The proposal that provides for a ban on the entry of immigrants if the population exceeds 9.5 million is going to a referendum. Its supporters argue that high immigration causes housing shortages and excessive rents. The government argues that the measure would harm the job market.
The Swiss government appealed this Monday to the electorate to reject an initiative that aims to limit the population to 10 million of inhabitants, arguing that this will put at risk cooperation with the European Union and will harm the economy.
The initiative, supported by the right-wing Democratic Union of the Center party, or UDC, goes to a referendum on June 14, as Switzerland seeks to deepen relations with the EU in order to safeguard access to the market of its main trading partner.
Entitled “No to a Switzerland of 10 million”, it was launched by the far-right Swiss People’s Party (SVP), the country’s largest political force. Among the measures included is the ban on entry of immigrants if the permanent population exceeds 9.5 million.
According to the plan, the permanent resident population cannot exceed 10 million before 2050, and Switzerland must abandon the free movement of people agreement with the EU.
This pact allows Swiss and EU citizens live and work freely across borders and underpins Switzerland’s close economic ties with the blocits largest export market.
Proponents of the population proposal claim that immigration to Switzerland is too high, causing housing shortages, excessive rents and disproportionate pressure on public infrastructure.
The UDC, Switzerland’s largest party, opposes closer integration with the EU, seeing it as a threat to Swiss sovereignty and as a source of excessive regulation for the country, recalls .
The population is currently over 9 million of inhabitants, and the Federal Council, the country’s governing body, stated that the initiative threatens Switzerland’s prosperity, internal security and humanitarian traditions.
In 2024, the foreign citizens represented more than 27% of the Swiss population, according to official data.
The Minister of Justice, Beat Jansspoke out against the initiative on Monday, accompanied by representatives of cantonal governments, unions and employers’ associations, who warned that the measure would harm the job marketo and, consequently, the companies.
The initiative would also make security cooperation more difficult and immigration with other European countries, the government highlighted. «In times of uncertainty, This initiative thus generates additional uncertainty», he concluded.
Switzerland has experienced rapid demographic growth in the last decade, expanding at a rate approximately five times higher than that of neighboring countries of the EU, with foreigners making up around 27% of the population, according to the Government.
According to the Portuguese embassy in Bern, the Portuguese are the third largest immigrant community in Switzerland, behind only the Italians and the Germans. In total, more than 260 thousand Portuguese lived in Switzerland at the end of 2024, which corresponds to around 3% of the country’s total population.
