Switzerland adopts immigration law amid EU pressure
Swiss parliamentarians on Friday adopted an immigration law without the strict caps and quotas demanded by voters, and that had led to tensions with the European Union.
Legislators had tried for months to come up with a solution that honors a 2014 referendum in which a narrow majority voted for tough restrictions.
At the same time, parliament wanted to avoid breaking Switzerland's pact with the EU that guarantees freedom of movement for workers. The new law tries to curb immigration only indirectly.
From now on, businesses must look for workers among the jobless who are already in Switzerland, rather than hiring from abroad. This rule applies to regions and business sectors with high unemployment levels.
Switzerland's new law intended to curb immigration appears to "go in the right direction" by not setting quotas of EU citizens able to work there, the European Commission said on Friday.
"Today the result of the parliamentary process is known. At first sight, we say the law appears to go in the right direction," European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a news conference.
"It is a good sign that the law is not intended to impose quotas on the free circulation of EU citizens and does not envisage restricting their access to employment in Switzerland, contrary to what was in the initial draft of the text," he continued.
Schinas said that the EU intended to have a close dialogue with the Swiss over the application of the law and would continue its analysis in the next few days, also consulting the EU's 28 member states.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker would talk with Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann later on Friday to exchange initial views and to discuss the next steps. A joint EU-Swiss committee meeting is planned for Dec. 22.
The European Union has long been coping with the growing influx of refugees from mainly Syria, Iraq and North African countries. The uncontrolled arrival of well over one million people, many fleeing war in Syria, triggered chaos on the continent, prompting key transit nations, primarily Italy and Greece, along the migrant trail to seal their borders with fences.
The flow also sparked fierce tensions inside the bloc, with eastern and central European nations lambasting Germany's "open-door" policy which they say allowed radicals to pose as refugees and help carry out attacks inside Europe. The EU countries have so far shown a rare unity in order to find a common strategy to tackle its worst migration crisis since World War II.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision last year to open Germany's borders to hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty was seized upon by European nationalists and featured prominently in Britain's debate over quitting the European Union — which the "leave" camp narrowly won. European allies blame her for earlier stoking popular unrest by insisting on the need to cut public spending during the continent's debt crisis.
Legislators had tried for months to come up with a solution that honors a 2014 referendum in which a narrow majority voted for tough restrictions.
At the same time, parliament wanted to avoid breaking Switzerland's pact with the EU that guarantees freedom of movement for workers. The new law tries to curb immigration only indirectly.
From now on, businesses must look for workers among the jobless who are already in Switzerland, rather than hiring from abroad. This rule applies to regions and business sectors with high unemployment levels.
Switzerland's new law intended to curb immigration appears to "go in the right direction" by not setting quotas of EU citizens able to work there, the European Commission said on Friday.
"Today the result of the parliamentary process is known. At first sight, we say the law appears to go in the right direction," European Commission spokesman Margaritis Schinas told a news conference.
"It is a good sign that the law is not intended to impose quotas on the free circulation of EU citizens and does not envisage restricting their access to employment in Switzerland, contrary to what was in the initial draft of the text," he continued.
Schinas said that the EU intended to have a close dialogue with the Swiss over the application of the law and would continue its analysis in the next few days, also consulting the EU's 28 member states.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker would talk with Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann later on Friday to exchange initial views and to discuss the next steps. A joint EU-Swiss committee meeting is planned for Dec. 22.
The European Union has long been coping with the growing influx of refugees from mainly Syria, Iraq and North African countries. The uncontrolled arrival of well over one million people, many fleeing war in Syria, triggered chaos on the continent, prompting key transit nations, primarily Italy and Greece, along the migrant trail to seal their borders with fences.
The flow also sparked fierce tensions inside the bloc, with eastern and central European nations lambasting Germany's "open-door" policy which they say allowed radicals to pose as refugees and help carry out attacks inside Europe. The EU countries have so far shown a rare unity in order to find a common strategy to tackle its worst migration crisis since World War II.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel's decision last year to open Germany's borders to hundreds of thousands of people fleeing war and poverty was seized upon by European nationalists and featured prominently in Britain's debate over quitting the European Union — which the "leave" camp narrowly won. European allies blame her for earlier stoking popular unrest by insisting on the need to cut public spending during the continent's debt crisis.