Switzerland’s Domino Effect After Announcement of EU Immigration Quotas

It all started with the announcement that EU net migration in Switzerland hit a record high in the year 2013. This, coupled with an energetic billionaire spearheading the right-wing populist People’s Party of Switzerland with a Swiss initiative called “Against Mass Migration,” thrown in, eventually led to a referendum this past February. The people voted, and 50.3% of the country desired to start imposing EU immigration quotas starting 2017. The decision was immediately followed by a fews bangs and shuffles, starting with tangible anger emanating from the EU as this was in direct violation of a bilateral treaty pact that allows the free movement of people between the Union and the country. This, in turn, was followed by a potential “promise,” from Swiss President Didier Burkhalter to hold a new referendum on its immigration policy after it failed to reach an agreement with the EU.

Time has passed since all this took place , and 2017 seems so far away, but the effects of the future quotas are happening now – and they spell trouble for this famously neutral country.

Source: http://www.postcarbon.org

Follow-Up: Switzerland, the EU, and the Referendum on Immmigration

A while ago, I posted an article discussing the way in which net migration in Switzerland hit a record high in 2013, sparking a referendum this February in which the famously neutral country voted by the slimmest of margins to implement immigration quotas starting 2017. (Check out my post here on the build-up, politics, and implications of the whole event.)

EU immigration in Switzerland at record high: Why, how, and what does this mean?

An article posted a few days ago by Reuters titled “EU immigration in Switzerland at record high before voter backlash,” written by Alice Baghdjian and Joshua Franklin caught my eye and I just knew this would be a great way to start my exploration into migration in the EU (don’t worry, I know Switzerland isn’t a part of the EU). EU immigration in Switzerland hit a record high in 2013 (in case you didn’t get that from before), so now Switzerland has voted to start imposing a quota on said migrants starting in 2017. And, well, let’s just say the EU is not too happy with that at all. I want to explore the campaign and politics that led to the vote, along with the underlying national sentiment, and see what this quota could potentially mean for Switzerland’s financial future.