Switzerland votes to curb EU immigration

[Siege]

The big cities in Siwtzerland - Basel, Geneva, Zürich - where most immigration occurs voted against the measures. It's mostly the rural areas, which are less affected by it, that voted against it.

So, everybody voted against?

[Neil]

Yi was too trusting of the liberal media.

[Syt]

The big cities in Siwtzerland - Basel, Geneva, Zürich - where most immigration occurs voted against the measures. It's mostly the rural areas, which are less affected by it, that voted against it.

So, everybody voted against?

Corrected.

[Josquius]

Switzerland-

[Syt]

User comments on Austrian news sites: "Switzerland is the only true democracy in Europe!" and "Finally an electorate that doesn't fall for the EU/Corporate/left wing propaganda that unregulated immigration is a good thing."

[DontSayBanana]

"Switzerland - getting away with being the biggest dick in Europe since World War II."

[Syt]

Government, businesses and unions are all unhappy with the result. A politician tried to smooth things over, stating, that the vote was only about instating limits, but that it didn't specify how high those limits would be and that there's a three year time window for negotiations with the EU and implementing the limits.

[Maximus]

Foriegners should be anal probed.

Enough with the sex tourism.

[Iormlund]

That guillotine clause is gonna come in handy now.

[Zanza]

If access to markets obligates a country to permit its trading partners' citizens to freely seek work in a country, why aren't Americans allowed free access to German job markets?  Serious question: we have practically zero customs barriers between us, but immigration barriers are high.  Is that okay?  Or is only okay when it's you doing it to another country?

The custom tariffs are really the least of concerns. That's just a small percentage of the total cost. It's the bureaucracy around customs and VAT as well as regulations that create trade barriers. If Swiss companies all of a sudden have to provide all the necessary documentation for customs again and if European customers can't as easily claim VAT back, that makes Swiss companies less competitive. If a Swiss certificate is no longer acknowledged by EU authorities, Swiss producers always need to get one domestic and one EU certificate for everything they make, etc.

I think we should not grant Switzerland the right to cherry-pick some advantages without at the same time Switzerland giving something in return. Access to their market is insignificant for goods and services, but it matters for jobs. The same is true vice versa for Swiss - they rarely need to go abroad to find a good job, but having the EU as their domestic market helps them.

Your question regarding high immigration barriers is easy to answer for me: I would be totally fine with having freedom of movement with the USA, but I don't think that the EU is really the party that doesn't want that. It's always about reciprocity.

[Syt]

I recall at my German construction company, working a site in Switzerland was a major pain in the ass, because you had to declare everything. Each car with all its tool cases and so on had to be accounted for in writing, down to the last screwdriver.

[Josquius]

User comments on Austrian news sites: "Switzerland is the only true democracy in Europe!" and "Finally an electorate that doesn't fall for the EU/Corporate/left wing propaganda that unregulated immigration is a good thing."

*facepalm*
Aren't most of the immigrants in Switzerland, in particular the ones the righties like to bitch about, from outside the EU?

[Zanza]

*facepalm*
Aren't most of the immigrants in Switzerland, in particular the ones the righties like to bitch about, from outside the EU?

No, the two biggest groups of immigrants in Switzerland are Italians and Germans, followed by Portugese and French. About 2/3 of all immigrants are EU citizens.

[Crazy_Ivan80]

read somewhere that when the agreement was signed the guesstimate was about 8000 migrants a year. Instead they got 80.000 a year.
Anyway, it's their country, they get to decide who get in and in what quantities.

[Zanza]

read somewhere that when the agreement was signed the guesstimate was about 8000 migrants a year. Instead they got 80.000 a year.
Anyway, it's their country, they get to decide who get in and in what quantities.

They are of course free to cancel the bilateral agreements with the EU. But as long as these are in place, they don't get to decide who gets in and in what quantities. Pacta sunt servanda.