The Swiss voice in the world since 1935
Top stories
Stay in touch with Switzerland

Immigration to Switzerland rises ahead of vote on EU free-movement deal

Man cleaning a floor
Immigration contributed a net 55,000 people to Switzerland’s population last year Keystone

Net immigration to Switzerland rose again last year, ahead of a May referendum pushed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party on ending an accord with the European Union on the free movement of citizens. 

Immigration contributed a net 55,000 people to Switzerland’s population last year, the State Secretariat for Migration saidExternal link on Thursday. The foreign population stood at 2.1 million at year’s end, or around a quarter of the overall 8.5 million. 

Net immigration from the European Union and EFTA countries Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein increased by nearly 32,000, mostly as Romanians and Bulgarians took advantage of the full opening of the Swiss labour market for them as of June 2019. 

More
Karin Keller-Sutter

More

Justice minister says limiting free movement would be ‘Swiss Brexit’

This content was published on Combating the anti-immigration initiative from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party is currently one of her priorities, Keller-Sutter told the media on Friday. The bilateral path taken by non-EU Switzerland means prosperity and jobs, she said. “860,000 jobs in Switzerland depend on it.”  An acceptance of the initiative would be “the Swiss Brexit”, Keller-Sutter said, referring…

Read more: Justice minister says limiting free movement would be ‘Swiss Brexit’

The biggest groups of EU citizens living in Switzerland are from Italy, Germany, France, Portugal and Kosovo. 

In a binding referendum on May 17, voters will decide whether Switzerland should take back unilateral control of immigration, if necessary at the cost of abrogating the free-movement pact with the EU that took full effect in 2007. 

The referendum under the Swiss system of direct democracy is being billed as Switzerland’s “Brexit moment”. 

Imposing limits 

The referendum drive reflects unease with the influx of foreigners. But imposing limits on EU citizens would violate bilateral accords that enhance Swiss access to the EU single market, the lifeblood of the export-led Swiss economy. 

Campaigning to oppose the proposition in the referendum is a priority for the Swiss government, which has struggled to put relations with the surrounding EU on a new footing. 

Brussels wants the Swiss to endorse a new treaty that would have Bern routinely adopt single market rules and create a more effective platform to resolve disputes. 

The Swiss government has dragged its feet for months while it tries to forge domestic consensus on how to proceed, annoying Brussels and triggering a row over cross-border stock trading. The May vote has put any progress on hold. 

The treaty ran aground amid opposition that spanned the normally pro-Europe centre left to the anti-EU far right. Critics say the pact infringes Swiss sovereignty to the extent that it would never get through parliament or pass a referendum.


More

Popular Stories

Most Discussed

News

Porrentruy swimming pool: the town's mayor was not expecting such controversy

More

Porrentruy mayor comments on Swiss pool ban controversy

This content was published on The mayor of the Swiss town of Porrentruy, which has been in the headlines in neighbouring France after restricting access to a pool to locals after a spate of anti-social behaviour, says he has received much support in recent days.

Read more: Porrentruy mayor comments on Swiss pool ban controversy
Trained on the “Alps” supercomputer at the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre (CSCS) in Lugano, the new LLM marks a milestone in open-source AI and multilingual excellence, according to its developers.

More

Swiss universities to release multilingual AI programme

This content was published on This summer researchers at Swiss universities will make available a large language model (LLM), an AI programme trained on vast amounts of data, developed on public infrastructure.

Read more: Swiss universities to release multilingual AI programme
Zurich cantonal police introduce fixed online police stations

More

Zurich introduces online police station

This content was published on After a one-year test phase, Zurich's cantonal police are introducing an online police station. Demand is high and the response from the public has been positive.

Read more: Zurich introduces online police station
St. Moritz registers the summer as a brand

More

St Moritz registers ‘summer’ as trademark

This content was published on The chic resort of St Moritz in southeastern Switzerland has registered "summer" as a trademark under the name "St Summer". The resort in canton Graubünden is launching a campaign to strengthen its summer business.

Read more: St Moritz registers ‘summer’ as trademark
House prices rose sharply in June

More

Swiss house prices rose sharply in June

This content was published on The prices of homes and apartments in Switzerland rose again in June. In the Lake Geneva region, prices of detached houses rose sharply. Meanwhile, in Zurich and its surrounding region the opposite trend was observed.

Read more: Swiss house prices rose sharply in June
Heavy crowds expected at Swiss airports

More

Crowded airports expected in Switzerland this summer

This content was published on Switzerland's main airports are preparing for a busy summer holiday period. A number of changes have been introduced to improve passenger flows that are expected to be well above average in July and August.

Read more: Crowded airports expected in Switzerland this summer

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR