The Swiss Referendum on Curbing Immigration – “Too Much Democracy”?




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  • 2014-02-18 14:29:19
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Is there such a thing as “too much democracy”? This is probably one of the disquieting thoughts plaguing Swiss and EU officials after Swiss voters backed the reestablishment of immigration quotas in a national referendum last Sunday, Feb 9.Passing the 50% barrier by a meager 0.3%, or the equivalent of roughly 30,000 citizens, the vote in favor has set up a curious precedent – owing to rescission clauses, enforcing the new regulations would automatically invalidate Switzerland’s free-movement agreements with the EU.  This intimidating prospect inevitably poses a risk to one of the most thriving economies in Europe. What is more, it threatens to trigger a slippery downward spiral of deterioration in EU-Swiss relations. [caption id="attachment_18982" align="alignleft" width="353" caption="A woman walks past two posters against, left, and in favor, right, of a "stop mass immigration" initiative which will be voted upon on Feb. 9 Photographer: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP via Getty Images"][/caption] The arguments for and against limiting immigration that circulated throughout political debates have gravitated around two keystones. On the one hand, the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), the party with the highest number of votes in the lower chamber of the Swiss Parliament which is among the main initiators of the referendum, has contended that EU immigrants have been putting upward pressure on rents, causing imbalances in the health and education system. SVP stressed that already having a quarter of Switzerland’s 8 million population being foreigners and seeing immigration numbers increasingto as high as 80,000 in 2013 alone, pose a threat to national identity. On the other hand, the Swiss and EU officials have repeatedly emphasized the benefits newcomers bring to the economy, especially having in mind structural deficits in Switzerland’s domestic labor market. Indeed, there are sectors of the Swiss economy such as engineering and pharmaceutics that arealmost entirely dependent on foreign qualified labor supply. [caption id="attachment_18983" align="alignright" width="325" caption="The posters reads: "Open access for all? - No!" by Swiss People's Party (SVP) (Reuters / Arnd Wiegmann)"][/caption] The reaction of Swiss and EU politicians has been unequivocal. The European Commission has expressed deep regret from the outcome of the referendum, saying that it "goes against the principle of free movement of persons between the EU and Switzerland" and that “the free-movement principle is not negotiable”. The Swiss government has generally kept a lamenting tone, yet insisting that the relations between their country and the European Union will inevitably have to follow a new,renegotiatedpath.Going even further in its urge to safeguard the binding nature of referenda, the Swiss government has decided to void a long-anticipated labor market agreement with the newest member of the EU - Croatia, which has exacerbated the tension between the two sides even further. [caption id="attachment_18986" align="alignright" width="348" caption="European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso CREDIT: REUTERS/LAURENT DUBRULE"][/caption] The outcome ofthe Swiss referendum can have far-reaching repercussionsfor the political unity of the EU, especially in light of the upcoming elections for the European Parliament. The success of the SVP has the potential to trigger momentum for euro-skeptics, especially in countries such as France and the UK, where polls reveal ultra-conservative Marine le Pen and Nigel Farage have been enjoying growing support in recent months. Reversing this trend in the electoral mood, especially in light of the still stifled economic growth, would be one daunting and the same time crucial task for pro-EU politicians, as fears that any minor deviation towards EU disintegration might send the European economy soaring prevail in Brussels. Viewed from a more general perspective, the outcome of the Swiss referendum raises pressing questions about direct democracy and its universal applicability. In any case, though, Switzerland – one of the most devout advocates of direct democracy in the world, having organized 23 referendums for the past two years – mayfind itself in urgent need to reconsider its stance on representation and seeka new balance point in its political system. Written by Spartak Sofiykov