Brussels, 10/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - A regrettable decision, “bad news for Europe”. This was how European figures, such as the Commission and French Foreign Affairs Minister Laurent Fabius welcomed the results of the Swiss referendum of 9 February which approved the limitation of immigration, including European immigration. 50.3% of the Suisse votes cast were in favour of the initiative submitted by the nationalist UDC party “against mass immigration”. A small majority but an unambiguous one, which will force the Swiss Federal Council to review the international treaties in force within the next three years, among them the free movement agreement negotiated with the EU and which entered into force in 2002. Currently, 80,000 Europeans move to Switzerland every year. The Swiss citizens have therefore decided that this presence is too heavy a burden.
On 7 February, the European Commission said that it was prepared to react to any eventuality, but did not issue any real threats. It did so a bit more clearly on Sunday, warning Berne that access to the internal market for goods and services could be put in doubt and explaining that freedom of movement could not accommodate quotas. The agreement on freedom of movement which has been called into question consists of the entire plank of so-called “I” bilateral agreements which must also be reviewed, by virtue of the “guillotine clause”. This means that the referendum has had an indirect impact on all provisions relating to barriers to trade, research, agriculture, public procurement and land and air transport. The Swiss business sector and government urged the population to vote against the initiative, due to fears of the consequences for the economy of a country with an unemployment rate of just 3.5%.
“We have to define the best way to move forward now”, President of the Swiss Confederation Didier Burkhalter said on Sunday. “The Federal Council will look at its options to bring in a limit on immigration” whilst at the same time finding a “formula which is politically and economically acceptable to both sides”, he announced. It is also because the ball is in Switzerland's court that the Commission was hanging fire on Monday, explaining, for example, that Sunday's vote would have no immediate impact on the bilateral agreements. The end of quotas for European workers from 25 member states (Romania, Bulgaria and Croatia are under a different regime), still scheduled for the end of May 2014, is not under threat at this stage. “We expect these quotas to be definitively lifted”, said a European source.
Continuing with a mandate for the institutional agreement. On Monday, the Commission recommended that the Council of Ministers give it a mandate this 12 February to negotiate the institutional agreement with Switzerland, a framework agreement which will pave the way for new trade facilitations.
As for Schengen, nor is there any question for the time being of listing immediate consequences, even though it was acknowledged on Monday that Switzerland's participation in the Schengen agreements would automatically expire should the country re-establish quotas for workers.
Any “legislative clash” with the EU will therefore depend on the Swiss government and its interpretation of Sunday's vote - for example, should it terminate any agreements in force - a source in Brussels said on Monday. On Wednesday, the consequences of the referendum will be discussed, but it will be very hard for Berne to get round the vote of 9 February. The government is obliged to transpose the referendum into its legislation, a source pointed out, and therefore to introduce the idea of quotas, the level of which is yet to be defined. This means that there probably will be a clash, unless Berne and the EU manage to agree on wording which reconciles the imperatives of both sides in the meantime.
This situation brings about “considerable problems”, the spokesperson to German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday. Over at the EPP Group at the Parliament, warnings were issued that freedom of movement would be non-negotiable. “Switzerland is bound by a bilateral agreement with the Union. It must therefore accept and guarantee the free movement of all citizens of the EU (…). We regret the fact that the Swiss government has to change the position of its country on this issue (…). But there is no room for negotiation. The rules cannot be changed unilaterally”, said Joseph Daul and Manfred Weber.
“We believe that, if this referendum text acquires force of law, then not only will the agreement with the EU on the free movement of persons be violated, but the current high performance of the Swiss economy and standard of living of the Swiss will be seriously affected”, reacted Guy Verhofstadt (ADLE, Belgium).
The other crucial issue raised by the vote: the refusal of the Swiss electorate to follow their political authorities and economic sectors. “This is a vote against the political authorities, against the economic sectors which recommended voting against”, Burkhalter said on Sunday, calling on the political parties to ask “why their supporters rejected their advice”.
Unsurprisingly, European extreme right wing parties, such as the French Front National and Geert Wilders's PVV party in the Netherlands, welcomed the vote. In London as well, where the Conservative government has been brandishing the idea of quotas for European workers over the last few months, the Swiss referendum was paid a good deal of attention. David Cameron's spokesperson said that it reflected the “growing concern” over freedom of movement in Europe. (SP/transl.fl)