The Swiss government has announced it will restrict immigration from Western European countries beginning in May, invoking its «safeguard clause» in response to a growing number of European Union citizens seeking work in Switzerland.
Switzerland already imposes quotas on long-term residence permits for people from the EU-8 bloc of eastern European countries, but the government said Wednesday it expects to apply the same measures to the remaining 17 EU-member nations.
Starting May 1, the quota for B-permits (5-year residence permits) will be kept in place for nationals of the EU-8 states and will be extended to workers from EU-17 states. Quotas of about 2,180 B-permits for the former group and 53,700 for the latter will be in effect for one year.
According to a government statement, the number of foreigners arriving in Switzerland to work has been up to 80,000 higher each year than the number leaving in recent years. Restricting permits, stated the government, «can help to make immigration more acceptable to society.»
More details on this story will follow shortly.