Swiss Leaders Urge Rejection of 10 Million Population Cap

(Bloomberg) — Switzerland’s government urged voters to reject a proposal to cap the country’s population at 10 million people, warning that the measure risks harming prosperity, security and ties with the European Union.

The plan would make it harder for companies, hospitals and public services to recruit workers from the surrounding bloc and risk billions of francs of Switzerland’s economic output, Justice Minister Beat Jans said on Monday.

Ahead of a plebiscite on the idea on June 14, Jans appeared in Bern alongside leaders of employer organizations, unions and a representative of cantonal governments, all of whom spoke out against a cap.

The initiative — backed by the right-wing Swiss People’s Party, or SVP — would require Switzerland’s permanent population to stay below 10 million until 2050 and could force the country to terminate its free-movement accord with the EU if the threshold is approached. Switzerland’s economy relies heavily on foreign workers.

Fabio Regazzi, president of small-business lobby Swiss Union of Arts and Crafts, said that currently every third worker in the country doesn’t have a Swiss passport. That’s 1.8 million employees, he said.

Out of roughly 9 million inhabitants, almost 28% don’t have Swiss citizenship. That’s one of the highest proportions in Europe.

Less immigration would also strain Switzerland’s pension system, which — as those of other European countries — faces a wave of baby boomers retiring, said Severin Moser, head of the national employer association.

Moser called the plan the “SVP chaos initiative,” a term established among opponents of the idea.

Jans, who is seen as one of the strongest proponents of closer EU ties within the government, stressed that a firm population cap would “force” Switzerland to quit the free-movement treaty.

“It wouldn’t be enough to just close the borders to refugees, as campaigners claim,” said Jans, who is a member of the Socialist party. “Even if we could, that wouldn’t be enough to reach the target the initiative sets.”

The proposal also won’t deliver on promises of easing overcrowding, the minister added.

“From this plan, no apartment gets cheaper, no train emptier and no traffic jam will dissolve,” he said.

(Updates with more details, quotes, chart from fifth paragraph.)

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