Switzerland must be able to control immigration, says head of business federation

Economiesuisse President: Switzerland must be able to control immigration Keystone-SDA

Switzerland must be able to control immigration itself if it "exceeds the tolerable limits", says Christoph Mäder, president of Economiesuisse, the Swiss Business Federation.

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Without such a protective measure, the treaty package with the EU is unlikely to gain majority support, he believes.

“Switzerland benefits greatly from the free movement of persons and we want to maintain it,” said Mäder in an interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung on Wednesday.

The Swiss economy would continue to rely on skilled workers from abroad in the future, if only because of demographic trends, he said. “However, the immigration we have seen in recent years is too strong.”

+ Immigration polarises Swiss opinions particularly strongly

In his opinion, an important reason for the fears and negative associations is asylum migration. The problems in the enforcement of the asylum system would burden the immigration debate, Mäder said. The current economic migration had little to do with either the job market or the original core of the asylum system, but it is increasing the pressure on resources and shaping the discussion on immigration, he criticised.

But “without regular workers from abroad, Switzerland would hardly be able to operate. I think the population knows that”, emphasises Mäder. In terms of controlling immigration, he was sceptical of an immigration fee, which he saw as bureaucratic and inefficient.

He also saw it as the duty of business representatives to take people’s concerns and fears seriously. “But this is an effort that the economy cannot make alone. The infrastructure is not designed for so many people; investments are urgently needed here,” Mäder continued.

Translated from German by DeepL/ts

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