the European Union (EU) and the increasing influence of EU law on Swiss law have shaped the legal debate since Switzerland’s rejection of EEA accession in 1992, through the conclusion of Bilateral Agreements I in 1999 and Bilateral Agreements II in 2004, and up to the current negotiations on an institutional agreement. Nevertheless, the phenomenon of the increasing “Europeanization” of the Swiss legal system has been legally examined at best in specific areas, but not comprehensively and systematized. In particular, there is a lack of analysis of the extent to which decision-making and opinion-forming processes in Swiss democracy have changed under the increasing influence of EU law.
Although the relevant constitutional and legislative provisions at the federal and cantonal levels have not been formally amended, the parliamentary and direct democratic lawmaking processes are constantly subject to influences from EU law. The project is based on a cross-sectional approach that does not analyze the specific effects of sectoral agreements on the legal situation in individual areas, but rather examines the influence of EU law on the traditional mechanisms of democratic lawmaking. The sub-projects focus on three paradigmatic constellations: 1. Legislation by Parliament when adopting EU law for the purpose of updating the body of law within the framework of the Switzerland-EU bilateral treaties; 2. The autonomous implementation of EU law through legislation and case law; 3. The lawmaking and legal application of provisions that arise from popular initiatives that potentially conflict with the law of the bilateral treaties. Methodologically, the study in this jurisprudential project is conducted through a comprehensive evaluation of legislative materials at the federal and cantonal levels, as well as the case law of the Federal Supreme Court, the Federal Administrative Court, and cantonal courts. The aim of the research project is to reveal the dynamics of Switzerland’s European integration process based on the impact of EU law on democratic decision-making processes and to systematize this process using legal concepts that are to be partially newly designed or further developed, such as autonomous implementation. Europeanization is presumably leading, on the one hand, to the fact that the political decision-making process is now shaped by the provisions of EU law in various areas. On the other hand, it can already be established that parliaments, voters, and courts have now developed legal procedures and instruments to constructively deal with political leeway and its limits. In-depth studies will be conducted to gain specific insights into individual decision-making processes. Partial objectives of the research project are to analyze the political leeway in the adoption of EU law by parliament and the role of the judiciary in the context of autonomous implementation.