Swiss lawmakers reject population control initiative

National Council rejects "No 10 million Swiss" initiative Keystone-SDA

The Swiss House of Representatives has recommended that voters reject a popular initiative on controlling population numbers.

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The ‘No to 10 million Switzerland’ initiative from the Swiss People’s Party was rejected by the parliamentary chamber, which also wants nothing to do with a counter-proposal.

+ Swiss population could hit 10.5 million by 2055

The chamber reached its decisions after a marathon debate lasting several hours. Just over 100 parliamentarians expressed their views. Only the Swiss People’s Party supported the initiative.

The rightwing party wants to add an article on “sustainable population development” to the constitution. According to this, the population of Switzerland should not exceed ten million in 2050. If there are already 9.5 million people living in the country before then, the Federal Council and parliament must take action.

For example, temporarily admitted persons would no longer be able to obtain a permanent residence permit or be naturalised. The immigration of family members would be restricted. International agreements that lead to population growth would have to be renegotiated with a view to an exception clause.

If all else fails, the EU Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons would have to be cancelled as a final measure.

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Opposition fears

The opposing side warned against the “isolationist initiative” and against cutting relations with the EU, which are important for Switzerland in view of the geopolitical situation. The economy needs labour from outside Switzerland, was the tenor.

The Swiss People’s Party argued that high immigration was one of the reasons for full trains, as well as traffic jams on the roads, high rents, growing crime and integration problems in schools. Moderate immigration into Switzerland remains possible, and there was no question of sealing it off.

The Centre Party had requested a more mildly worded direct counter-proposal, which was rejected by the chamber.

Translated from German with DeepL/mga

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