Brussels, 07/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Friday 4 December, the Swiss government announced that it was planning to respond to the Swiss referendum of 9 February 2014 on foreign immigration by activating a safeguard clause to the agreement with the EU on the free movement of persons - “unilaterally if necessary”, the Swiss government said in a press release.
“The Federal Council has decided to continue the consultations with Brussels in order to reach, if possible, a solution respecting both the vote of the Swiss people and the agreement on free movement. This would secure the bilateral path and would re-establish certainty as to the law. The government wants to apply the initiative against mass immigration through a safeguard clause, unilaterally if necessary. A consensual solution with the EU nevertheless remains the preferred choice”, the Swiss government stated.
The European Commission has taken note of this announcement and on Friday said that both parties were continuing work. “It's difficult but we're continuing the consultations”, the Commission stated. European Commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, and the president of the Swiss Confederation, Simonetta Sommaruga, spoke on the phone on 1 December and are due to meet before the end of the year.
In February 2014 Swiss voters asked their government to set up quotas for foreign workers in Switzerland - which is prohibited by the agreement on free movement between the EU and Switzerland that entered into force in 2002. Relations between the two sides have been tense since this referendum outcome, with the EU refusing that Switzerland should set up quotas. According to Swiss media, both sides are trying to find a common interpretation of an arrangement of the agreement on free movement that authorises special measures in the case of serious economic or social difficulties. An accord would avoid Switzerland having to renegotiate the treaty and obtain the assent of the 28 EU member states, said Swiss foreign minister Didier Burkhalter.
The Swiss government is nevertheless required by the 9 February vote to prepare this safeguard clause by March 2016 in order to respect the time schedule. “Switzerland must indeed control immigration autonomously by a temporary and targeted limit on the number of authorisations granted to nationals of the EU member states or of EFTA. The guidelines for such a safeguard clause must be inserted into the federal law on foreigners. An immigration threshold must be set for the nationals of EU member states or of EFTA, beyond which maximum numbers and quotas will be introduced from next year”, the Swiss government stated. “The Federal Council will then clarify the types of authorisation and the purposes of stay for which applications can be made.”
An agreement with Brussels on the safeguard clause would enable ratification of the protocol extending the free movement of persons to Croatia. This is one of the conditions for Switzerland to be able to continue to participate in the European Horizon 2020 research programme after 2016. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)