So Goldtop.. You see no connection with the EU??

If neutrality means not taking part in other peoples quarrals it means not being involved in their legal systems too, surely? You can't do that and and then say "OK.. But we'll pass fines etc. on." The two are surely incompatable?

By making bilateral agreements with other states, they are effectively making alliances, which is derived from the word ally. As I said, so much for Swiss Neutrality.. You can't have allies and be Neutral, the two are mutually exclusive. The fact that Switzerland chooses who and what it allies with and about is largely irrelevant, the fact that they're doing it in the first place is the thing that is slowly breaking down their ability to remain neutral.

However, as I've said, if Switzerland didn't do this, then I wouldn't be here, neither, I suspect, would many of you.

The fact that Switzerland brings allegences with neighbour states that are EU states, and chooses to make heavier exceptions for EU members than non members, like the US, and chooses to make the same kind of agreements that exist within the EU leads me to the point I was making regarding EU by the back door.

Obviously it's not in the Swiss's interest to join the EU at the current time, but the fact that it's willing to share information accross its borders in a similar fashion, the fact that I can basically cross in and out of Switzerland via most of the time without even seeing a border guard shows the depth of this international cooperation.

Switzerland isn't neutral, it just chooses to keep its allies slightly further than the EU states do.

My French teacher says her Swiss speeding fines take about a year to get to her.... so they do get there in the end.

Also - this is off topic but be very careful with Spanish registered letters (sorry bit slow joining the debate!) they have a lot of lottery scams coming out of there and its often a letter to invite you to send all your bank details to get your 12 mill euros for a lottery draw you never entered .......

LoL.. I thought that was Nigeria!!!

I think general advice is to be very careful about sending bank details to anyone who you didn't expect to be asked by.. In the end, if you've won €12million, I very much doubt they'd send it to you without so much as checking if you actually hold the winning ticket still!

As always in this world.. If it sounds to good to be true, it probably is.

They have been talking about this for years.
The basic issue is "who pays for the administration?"
I mean, for example, how much money is Switzerland willing to spend to collect fines from Swiss drivers and then send it all to France (probably a lot of money). Versus France collecting fines from French drivers and then send it all to Switzerland (probably not much). Because a lot of Swiss visit France for holidays but not many French visit Switzerland. So potentially France makes a big profit & Switzerland a big loss.

Marton

One would think that the Swiss police would take an amount from that to cover costs. Bilaterral doesn't necesarily mean "free". They've probably agreed an amount payable for each fine for administration. And the database lookups are apparently automatic anyway, the French have access to the Swiss database and vice versa, meaning there is very little cost involved for the two countries once the databases are connected.

And what gives you the idea that there are more Swiss in France than French in Switzerland?? France may be larger, but it also has a much larger population. (About 62 million against 7.5 million) So it seems likely that there are as many French in Switzerland as there are Swiss in Frencherland.. Given that Swiss speeding fines are much larger than the French ones (according to my father in law) the Swiss are probably onto a bit of a cash cow..

It was just an example; certainly there will be inequalities between countries; maybe France & Switzerland is not the best example. France (according to the French authorities) have far more foreign drivers breaking speed limits than other countries.
About "meaning there is very little cost involved for the two countries once the databases are connected"
Sorry do not agree; getting the name & address is just a small part of the administration involved. I have seen figures quoted like "cost of collection is 30% of the fine".

Marton