Survey: nearly half of Swiss oppose an EU framework agreement

The survey is the third of six planned by Tamedia in advance of the 2019 federal elections. © KEYSTONE / ALESSANDRO DELLA VALLE

A survey by media company Tamedia shows that some 48% of Swiss are against the conclusion of an institutional framework agreement with the European Union, while 43% support it. Dissatisfaction with the government and parliament appears to be on the rise.

The survey results suggest that scepticism toward European politics has increased: while 52% of respondents said they still believe that it’s necessary to maintain the free movement of people agreement with the EU, 44% said they were ready to break ties – a 4% increase from three months ago.

Earlier this week, data from a Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) electoral barometer showed that just 38% of Swiss were against a framework agreement.

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The rate of satisfaction with Switzerland’s executive body and parliament is down, the survey found; a trend that’s been observed since June. For the former, the satisfaction rate dropped from 46% to 39%, and for the latter, from 45% to 41%.

Out of a list of 19 issues on the survey, Swiss voters remain most concerned by the continual rise in health costs, which was cited by 66% of respondents, while 57% were worried about their pensions in retirement. Migration came in third as an issue of concern, followed by relations with the EU.

Nearly 20,000 Swiss surveyed

The survey was carried out in view of the 2019 national elections, which will be held in October next year. The authors concluded that the Swiss political landscape remains “stable”. The online survey was carried out on the 24^th and 25^th of September in Switzerland’s three language regions and included 19,412 people. The margin of error was 1.3%.