BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Switzerland became the seventh country knocking at the European Community's door to be admitted as a member Tuesday.
Swiss Ambassador Benedict de Tscharner handed his government's membership request to Ambassador Jose Paulouro das Neves of Portugal, which currently holds the rotating presidency of the EC council.
EC policy has been to hold off on membership negotiations with any candidates until the 12 present member states have completed their single internal market Jan. 1, 1993.
Switzerland joins Turkey (April 1987), Austria (July 1989), Cyprus and Malta (July 1990), Sweden (July 1991) and Finland (March 1992) in applying for EC membership.
Four of the candidates - Austria, Sweden, Finland and Switzerland - belong to the European Free Trade Association, which also includes Norway and Iceland, which has concluded an agreement with the EC to set up a free trading zone as of Jan. 1, 1993, ensuring free movement of goods, services, capital and persons between the two groups.
EC government officials are expected to decide on the start of membership negotiations for Switzerland and the other free trade association countries in June at their summit meeting in Lisbon.
Officials of the applicant EFTA countries have said they expected membership negotiations could be completed by 1995.
Matters are more complicated with Turkey, Malta and Cyprus.
The EC Commission opinion on Turkey, delivered in early 1990, said it needed further integration among the 12 EC member states and the gap between the EC and Turkey in economic, political and social fields was still too wide.
The EC also has obvious difficulties with the Cypriot application because of the Greek-Turkish conflict on the Mediterranean island, and with Malta's because of its small size.
On the other hand the situation of the EFTA countries could be an asset to the EC, adding prosperous nations to the EC influence in both economic and political spheres.
