>>>>Funny how that choice becomes available only when you are among the richest among the richest. The less fortunate have to take the whole package (...rod, line and sinker).
>>>
>>>Really ? Germany, Belgium, The Netherlands etc..
>>
>>The Swiss have the banks. The Norwegians have the oil. So they can have the special status.
>
>The swiss also have a history of keeping themselves out of such groups / staying neutral. And I believe that started well before swiss banks were important, if they are at all, have not checked the % or total amount kept there, even surmizing the per capita rate to be much higher than many or most countries. Except for Napoleon the swiss kept themselves apart from surrounding political structures.

I think the banks didn't matter economically that much, but rather as a factor of personal interest of the EU bureaucrats, commissars and other democracy. I guess they didn't want to touch the special status of a banking oasis in the neighborhood which doesn't have to obey any banking laws they may impose in the future. So whatever rules they bring up regarding your money doesn't necessarily apply to their money. Which is, I reckon, the way the Swiss managed to stay neutral - not by any sheer size of their banks, but by safekeeping the money of anyone who may be rich enough to attack them. Which is special, it's a neat trick that every country would like to pull, but they did it first.

As far as I remember how the Norwegians managed to stay out of the EU is by pure democratic will - they didn't want to. The EU was, OTOH, willing to get them into the union in some limited ways, simply because of their oil money.