It depends on what you mean by "EU" - I do understand that EU member state has a specific definition that Switzerland does not meet. What most people think of as "EU" is actually an overlapping patchwork of agreements many of which Switzerland does participate in.
True, they're not part of the Euro zone. They're part of the Schengen area (common immigration zone), the EFTA (free trade area), signed the EEA, and adopted by themselves most EU regulations. [1] While not an ECJ member, they are softening their stance on that also [2].
Does it mean you can move freely from country to country? (You can, it's Schengen)
How about goods? (They can, they're in the single market)
How about animals? Pets? (Switzerland accepts EU pet passports)
How about laws? Switzerland has many of the same EU laws.
How about judiciary? They're moving to accept the ECJ.
At what point does it matter if they're EU or not if all the other rules apply? If you didn't know, you'd probably wander around Switzerland thinking it was EU. That's my point. I'm not claiming they're a member state. I specifically said that, in the first line. What I am saying is that they're hardly independent of the EU, and that makes a big difference.
(OP) Switzerland is not a member of the EU. Do you see any claim in my post that Switzerland is a member of the EU?
Nonetheless, Switzerland has a relationship with the rest of the EU that is analogous to the relationship between a small, dense US state and the rest of the USA.
Nonetheless, Zurich has a relationship with the rest of the EU that is analogous to the relationship between NYC and the rest of the USA.
This issue of whether Switzerland is properly considered "part of" the EU regardless of its membership status seems like quite the diversion from my actual point and is not at all relevant to the parallel I was drawing.
