Originally Posted by
Shorrick Mk2
with the introduction of the Schengen agreement
May I remind you that Switzerland did not sign the Schengen agreement (as btw neither did the EEC nor the majority of the EU, which implements the absence of systematic border controls directly via EU law). What Switzerland did sign, was a couple of agreements with the EU and certain other EEA countries which implement
parts of the Schengen treaty of 1985 and subsequent acquises, with very significant chunks left out--notably where it concerns customs, refugees, and immigration. Which is why one still gets mugged at the border by custom agents trying to extort whatever money they can, like nothing has changed. That is to say, nothing except that along with the "Schengen" agreements, a bunch of accords aimed at the EU tax authorities gaining the right to stick their noses into your banking system, and that of Liechtenstein which was strong-armed into it, were also slipped through.
To be fair to the Swiss for once, the EU public relations machine sells it as if Switzerland was fully part of the Schengen area, which most definitely it is not, and I doubt the Swiss would have voted the way they voted in this matter had they had full and adequate access to the detail of what really was being signed.