Putting the brakes on immigration in Switzerland

Switzerland is facing a popular vote calling for the population to be capped at 10 million inhabitants.

The population exceeded nine million at the end of June 2024. The rapid growth has positive aspects: the economy is flourishing.  But the infrastructure is under heavy strain and housing is scarce and expensive. 

The right-wing Swiss People’s Party collected enough signatures for their “No to 10 million Swiss! (sustainability initiative)” to force a national vote on the issue. According to the initiative, the population of permanent residents must not exceed ten million people before 2050. If 9.5 million people live in the country by 2050, the Federal Council and Parliament would have to act.

Temporarily admitted persons would no longer be granted permanent residence permits. Family reunification would be restricted. If other measures fail, the initiative foresees the scrapping of the Free Movement Agreement with the European Union. 

The initiative comes as the EU and Switzerland negotiate a new agreement on their bilateral relations. In a major concession to the Swiss, the EU has agreed to consider allowing a safeguard clause against excessive immigration from EU states into Switzerland. The Swiss government is hoping that this will weaken the “No to 10 million Swiss!” campaign.