Free Nation By Choice – OpEd

By Cláudia Ascensão Nunes

Switzerland is the freest country in the world, according to the Human Freedom Index. Small in territory but giant in institutional autonomy, it has built a decentralized, monetarily stable, and deeply participatory democracy, all outside the European Union.

While Member States have no alternative to the uniform directives designed in Brussels, Switzerland negotiates sectoral agreements according to its national interest and the democratic consent of its citizens.