Switzerland votes to curb EU immigration

[derspiess]

My first thought about the Swiss and the Brits or whoever getting all uppity about immigrants is: who will clean your toilets then?

Local residents? 

[Sheilbh]

Also, I don't get the all the UK QQ over being an EU member, but I am admittedly ignorant to the finer details. However, having your huge workforce magnet of a capital free access to the labour market of the EU seems like quite a big boost on it's own.

My first thought about the Swiss and the Brits or whoever getting all uppity about immigrants is: who will clean your toilets then?

If you're interested I'd recommend the Telegraph and Spectator blogs to see strong British Euroscepticism.

Avoid the comments sections

Edit: I'll be interested to see your views because British Euroscepticism has many strands, but one of the most dominant is a very strong ultra-libertarian streak.

[Iormlund]

My first thought about the Swiss and the Brits or whoever getting all uppity about immigrants is: who will clean your toilets then?

Local residents? 

That can be an answer in Spain or Italy. Switzerland has effectively no unemployed (3.5%). Wonder where they are going to find enough natives to cover the jobs all those foreign workers are doing.

[Syt]

Also, I don't get the all the UK QQ over being an EU member, but I am admittedly ignorant to the finer details. However, having your huge workforce magnet of a capital free access to the labour market of the EU seems like quite a big boost on it's own.

My first thought about the Swiss and the Brits or whoever getting all uppity about immigrants is: who will clean your toilets then?

If you're interested I'd recommend the Telegraph and Spectator blogs to see strong British Euroscepticism.

Avoid the comments sections

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10633468/EU-calls-for-dilution-of-US-control-over-internet.html

First comment:

I will take ICANNand the NSA over anything the EUSSR Mafia proposes all day long.
The reason the EU are worried about US control of the internet is they are corrupt and want another layer of protection for their illegal rape of European Tax Payers Wallets

Third comment:

arr don't you just love the EU? Full of idiots and people who couldn't get vote in to the government of their own country or had been voted in to government and then found wanting in the brain dept and lost their seat.

Now the EU want to try and take control of the internet from the USA. Why we may ask, over the security issues of watching peoples data. I don't think so, more like to control what the people in the EU can or cannot see when on the internet and to find away of taxing it so the EU get even more money to waste on pointless projects and over paid members of staff.
The EU cannot even run what it got already, just look at the mess it is in, with countries so in owing so much money that it going to take them 50 plus years to pay off and that only if they make a profit every year. The EU has high unemployment.
The EU has mass migration which is because the EU system doesn't work.
If the EU want to do something then stop migration. This can easily be done by raising wages to be the same in every country. This should be part of joining the EU. This would also make every country equal in standard of living.
Instead they change the rules for a country to join. But don't think of the damage to other countries without that country joining having the same standard of living.
Even the block who designed the Euro said it cannot and will not work as they change the rules for joining it.

Now they want to mess up the internet for everyone by trying to take control in the name of security.
What people have to remember is if you have not done anything wrong you are not going to be of any interest to the USA or British government.
An even if you do something wrong from time to time you are still not going to be of much interest to them. They are only after the people that wish to do us all damage in some way.
The EU would use this as away of changing what we see and do. Pointing everything in a pro EU way.
It would stop anything bad or damaging about the EU from being seen.
We have law in this country and if the people of the country wanted something done then we would goto our MPs and tell them then government would do something, normally by making a new or change a law.
We don't need the likes of the EU messing with something it doesn't understand.
Like the deal it just done with google costing the EU billions in the process. Not even using the so called skilled Tech people it has to check over the deal. But letting someone that knows nothing about tech do the deal.

/

[Barrister]

I kind of "get" swiss concerns over migration, at least in part.

Right now Switzerland allows free movement.  Anyone from anywhere in the EU can come to Switzerland to live and work.  However, Swiss citizenship appears to be very difficult to gain.  You have to reside in the country for 12 years, plus you have to abide by immigration restrictions placed by your individual canton.  Ultimately, that kind of policy can potentially lead to Swiss citizens becoming a minority within their own country.  Surely it can not be healthy for that to happen.

Of course just closing up your borders is going to bring up a whole host of its own problems (namely the "who's going to do all the menial jobs"), but it does keep Switzerland as the home of the Swiss.

[Sheilbh]

That can be an answer in Spain or Italy. Switzerland has effectively no unemployed (3.5%). Wonder where they are going to find enough natives to cover the jobs all those foreign workers are doing.

Nigel Farage recently said something really interesting about immigration, that he'd rather we were slightly less rich but have more cohesive stable communities. It was striking because it's the first time I can think of a politician say we should go for anything but maximising economic growth and, I think, it might actually be quite a popular message.

