Switzerland’s famous tradition of direct democracy has often made life difficult for its government. Unlike in much of the rest of Europe, in which governments call referenda when they want a “right” answer, the federal Swiss government is bound by the result of ballots called for by the general public. Personally, I think that there are many advantages to a Swiss-style hybrid of representative and direct democracy. It prevents politicians going mad with power, for a start. So to be clear, I’m not questioning the system.
However, the results of a ballot on capping the number of EU and EEA migrants moving into the country are very troubling. By a majority of 0.3%, the Swiss people have voted to impose a cap- albeit at an unspecified level- which breaches European-Swiss agreements on free movement of workers and goods. The only option open to Europe is to raise the trade and immigration barriers that it applies to non-member states. This would damage the Swiss economy, which sells half of its exports to the bloc, and also relies on the open border for labour- some 1% of the country’s population is added every year by foreign workers. The price a country pays for punching well above its weight in trade and finance (not to mention being a tax haven), is to have a large proportion of foreigners in its population, in this case 25%.
So I’m not at all surprised that the Swiss public are worried about being “swamped” with foreigners. If the UK had a population that was one-quarter foreign born rather than one-tenth, I fear the country would descend into racial violence. But Switzerland has always been an open country, one that inspires people, and one that is much stronger than its population and economy suggests. Remember that Switzerland was an island of neutrality even at the height of Nazi Germany, which didn’t generally tolerate neutrality.
I’m sure Switzerland can fall back on its tax haven status and financial clout to survive and grow outside of the EEA, but by sealing itself off it is undermining its role in Europe and the world.