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A vast majority of Swiss voters rejected in a referendum on Sunday to
drastically reduce migration from the European Union (EU)
, which would have put their relations with the bloc at risk, according to early projections.
About 63% of Swiss voters voted no to the initiative launched by the country's first party, the Central Democratic Union (UDC),
to end the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons (ALCP)
signed in 1999 with the EU , according to the polls of the gfs-Bern institute after the closure of the polling stations.
All the other political forces, as well as the economic circles, were opposed to this initiative.
The UDC, a populist right-wing party, alleged with this initiative that the Alpine country "suffers from uncontrolled and excessive immigration"
that threatens "jobs
.
"
For his proposal to be adopted, he needed not only a majority vote, but also a majority of the 26 Swiss cantons.
The other parties and the economic circles are clearly in favor of open borders with an EU that is Switzerland's largest trading partner.
The same occurs with border regions, which are
highly dependent on the labor force from neighboring EU countries.
The vast majority of Swiss voters, called to vote several times a year in different referendums, had already voted by correspondence, although the electoral offices were open this Sunday between 10:00 and 12:00 in the morning.
The polls
already predicted that a large majority of voters would reject the initiative
.
However, the short victory of the "yes" in the 2014 referendum on immigrant quotas - promoted by the UDC itself - incited caution.
In 1992,
the Swiss also voted "no" to their country's entry into the European Economic Area,
an agreement signed by the member states of the European Community, the forefather of the EU, and the member countries of the European Free Association. Exchange (EFTA), or European Free Trade Agreement (EFTA, for its acronym in English).
But since then, Bern and Brussels have signed multiple bilateral agreements.
Guillotine clause
The Swiss government had warned that due to the so-called "guillotine clause", a unilateral complaint by the ALCP would lead, after six months,
to the automatic breakdown of six other bilateral agreements
(dealing with public procurement, agriculture and land transport). ) and would also run the risk of calling into question other treaties concluded with the EU.
The UDC, clearly anti-European party and whose posters with a xenophobic aroma generate controversy, had carried out its campaign with the slogan "
Trop, c'est trop
" (too much is too much),
accompanied by a poster depicting a heavy European butt that is sits
, crushing it, over Switzerland.
Before this referendum.
In Brussels, Dana Spinant, spokesperson for the European Commission, did not want to comment on the vote, but recalled that the EU
intends to approve the framework agreement with Switzerland
"as soon as possible, once the points are clarified" raised by Bern on wage protection and state aid.
For years, the EU has wanted to close an institutional framework agreement with Bern to simplify bilateral relations.
This agreement sows suspicion in Switzerland, both on the left and on the right
On the other hand, on Sunday, the Swiss approved by a large majority -61% according to the polls- the establishment of a two-week paternity leave.
Since 2005, Swiss law has granted working mothers 14 weeks of paid leave after the birth of a child.
But the parents were only entitled to one or two days.
According to the criteria of The Trust Project
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