Swiss will vote this Sunday – for the third time in a referendum – on a new initiative to limit immigration, which this time will be linked to the country’s population not exceeding the 10 million barrier in 2050, and which, if approved, could deteriorate relations between Switzerland and the European Union.
The proposal has come out of extreme right party Democratic Union of the Center (UDC), which has called it ‘No to a Switzerland of 10 million’ and in favor of which he argues that the immigration has increased uncontrollably in the last 20 years and that the total Swiss population could soon surpass the 10 million barrier.
This same party that presented an initiative called ‘Against mass immigration’ in 2014, which was accepted by a very narrow margin (50.3%). The UDC now claims that this initiative was not applied in accordance with the will of the voters, since what the Government did was implement a “softened national preference”giving priority to workers (Swiss or foreigners) and residents of Switzerland. In this way, breaking the free movement of people agreement with the EU and that it terminated, in retaliation, the package of trade and economic agreements between Switzerland and the community bloc, which is its first trading partner. A second initiative, in 2020, which directly proposed ending the free movement agreement, was clearly rejected by the population (61.7%).
With the argument of the demographic growth of a country that is somewhat larger than Extremadura or smaller than Aragon, in Spain, the UDC seeks to force the federal government to ensure that if the country reaches 9.5 million inhabitants before 2050, measures be taken in areas such as asylumthe family reunification or stop broadcasting residence permits to provisionally admitted refugees.
“Density stress”
With the exception of the UDC, the spectrum of political parties is against this initiative, which the far-right party also defends by pointing out that the Swiss are suffering “density stress”, with trains and roads full and a real estate market under pressure, which means that sales and rental prices have not stopped rising for years.
The Government, Parliament and parties of both the right and the center and left affirm that, if it receives the support of the citizens, this initiative will jeopardize the long-term bilateral relationship with the EU, in addition to remembering that the labor market Swiss depends heavily on migration, largely from neighboring countries such as France and Germany, but also from further afield.
One of the most affected sectors would be healthcarewhere the workforce is predominantly foreign. Furthermore, the social security system depends – in terms of its pay-as-you-go system – on the active population continuing to pay its contributions, which again puts migrants at the center in the context of a rapidly aging population.
