2024-09-03 13:24:07
A long-term agreement between Bern and Brussels for people from the EU almost unlimited access to Switzerland’s labor marketas well as another international agreement, including the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), which allows citizens of Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein to live and work in Switzerland as well.
Workers from those countries are needed to fill shortages in the Swiss labor market and continue the country’s economic growth.
However, some Swiss politicians continue to voice opposition to the number of foreigners allowed to work and live in Switzerland. They sometimes suggest radical measures aimed at limiting the numbers.
So what is on the table and do these proposals have a chance to succeed?
The new party to speak out and provide a radical anti-immigration measure was Center-right Liberal Radical Party (PLR).
As part of the negotiations with the European Union are currently underwayThierry Burkart, president of the PLR, has spoken in favor of an immigration tax for Swiss companies that hire foreigners.
The idea is that Swiss employers who hire from abroad should contribute financially to the economic costs of immigration.
“With this tax, it will be up to companies to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of hiring foreign workers,” he said.
This proposal is somewhat similar to another one, put forward by the populist and right wing Swiss People’s Party (SVP), calling on the government to impose a ‘residence tax’ for all foreigners, including those from the European Union and the EFTA countries.
SVP vice Andrea Caroni argue that the foreigner who comes to Switzerland takes advantage of the home country’s infrastructure and other benefits, and therefore should be paid for it.
This is based on a previous opinion, by the Swiss economist Reiner Eichenberger, who decided that “based on the costs to Switzerland and the benefits to immigrants, residence taxes of 5,000 francs annually are justified.”
Under the SVP proposal, part of the revenue from this tax will be used to offset the costs generated by immigration, such as homelessness and the abuse of Swiss infrastructure.
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‘No’ to population growth
Residential tax schemes are an offshoot of those SVP’s famous initiative, ‘No to Switzerland of 10 million people’which seeks to stop the influx of foreigners when the permanent population exceeds 9.5 million (it currently exceeds 9 million).
It may have serious repercussions if it passes for example, Bern will have to terminate the agreement on the free movement of people with the EU.
Another strategy often used by the hard-right SVP using government pressure to curb immigration is to link the arrival of foreigners to a higher crime rate.
“Switzerland is becoming less and less safe, due to the importation of crime that benefits from the lax migration policy and lax border controls,” said the SVP, who is promising to launch even more anti-foreigner initiatives in future.
Do any of these ideas have a chance of being successful?
PLR advice to tax companies employing foreign workers remains at this point – a planningso it is difficult to judge what, if anything, will become of him.
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As for the proposed ‘residence tax’ for foreigners it is not surprising, many in Switzerland are against the idea.
Opponents criticize the fact that the proposed tax focuses only on the costs of immigration, while ignoring the importance of immigrants for the Swiss economy, including the contribution they make to the financing of national infrastructure and welfare system through the taxes they pay.
There are fears that if implemented, such a move would worsen the existing job shortage, as it would discourage foreigners from coming to Switzerland and Swiss employers from hiring them.
So opposition and worry over labor market shortages means it’s unlikely to succeed.
The future of the SVP’s ‘No to the Switzerland of 10 million people’ popular vote is not clear at this point either.
The date for the election has not yet been set, but even when it happens, a lot depends on whether or not the voters will listen to the arguments put forward by the SVP, or by the government and economists, who say that reducing immigration “will likely to lead to unprecedented economic instability” in Switzerland.
In the most recent SVP initiativeon September 27th, 2020, 61.7 percent of voters rejected his proposal to restrict immigration from the EU.
That was, however, four years ago, before the population increased to 9 million and the prospect of further growth was on the radar.
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And there is more
The specific immigrant movement that has been tabulated in Switzerland is not against foreigners coming to the country, but those who are already here.
And, ironically, this targeted group are not really ‘foreigners’ but dual nationals who, for all intents and purposes, are Swiss citizens and are a major party – the MPS in parliament Switzerland.
About 10 percent of Swiss parliamentarians have a second passport in addition to the Swiss one; mostly from European Union countries, but also from Turkey, Colombia, and Australia. Some were born abroad, which means they became Swiss through Naturalization.
However, some parliaments are trying to ban the two countries in their positions.
A deputy from the SVP even filed a lawsuit to make dual citizens ineligible to work for either the National Council or the Council of States – the two chambers that make up the parliament.
The reason for this move is because these legislators “do not represent the best interests of Switzerland.”
Banning dual citizenship from parliament, however, is not possible.
According to Rainer J. Schweizer, a professor of constitutional law, the implementation of this proposal will be difficult from a legal point of view.
He said a constitutional amendment would be needed to prevent dual citizens from running for national offices.
This can only be decided by voting.
And even then, the issue will not be resolved because the ban will violate the European Convention on Human Rights.
“The separation of the two citizens from the parliament will not be accepted because it will violate the freedom of expression and the law against discrimination”, he said.
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