Messages in the Media - University of Toronto

BACKGROUND:
Switzerland is geographically situated in the center
of Europe, and trades primarily with its European neighbours;
however it has not become a member of the EU. In a
referendum in 2002, the Swiss public voted against opening
talks on joining the EU, and currently Swiss-EU relations
are based on a series of extensive bilateral agreements.
In 2005, Swiss-EU relations became closer as a result
of a referendum which revealed that the Swiss public
was in favour of Switzerland signing onto the EU Schengen
and Dublin agreements. These agreements brought Switzerland
into Europe’s passport-free zone and allowed Switzerland
to collaborate with other EU members on security
related issues. 1 More recently, Switzerland brought its legislation
in line with that of the EU in order to avoid discrimination
as a non-EU member. 2
MEDIA SOURCES:
Tages-Anzeiger
www.tagesanzeiger.ch
Tages-Anzeiger (TA) is a national daily newspaper based in
Zurich. In comparison to other Swiss newspapers it has a
wide readership and circulates to approximately 204 000
readers daily. 3 Although it is politically and economically
independent, the newspaper is generally considered to be
politically left and government friendly. 4
Neue Zürcher Zeitung
www.nzz.ch
The Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) is another national daily
newspaper based in Zurich, with a daily circulation of 137
000. 5 NZZ shares political opinions that are linked to the
liberal Free Democratic Party of Switzerland. 6
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