On Wednesday 21 September, the National Council of the Swiss parliament adopted the proposal presented by the political institutions committee on 2 September seeking to find a compromise between the result of the referendum of 9 February 2014, restricting immigration from the EU into Switzerland, and respect for the 2002 agreement with the EU on the free movement of European workers in Switzerland.
This is an interim solution (the proposal makes no mention of quotas) that had already been well received by Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker when he visited Zurich on Monday 19 September. On Wednesday of this week, the Swiss National Council approved this solution which will limit immigration through fuller use of local labour. If necessary, the Federal Council could take corrective measures restricting the freedom of movement but only with the approval of Brussels.
If immigration from the EU continued or in the event of major economic or social problems in the country, the government could take “appropriate corrective measures”, though these have not been set out in the law adopted. The government will have to determine which regions and categories of workers would be affected.
If the measures do not comply with the agreement on the free movement of persons, the approval of the EU-Switzerland joint committee will be required.
All parties backed this solution, with the exception of the UDC, which was behind the 2014 referendum. The other parties are looking to keep bilateral channels open and to break the deadlock with the European Commission which will not brook any challenge to the freedom of movement.
The agreement will also permit ratification of the protocol extending freedom of movement to Croatia, a condition for Switzerland’s full membership of the Horizon 2020 research programme, the Swiss national news agency ats notes. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)