Right now Switzerland allows free movement.  Anyone from anywhere in the EU can come to Switzerland to live and work.  However, Swiss citizenship appears to be very difficult to gain.  You have to reside in the country for 12 years, plus you have to abide by immigration restrictions placed by your individual canton.  Ultimately, that kind of policy can potentially lead to Swiss citizens becoming a minority within their own country.  Surely it can not be healthy for that to happen.

As I say I think the EU should be a bit more understanding of Switzerland and Luxembourg (also very concerned about immigration) because 25% and 35% of the population are foreign-born. I don't think anyone really wants to turn a couple of small EU states (strikingly Malta's the one most worried about immigration) into slightly bigger European Dubais.

[Sheilbh]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/10633468/EU-calls-for-dilution-of-US-control-over-internet.html

I think EUSSR is my favourite absurd commentator trope. It's even better than AmeriKKKa or Obamanation

[Barrister]

Right now Switzerland allows free movement.  Anyone from anywhere in the EU can come to Switzerland to live and work.  However, Swiss citizenship appears to be very difficult to gain.  You have to reside in the country for 12 years, plus you have to abide by immigration restrictions placed by your individual canton.  Ultimately, that kind of policy can potentially lead to Swiss citizens becoming a minority within their own country.  Surely it can not be healthy for that to happen.

As I say I think the EU should be a bit more understanding of Switzerland and Luxembourg (also very concerned about immigration) because 25% and 35% of the population are foreign-born. I don't think anyone really wants to turn a couple of small EU states (strikingly Malta's the one most worried about immigration) into slightly bigger European Dubais.

Or. of course, Switzerland could loosen up its citizenship requirements...

I mean - 20.6% of Canadians are foreign born, but we mostly don't consider that a problem because they have citizenship and are considered to be Canadians.

[Iormlund]

Meh. Sheilbh, many of those immigrants are German/Austrians in German-speaking cantons, French in French-speaking cantons and Italians in ... well, you know where. The closest we get culturally to a native is a guy raised on the streets of Bogotá, Quito or - if you're lucky - Buenos Aires.

[Sheilbh]

Meh. Sheilbh, many of those immigrants are German/Austrians in German-speaking cantons, French in French-speaking cantons and Italians in ... well, you know where. The closest we get culturally to a native is a guy raised on the streets of Bogotá, Quito or - if you're lucky - Buenos Aires.

Yeah. But Spain's an exception in having a huge surge of immigration with no backlash at all really. From what I've read (here: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/pubs/TCM-Spaincasestudy.pdf ) Spain's very sensible and I'd want in an immigration policy. But other people will disagree.

Or. of course, Switzerland could loosen up its citizenship requirements...

True. But they don't want to and I'm not sure it would help. They're not EU members so new citizens wouldn't become EU citizens and existing EU citizens who became Swiss would possibly lose their EU passport.

[The Larch]

Or. of course, Switzerland could loosen up its citizenship requirements...

True. But they don't want to and I'm not sure it would help. They're not EU members so new citizens wouldn't become EU citizens and existing EU citizens who became Swiss would possibly lose their EU passport.

Something is not right over there when second and third generation inmigrants still don't have a chance to achieve Swiss citizenship, despite being born there and living there all their lives.

[Zanza]

Because of the new constitutional mandate and despite an agreement from last year about this, the Swiss government will not extend freedom of movement to the citizens of the new EU member Croatia.

The EU has meanwhile suspended talks about a Swiss participation in Horizon 2020, its research grant program that has placements of scientists in other countries as a major building bloc, and Erasmus+, its student exchange program. Both are based on the freedom of movement, so Swiss citizens will likely be excluded from them in the future.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26225121

[Tamas]

Or. of course, Switzerland could loosen up its citizenship requirements...

True. But they don't want to and I'm not sure it would help. They're not EU members so new citizens wouldn't become EU citizens and existing EU citizens who became Swiss would possibly lose their EU passport.

Something is not right over there when second and third generation inmigrants still don't have a chance to achieve Swiss citizenship, despite being born there and living there all their lives.

Well there is that of course. Was it the former US ambassador in Denmark who, when departing, mentioned that perhaps it would be a neat idea to call "2nd or 3rd generation immigrants" "Danes" instead?

[Tamas]

In fact the whole term is highly racist if you think about it. If even your parents were born in the country, the only basis for society to consider you an outsider is your skin colour.

[Neil]

In fact the whole term is highly racist if you think about it. If even your parents were born in the country, the only basis for society to consider you an outsider is your skin colour.

Well, that and your adoption of foreign customs such as radial Islam.