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\u2018Action must be taken\u2019 to stem \u2018population explosion\u2019, said Switzerland\u2019s biggest political party. | Credit: Illustration by Stephen Kelly \/ Future<\/p>\n
Switzerland will hold a referendum on capping its population at 10 million \u2013 a move that could damage its economy<\/a> and endanger lucrative agreements with the EU.<\/p>\n Swiss citizens will vote in June on the radical proposal put forward by the far-right Swiss People\u2019s Party, the government has confirmed. Switzerland\u2019s permanent population currently stands at 9.1 million, having risen in recent years as foreign-born workers are drawn in by its high wages and good quality of life. The SVP, now the country\u2019s largest political party, claims the \u201cpopulation explosion<\/a>\u201d has pushed public services<\/a> to breaking point.<\/p>\n \u2018Sustainability\u2019 initiative<\/p>\n Switzerland has one of the highest proportions of foreign-born residents in Europe: 27%, according to government figures. Since 2000, its population has grown by about 25%, faster than most neighbouring countries. Housing supply has struggled to keep pace, causing spiralling rents<\/a> and shortages that have sharpened unease about immigration.<\/p>\n For years, the SVP has \u201csought to curb a rise in migration into the rich Alpine country\u201d, said The Washington Post<\/a> \u2013 \u201cwith mixed results\u201d. The party, which has finished first in every election since 1999, has repeatedly put forward hardline proposals, such as deporting any foreigner convicted of even a minor offence. But, it said, after an \u201cinflux of over 180,000 people in a single year, action must finally be taken\u201d.<\/p>\n Under Switzerland\u2019s system of direct democracy, citizen-proposed initiatives that gather 100,000 signatures within 18 months are put to a national vote. Such initiatives have long been a favoured tool of the SVP, which says the \u201cNo to a 10 million Switzerland\u201d initiative is about the country\u2019s \u201csustainability\u201d. Backers argue that a population cap would \u201chelp protect the environment, natural resources, infrastructure and the social safety net\u201d, said The Washington Post.<\/p>\n If passed, the government would be forced to act if the population exceeds 9.5 million before 2050. It would have to \u201crefuse entry to newcomers\u201d, said CNN<\/a>, \u201cincluding asylum seekers and the families of foreign residents\u201d. If the population exceeds 10 million, the government would have \u201cto end its free-movement agreement\u201d with the EU, Switzerland\u2019s largest trading partner.<\/p>\n Frustration at housing shortages<\/p>\n The proposal is \u201cstrongly opposed by both chambers of parliament\u201d, said The Guardian<\/a>, as well as \u201cthe business and financial services community\u201d. Switzerland benefits from its participation in Europe\u2019s Schengen zone<\/a> of visa-free travel. Any resident population cap would \u201cthreaten key agreements with the EU\u201d and could \u201ccripple the economy\u201d. Many Swiss-based multinationals, such as Nestl\u00e9 and Roche, rely on foreign-born workers.<\/p>\n But \u201cdomestic support for the vote is high\u201d, said the Financial Times<\/a>. A recent poll by research group LeeWas found that 48% of respondents support the cap. As in several European nations, frustration over housing shortages is fuelling support for far-right parties<\/a> that champion stricter migration controls.<\/p>\n Critics point out that the initiative \u201cimposes a hard cap\u201d, rather than setting out a \u201cdetailed quota or migration-management system\u201d. This would mean \u201ca near-complete stop on additional workforce immigration\u201d once the threshold is reached.<\/p>\n It could \u201cderail\u201d last year\u2019s \u201ccarefully negotiated new deal between Bern and Brussels\u201d to keep Switzerland\u2019s access to the EU\u2019s single market, and risk Switzerland\u2019s place in the Schengen. It is, said business lobby group Economiesuisse, a \u201cchaos initiative\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. \u2018Action…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8164,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[6365,2691,6363,6362,6364,5636,17],"class_list":{"0":"post-8163","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-switzerland","8":"tag-permanent-population","9":"tag-population","10":"tag-population-cap","11":"tag-population-explosion","12":"tag-svp","13":"tag-swiss-peoples-party","14":"tag-switzerland"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8163"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8163\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8164"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}