It started badly. In Geneva, the CH-EU committee, in collaboration with the University’s Center for European Legal Studies, brought together a fine range of participants, including the French Ambassador to Switzerland Frédéric Journès and on the Swiss side the Secretary of State Deputy Patrick Franzen. But the latter having withdrawn because, it seems, of a burning topicality, his Excellency also apologized. The debate was nevertheless interesting in the sense that it was instructive. “We cannot allow ourselves to lose a popular vote, because the situation would then be even more dramatic than today”, declared the Councilor to the Vaudois States Olivier Français.
