If approved, the “domino effect” could turn into a kind of “Swiss Brexit”
Switzerland is again trying to put up a legal barrier to immigration.
Exactly 50 years after the first consultation that risked causing expulsion of 300 thousand Italian workers, next Sunday, September 27th, Swiss citizens will once again speak out about a bill called “For moderate immigration".
In 1970, the proposal was rejected with 54% of the vote. This time, according to opinion polls, the “No” should prevail. A survey commissioned by the German-language state TV channel showed that 61% should reject the proposal.
The promoters of the referendum are the nationalist right-wing parties; the government has instead expressed that it apparently opposes repealing the agreements.
A Swiss Brexit
O UDC, the right-wing party that supports the referendum, claims that immigration into Switzerland has currently exceeded the critical threshold: 24% of people currently residing in the country are foreigners, this includes so-called “cross-border workers” – more than 60 of whom are from Italy.
The proposal calls for an amendment to the Swiss Constitution that prohibits any treaty on the free movement of people.
This would result in the automatic termination of the current agreement with the European Union, which also includes Switzerland in the so-called “Schengen area”, and which, in practice, allows all EU citizens to freely cross Swiss borders (and vice versa). .
If on Sunday the “Yes” prevails, Bern will have 12 months to negotiate a new agreement with Bruxelas, otherwise the borders will be closed automatically in 30 days.
Side B
Around 500 Swiss citizens currently work abroad, and if “Yes” wins, their jobs will inevitably be at risk, in other words, literally on the street.
Thanks to bilateral agreements with the EU, Swiss companies, in particular SMEs, have direct access to their main market: neighboring countries.
Without this access, they would be less competitive.
In short, the initiative would end up creating more problems than the Swiss right tries to solve.
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