in Sweden of “social tourism” from those countries. That has not happened.
Nobody in the Soviet Bloc can speak Swedish 
Why do you think I came to England (from Czechoslovakia)?
I would not call the GAR a plus, it is a nuisance, totally unnecessary.
I agree. When the UK had that red tape GA consultation thing, I placed a comment arguing the removal of the GAR system and making agreements with neighboring countries allowing light GA to land anywhere without need for immigration/customs (similar to being in Schengen). Cause let’s face it, the UK is not going to have an immigration problem if it allows free travel to/from EU for light GA.
I believe the best we got was some talk on a reduction in the notice time for the GAR form.
But yeah I go agree with boscomantico. Things are much better now than they were years ago. But progress never goes in a straight line!
Jan and Shorrick
And now following the vote on the free movement agreement and the likely cancellation thereof it’s quite likely it’ll get even worse :).
bq. ? does that mean Switzerland would leave the Schengen group? If so, at what term?
Most Swiss have no interest of leaving Schengen, but the problem is that the recently approved vote on a restriction of the immigration influx has opened a can of worms which would most European anglers happy for decades. The more likely variant in the current situation is that we might well be thrown out.
The trouble is that the new legislation is in contradiction to the bi-lateral agreements regarding free movement of people within Europe which Switzerland has originally voted for, many under the clear pretext that it will allow them to LEAVE Switzerland if they so wish and work in the promised land of their choice. The vote then was heavily influenced by the government with promises of flanking measures should immigration go wild, to stop salary dumping and others.
The problem was, after the free movement clause was accepted, the influx became a deluge and the flanking measures were not or only haphazardly implemented! This made it possible for some of the hardcore nationalists to launch a new initiative which is in contradiction to the free movement clause and which got accepted by the people with a small margin.
This now puts Switzerland into the difficult position that they have to retract the free movement contract, which is part of a series of bi-lateral agreements with the EU of which Schengen is one. The EU has clearly stated that they are not willing to re-negotiate the free movement agreement, but that in case Switzerland violates it, they would cancel the whole bunch of bi-laterals and basically start a legal siege. This on the other hand is what the ultras in Switzerland seem to aim for, a total international isolation. Personally I regret this development and feel uneasy about the direction this is taking.
I reckon the source of all this anger and protest voting lies in the contempt a growing number of people feel with the “political class” whom they do not trust and whom they wish to punish.
While I am EU critical as well and for the same reasons, I am more than wary of the growing dissent and separatist movements almost everywhere. Ukraine, while not part of the EU but nevertheless a country in which EU influence plays a vital role, should show abundantly where this kind of thing can ultimately lead. What I would wish for is a political class which stops being self servant and following some utopic ideas but which takes the concerns of the people who elected them serious and act accordingly. Sadly, this can be hardly said of any government at this time.
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I reckon the source of all this anger and protest voting lies in the contempt a growing number of people feel with the “political class” whom they do not trust and whom they wish to punish
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Not only that but since the free movement agreement has been voted on ca. 80k west europeans have moved to Switzerland each year. 80k ppl is the average size of a medium Swiss town. Infrastructure and real estate clearly do not cope any longer.
Mooney Driver, forgive me if I misunderstand anything you have written, but it seems to me that a few very political statements above have no place on these pages. It is after all a forum for aviation and not politics. To say for example " with a unhealthy rise in nationalism" is expressing a political opinion. As I have said if I have misunderstood I apologise for my comment. I would prefer to see aviation related debate focus which is why I moved from another forum to here.
It is after all a forum for aviation and not politics.
Isn’t 80% of aviation about politics these days? Most of what I have to consider when flying has nothing to do with the technical nature of an aircraft or the skills of commanding an aircraft. It’s BS created by politicians. Next month: pay a lot of money to do this totally useless same-procedure-as-every-year IR check flight, flying the very same approaches like every time before.
Sorry Fenland Flyer,
No, I did not want to start a political discussion but merely explain the issues brought up earlier about why the Schengen Status of Switzerland may be in doubt.
Zürich may well be but the country itself is not.
The same could be said about London and England.
I work in Kreuzlingen,TG and it is very expensive compared to Germany. The prices in Konstanz (border area) are very high compared to rural Bavaria.
A bag of chips at a local beer garden is about twice the price in Kreuzlingen.
Sorry, but Switzerland is expensive.
You do? We do occasionally go to Konstanz. Maybe we can meet once there for a coffee.
Speaking of coffee I’ve spent a fair bit of time moving back and forth between Switzerland and surrounding countries, often several of them in one day. This leads to some humorous episodes. Last time a group of us crossed into Switzerland on Maloja pass from Chiavenna we almost had a ‘pile up’ as the leader remembered at the last minute to stop for coffee in Italy. Then the next coffee stop on Flüelapass cost something like three times as much.
The wise alpine motorcyclist might buy his mogas in Switzerland, but he crosses into Austria or Italy to get a hotel and dinner Meanwhile, Italian friends of mine working in Basel are currently trying to do the same thing in a more fundamental way: telecommuting from home in Italy while drawing a Swiss big pharma salary.
