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IMMIGRATION

Row as Swiss MPs give in on EU migrant curbs

Politicians from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) have slammed the Swiss parliament’s decision to favour a ‘light’ implementation of the February 2014 anti-immigration initiative as unconstitutional.

Published: 22 September 2016 09:05 CEST

Row as Swiss MPs give in on EU migrant curbs

The debate over EU immigration became heated in parliament on Wednesday. File photo: Justus Blumer

On Wednesday the lower house of parliament decided that Switzerland should not put the brakes on EU immigration by imposing strict quotas unilaterally, reported Swiss media.

The majority of MPs reached such a conclusion after five hours of fierce debate over how Switzerland should implement the 2014 initiative, which saw the public approve the principle of limiting immigration.

Instead of fixed quotas, the lower house favours a ‘light’ solution which would mean prioritizing Swiss nationals for jobs and only taking more drastic measures if Brussels agrees.

Since the controversial but legally binding referendum more than two years ago, the government has been grappling to find a way to limit immigration while preserving its bilateral agreements with the bloc, which are dependent on maintaining the free movement of people.

It has until February 2017 to find a solution that the EU considers acceptable, but as yet negotiations with Brussels have not borne fruit.

After Wednesday’s heated debate on the subject – broadcast live on Swiss television – the majority of MPs voted to back a 'light’ solution proposed by a parliamentary commission, said news agencies.

Only the SVP dissented. The hardline party, which supported the 2014 popular initiative, claimed such a solution waters down its original intentions since it does not allow for fixed quotas or give Switzerland autonomy over immigration.

With tensions running high, the SVP’s Adrian Amstutz said the proposal was a “violation of the constitution in all its splendour” and the “death of direct democracy”.

Others accused the commission of abusing its function in suggesting such a solution.

But the majority of MPs felt it was more important to maintain the country’s relationship with the EU than apply the 2014 initiative to the letter.

Speaking on behalf of the parliamentary commission, Socialist Cesla Amarelle said it was essential to preserve Switzerland’s bilateral agreements with the EU and a ‘light’ solution would unblock the impasse with the bloc.

Dismissing the SVP’s complaints, she said their own proposals were “mediocre” and that the constitution allowed MPs some room to manoeuvre, reported Le Tribune de Genève.

Matthias Jauslin of the Liberal-Radicals said his party did not want to jeopardize Switzerland’s bilateral agreements with the EU and therefore the 2014 initiative could not be applied to the letter.

To do so would be fatal for the economy, added another MP.

Despite Wednesday’s vote, the debate is far from over. Parliament will now consider the detail of the commission’s proposal, with many other suggestions still on the table.

The senate must also consider the proposal, scheduled for December.

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With the German far right coming out on top in two state elections earlier this month, the socialist-led national Berlin government has reimposed border controls on Western frontiers that are supposed to see freedom of movement in the European Union’s Schengen zone.

The Netherlands government, which includes the party of Dutch far-right leader Geert Wilders, announced Wednesday that it had requested from Brussels an opt-out from EU rules on asylum, with Prime Minister Dick Schoof declaring that there was an asylum “crisis”.

Meanwhile, new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the left-wing Labour Party paid a visit to Rome for talks with Italian counterpart Georgia Meloni, whose party has neo-fascist roots, to discuss the strategies used by Italy in seeking to reduce migration.

Far-right parties performed strongly in June European elections, coming out on top in France, prompting President Emmanuel Macron to call snap elections which resulted in right-winger Michel Barnier, who has previously called for a moratorium on migration, being named prime minister.

We are witnessing the “continuation of a rightward shift in migration policies in the European Union,” said Jerome Vignon, migration advisor at the Jacques Delors Institute think-tank.

It reflected the rise of far-right parties in the European elections in June, and more recently in the two regional elections in Germany, he said, referring to a “quite clearly protectionist and conservative trend”.

Strong message

“Anti-immigration positions that were previously the preserve of the extreme right are now contaminating centre-right parties, even centre-left parties like the Social Democrats” in Germany, added Florian Trauner, a migration specialist at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, the Dutch-speaking university in Brussels.

While the Labour government in London has ditched its right-wing Conservative predecessor administration’s plan to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, there is clearly interest in a deal Italy has struck with Albania to detain and process migrants there.

Within the European Union, Cyprus has suspended the processing of asylum applications from Syrian applicants, while laws have appeared authorising pushbacks at the border in Finland and Lithuania.

Under the pretext of dealing with “emergency” or “crisis” situations, the list of exemptions and deviations from the common rules defined by the European Union continues to grow.

All this flies in the face of the new EU migration pact, agreed only in May and coming into force in 2026.

In the wake of deadly attacks in Mannheim and most recently Solingen blamed on radical Islamists, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government also expelled 28 Afghans back to their home country for the first time since the Taliban takeover of Kabul.

Such gestures from Germany are all the more symbolic given how the country since World War II has tried to turn itself into a model of integration, taking in a million refugees, mainly Syrians in 2015-2016 and then more than a million Ukrainian exiles since the Russian invasion.

Germany is sending a “strong message” to its own public as well as to its European partners, said Trauner.

The migratory pressure “remains significant” with more than 500,000 asylum applications registered in the European Union for the first six months of the year, he said.

‘Climate on impunity’

Germany, which received about a quarter of them alone, criticises the countries of southern Europe for allowing migrants to circulate without processing their asylum applications, but southern states denounce a lack of solidarity of the rest of Europe.

The moves by Germany were condemned by EU allies including Greece and Poland, but Scholz received the perhaps unwelcome accolade of praise from Hungarian right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, Moscow’s closest friend in the European Union, when he declared “welcome to the club”.

The EU Commission’s failure to hold countries to account “only fosters a climate of impunity where unilateral migration policies and practices can proliferate,” said Adriana Tidona, Amnesty International’s Migration Researcher.

But behind the rhetoric, all European states are also aware of the crucial role played by migrants in keeping sectors going including transport and healthcare, as well as the importance of attracting skilled labour.

“Behind the symbolic speeches, European leaders, particularly German ones, remain pragmatic: border controls are targeted,” said Sophie Meiners, a migration researcher with the German Council on Foreign Relations.

Even Meloni’s government has allowed the entry into Italy of 452,000 foreign workers for the period 2023-2025.

“In parallel to this kind of new restrictive measures, they know they need to address skilled labour needs,” she said.