The Swiss Vote

By the slenderest of margins, Swiss voters in one of their regular referendum have voted to impose quotas on workers coming from EU countries. According to the BBC, the capitalist class there is upset:

The result obliges Switzerland to impose unspecified annual ceilings on all foreign migrants, including Britons and other EU citizens and daily cross-border commuters from France, Italy and Germany. Such limits would breach “open borders” treaties with Brussels, which also allow Swiss goods to circulate freely within Europe and give Swiss businesses the right to bid for EU government contracts.

“This is the result the Swiss government and business leaders most feared: support for immigration quotas, by the tiniest of margins. In Switzerland the voters' word is final, and the government will now have to inform the European Union that it wants to "renegotiate" its bilateral agreement on free movement of people. But renegotiation is almost certainly not an option.

The Swiss have already had years to phase in the deal, and Brussels views free movement as integral to participation in Europe's single market. Exclusion from that market could spell disaster for Switzerland's booming economy: over half of all Swiss exports are sold in the EU. What is more, Swiss employers increasingly rely on highly qualified staff from across Europe - they believe they will lose their competitive edge if they are no longer free to employ who they like.”

 The majority of the British capitalist class would probably take a similar view if the likes of UKIP managed to convince Cameron to end free movement of labour to the UK. It will be interesting to see how their Swiss counterparts get round this which is not in the general capitalist interest there. The Swiss political scientist Pascal Sciarini said the country faced economic “chaos” because all its diplomatic and commercial agreements with the EU would have to be renegotiated from scratch. Over half of Swiss exports go to the EU.

While anti-immigration campaigners argue that it put pressure on the health service it should be recalled that over a third of Switzerland’s workers in health are non-Swiss.

The Swiss verdict is certain to galvanise the more extreme wings of European politics. France's National Front was quick to congratulate the Swiss voters on their decision. Similar anti-immigrant parties are doing well in the Netherlands, Austria and Scandinavia. Switzerland's economy has been prospering and its unemployment rate is by far the lowest in Europe. Crime rate is low. There is a shortage of labour for high-skilled jobs, but that is being met by foreign workers. Yet the arguments put forward by the supporters is that the country is 'overrun’ by foreign workers who overcrowd trains and roads, take away the jobs and drain social security coffers. The largest proportions of foreigners live in the big urban areas like Zurich and Basel. Isn't it interesting then, that those who are most exposed to foreigner voted against this. If the EU now enforces the rules as it should, it will restrict free movement of goods and people from Switzerland. The Swiss economy will be thrown into reverse gear and there will be massive increases in Swiss unemployment as a result. This is the view of the Swiss President, government and business leaders. Severin Schwan, Austrian CEO of Roche Pharmaceuticals, said about half of the employees at the research and development site in Basel, Switzerland are foreigners.

Hans Hess, head of Swissmem - a leader in electrical and mechanical engineering - believes that Switzerland’s economy is successful because of innovation, which requires a steady stream of qualified immigrants.

"Innovation is the driver of the Swiss economy. That's why we need highly qualified workers inside Switzerland and from abroad," Hess said.

 Four in every ten new companies were founded by foreigners, according to Orell Fuessli Wirtschaftsinformationen AG. Those new companies also created 30,000 jobs in 2013. Other than a skilled workforce, immigrants benefit the economy through consumer spending. Credit Suisse reported that about 25 percent of private consumption growth since 2008 was thanks to foreigners.

With their secretive banking system, Switzerland has never had any issues with the free movement of capital.  The "native" people of a nation shouldn't blame individuals for unfortunately migrating to a foreign country to look for a better economical life.