Protection period expired
Federal Archive releases diplomatic documents from 1992
From today, January 1, 2023, researchers, media professionals and those interested in history have access to diplomatic documents from 1992 in the Federal Archives. A corresponding 30-year protection period has expired.
Federal Councilor Adolf Ogi (left), Federal Councilor Jean-Pascal Delamuraz and Swedish Minister Ulf Dinkelspiel signing the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) on May 2, 1992 in the Portuguese port city of Porto. (archive image)
The 1,700 newly accessible documents shed light on the outcome of the referendum on the EEA, the environmental summit in Rio de Janeiro, developments in Eastern Europe and the question of neutrality in the new political environment, as reported by the Dodis research center of the Swiss Academy of Humanities and Social Sciences.
1992 was a fateful political year: on December 6, the electorate sealed a turning point in European politics. Switzerland’s accession to the European Economic Area (EEA) was shipwrecked.
In the spring, the Federal Council decided to quickly submit an application for accession negotiations to the European Communities (EC), as the EU was then called. Transport Minister Adolf Ogi (SVP) tip the scales, as the documents show.
(SDA)