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EUROPEAN UNION

New SVP anti-immigration plan threatens Swiss-EU talks

The president of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP) confirmed on Wednesday that enough signatures had been collected to force a referendum on the issue of the right of EU citizens to live and work in Switzerland.

Published: 27 June 2018 09:51 CEST
New SVP anti-immigration plan threatens Swiss-EU talks
The Federal Palace of Switzerland in Bern. Photo: Depositphotos

Speaking to Swiss tabloid Blick, SVP party president Albert Rösti said 125,000 signatures had been collected for the anti-freedom of movement initiative.

These will now need to be officially verified before the initiative is submitted, expected to be in September.

Under Swiss law, any group of at least seven citizens that collects 100,000 signatures within 18 months can demand a change to the constitution via referendum.

Read also: Swiss-EU deal – Bern may back down over controls on foreign workers

If the SVP referendum does go ahead and receives the backing of the Swiss people, it would mean EU citizens would no longer have the automatic right to work in Switzerland.

Rösti said freedom of movement “is damaging to prosperity [in Switzerland] in the long run” and denied that scrapping the freedom of movement deal with the EU would cause major damage to relations with Brussels.

The comments from the SVP chief ramp up the pressure on the Swiss government, coming as they do on the same day that Swiss Foreign Minister Ignazio Cassis is expected to unveil a new deal designed to break the deadlock in stalled talks between Bern and Brussels on a new framework agreement regarding their bilateral arrangements.

Tensions between the Bern and the Brussels date back to 2014 when Swiss voters backed another SVP-powered referendum – the ‘against mass immigration' initiative –which aimed to impose limits on immigration from EU countries and therefore protect the rights, and high incomes, of Swiss workers.

Aware that implementing the measures restricting EU freedom of movement contained in the referendum text could seriously threaten Swiss access to the European Common Market, the Swiss parliament finally approved a watered-down version of the initiative.

This involved imposing new rules on unemployment which should limit the impact of foreign workers on the domestic job market.

But the parliament’s decision to pass a “lite” version of the mass immigration initiative angered the SVP while it failed to fully satisfy Brussels over the issue of access of EU workers to the Swiss job market.

Under the new deal expected to be proposed by the foreign minister to the Swiss government on Wednesday, Bern would make concessions to the EU by tweaking its eight-day rule which requires foreign companies to inform Swiss authorities at least eight days before they carry out work in Switzerland so that the Swiss can ensure firms are not bringing in cheaper labour to undercut high wages in the Alpine country.

In exchange, Brussels would accept a more limited role for the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in Swiss affairs.

For members

IMMIGRATION

Why is Switzerland spending 300 million francs to protect Schengen borders?

From August 1st, 2024, Switzerland will contribute financially to the European effort to strengthen the protection of the Schengen area’s external borders.

Published: 24 July 2024 14:15 CEST
Updated: 31 July 2024 14:08 CEST
Why is Switzerland spending 300 million francs to protect Schengen borders?

Though Switzerland is not a member of the EU, it does belong to the Schengen area — not only benefitting from the access to Europe’s borderless zone, but also participating in its funding.

Financial support is especially needed in Schengen countries with particularly extensive land and sea borders or major international airports on their territories, because they bear a heavy financial burden of securing the zone’s external borders, for the benefit of all the other members.

How will Switzerland’s 300-million-franc contribution be used?

Over the period of next seven years, it will go toward the programme called Instrument for Financial Support for Border Management and Visa Policy (BMVl), which is part of the fund that ensures efficient management of EU’s borders.

The EU already allocated 6.24 billion euros to the BMVI for a seven-year period, and 300 million francs is Switzerland’s share.

Specifically, those funds will be used towards improving external border controls, investing in common large-scale IT systems in the area of borders management and visa policy, funding infrastructure and equipment, and deployment of immigration liaison officers, among other tasks.

Why is Switzerland contributing 300 million francs?

The BMVl’s goal is to “improve the protection of the external borders of the Schengen area and, therefore, to increase the effectiveness of border controls and prevent illegal immigration,” the Federal Council said. 

This, along with effective and integrated management of the external borders “is also in Switzerland’s interest.”

Also, Switzerland will likely receive grants from the BMVl of around 50 million francs to be allocated mainly to the establishment of new EU information systems (EES Entry and Exit System, and European Travel Information and Authorization System ETIAS) on its territory.

Furthermore, it is planned to use part of these resources to finance the expansion of the border control infrastructure at Zurich Airport.

Benefits for Switzerland

There is no doubt that Swiss citizens benefit greatly from access to the Schengen zone.

Simply put, it allows anyone who is in Switzerland legally to enjoy hassle-free travel to and from the 26 other Schengen states, visa time limits permitting.

Travellers arriving into Switzerland for the first time from a non-Schengen state like the UK or the US will have to queue up to have their passports checked, but after that they can move freely.

That means Swiss citizens, EU nationals, non-EU international residents in Switzerland, tourists, exchange students or people travelling for business can travel on to another Schengen member state, perhaps neighbouring France or Germany by car or train, without having to show their passports. (Although occasionally checks are brought back.) 

That is a definite ‘plus’ for anyone who travels within Europe. Due to Switzerland having so many land borders with other Schengen countries it would have been hugely problematic not to join.
 

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