ZURICH \u2013 Switzerland voted on Sunday on whether to back a proposal to cap the country\u2019s population in a referendum likened to Britain\u2019s Brexit vote, which could have far-reaching consequences for the economy and Bern\u2019s relations with the European Union.<\/p>\n
Driven by concern about immigration, pressure on public services and housing, the constitutional change pitched by the right wing Swiss People\u2019s Party, \u200bor SVP, would mandate that the population must not exceed 10 million by 2050. Official projections put it on track to do \u200cso by \u200cthe early 2040s.<\/p>\n
The unprecedented scheme to dictate population levels by law sits alongside burgeoning efforts by the \u200bpolitical right in Europe to set tougher curbs on immigration, fed by discontent about the cost of living, weak economic growth and crime.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf it goes above 10 million, it will become tight, and immigration should be restricted,\u201d said Helen Gulea, a 58-year-old seamstress and part-time \u2060kiosk worker in Zurich, originally from Kenya, who voted by post for the cap.<\/p>\n
Results of the vote are expected to begin coming in from around midday.<\/p>\n
If the proposal were adopted, reaching the 10 million mark would trigger a process that could make Switzerland scrap its free movement of labor agreement with the EU, whose member states supply much of the Alpine country\u2019s workforce.<\/p>\n
Switzerland\u2019s aging \u200bpopulation is already above 9 million and polls suggest \u2060public opinion is finely balanced.<\/p>\n
A final survey this month showed opinion turning against the proposal. An earlier poll had suggested it could pass.<\/p>\n
Patrick Leisibach, a migration expert at think tank Avenir Suisse, said concern \u2060was now widespread that overcrowding \u200bwas stretching public infrastructure to the limit.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a traditional anti-immigration vote on the right wing, but \u200bthese days even many on the left are feeling the pressure,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Under its system of \u200bdirect democracy, the \u200cSwiss electorate generally votes four times a year on national referendums, which also require the support of the majority of its cantons to pass.<\/p>\n
The government and parliament have urged voters to reject the SVP\u2019s so-called sustainability initiative as folly at a delicate time for Switzerland\u2019s export-oriented economy.<\/p>\n
Johanna Alves, a 33-year-old Swiss student, voted against it, saying she worked in an international environment which, she worried, \u200ccould be in jeopardy if the proposal passes.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I think it will also be really terrible for the Swiss economy in general, for our health care system, for research, for all of it,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Last year, President Donald Trump slapped the highest U.S. tariffs in Europe on Swiss goods and the prospect of a population curb could complicate corporate planning.<\/p>\n
But SVP lawmaker Thomas Matter argued Swiss gains in prosperity had not kept pace with overall…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ZURICH \u2013 Switzerland voted on Sunday on whether to back a proposal to cap the country\u2019s population in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":85069,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[4],"tags":[787,197,2940,2691,17],"class_list":["post-85068","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-switzerland","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-immigration","tag-population","tag-switzerland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ch\/116758464728357567","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85068","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=85068"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85068\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/85069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85068"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85068"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ch\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85068"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}