Switzerland–European Union relations
The currency of Switzerland is the Swiss franc. Switzerland (with Liechtenstein) is in the unusual position of being surrounded by countries that use the euro. As a result, the euro is "de facto" accepted in many places, especially near borders and in tourist regions. Swiss Federal Railways accept euros, both at ticket counters and in automatic ticket machines. Also many public phones, vending machines or ticket machines accept euro coins. Many shops and smaller businesses that accept euros take notes only, and give change in Swiss francs, usually at a less favourable exchange rate than banks. Many bank cash machines issue euros at the traded exchange rate as well as Swiss francs.
Didier Sornette
In 2015, in reaction to the extraordinary pressure on the Swiss franc and the general debate that a strong Swiss franc is a problem for Switzerland, he has introduced the contrarian concept that a strong Swiss franc is an extraordinary opportunity for Switzerland. He argues that the strong Swiss franc is the emergence (in the sense of complex adaptive systems) of the aggregate qualities of Switzerland, its political systems, its infrastructure, its work organisation and ethics, its culture and much more. He proposes to "mine" Swiss francs to stabilise the exchange against the euro to an economically and politically consensus (that could be around 1.20–1.25 ChF per euro) and buy as much euros and dollars as is necessary for this. The proceeds will be reinvested in a Swiss Sovereign Fund, which could reach a size of one trillion euros or more, according to the strategies used by the Norvegian sovereign fund, the Singaporean sovereign funds and university endowment funds such as Harvard or Stanford. A full English version and a presentation can be found at . A summary of the arguments has been presented in the German speaking media .