Hello Everyone,

It seems like after Denmark, Switzerland is thinking of making border control again: https://research.tdwaterhouse.ca/res...14-LDE74B188-1

ZURICH, May 13 (Reuters) - Switzerland should reintroduce border controls to limit immigration and possibly even pull out of the Schengen treaty that allows free movement in Europe, the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP) said.
"Switzerland made a mistake in giving up control over immigration policy," Christoph Blocher, former justice minister and influential SVP vice president, told Reuters.


I wonder, will we have again border controls?



Ideas, thoughts, comments?

It would hardly be the end of the world, would it?

No it's bleeding not! The SVP wants to do something, this doesn't mean that Switzerland is thinking anything. Of course the SVP is jumping on the Danish bandwagon. To be honest, I can't see it making a difference, Swiss borders are already insanely tight - let them become an autarky and say hello to the 100chf Big Mac.

Well, SVP represents majority in the parliament, and the party is extremely popular in Switzerland

Therefore, I can slightly assume that usually what they think of - becomes a reality in a short term ...

No, the SVP does NOT represent majority in either house of the federal parliament ! It is below 30%, and majority means 50%plus !

Stop press!

Switzerland's premier right-wing party wants to have border controls...

Sorry Volodymyr, but it's hardly news, is it? There's a way to go before it happens.

I was reading yesterday about James Schwarzenbach who was a far-right Swiss politician, head of the Republican Party of Switzerland.
Schwarzenbach is chiefly known for his initiative on Überfremdung ("excess of foreigners") that was put to the vote in 1970. The referendum had a record turn-out (75%), with 45% of the votes supporting Schwarzenbach's proposal. The proposal, if accepted, would have meant that the Swiss government had to limit foreign workers to Switzerland to 10%, which at the point in time would have meant the deportation of up to 300,000 foreigners over 4 years.
The Republican Party of Switzerland was popular for a while but who has heard of them now?
The SVP now has the same anti-foreigner policies as the Republican Party had but runs the same risk that their single negative policy will consign them to the dustbins of history. A party needs positive policies to survive; how long can you keep painting the same picture?
Myself I do not see the Swiss borders being closed for many reasons. It is against the Agreements that Switzerland signed, the people involved in border controls have been completely re-organised - it would mean a major new re-organisation & who will pay for that?

It would hardly make a difference to EU citizens would it?

for UK citizens no difference as they are outside schengen. for the rest slower transits at borders though i don't know if airports are concerned.

I would not call that news either, but what happened the past days in the EU is. Schengen is one of two big achievements of the EU (the other one being the free movement of goods, no I do not count the Euro as an achievement right now...). Lots of Asian, African and South American countries are fairly impressed how well we get along in Europe and how convenient it is to travel or do business.

And all it takes to make politicians go crazy is a handfull of boats with refugees.

To DB: No, it is not the end of the world. But the SVP does not want "some more controls", they want to get rid of the Schengen treaties freedom of movement. As a UK citizen, you hardly need to care. Here is the news: For many million Eastern Europeans and easily as many non-EU citizens within Schengen did the treaty make their lives a good bit better. Even if you lived here long and had your C permit.... Before Switzerland was Schengen did I need to get a visa for the wife in order to go cross border shopping. I know you don't need to care and most SVP voters don't need to either, but it really is an improvement for many people here.

But can all EU countries not enter Switzerland and the EU without a visa anyway?

The biggest difference this would make is to non-EU from India for example who come here to do a PhD or work and can't use their residence permit to explore Europe anymore.

Can't see how it would make the slightest bit of difference. UK has never been in Schengen, yet do you hear anyone bleating about its highly restrictive immigration policies?

No, didn't think so, quite the opposite actually.

You do not hear people complain a lot, but the UK definitely loses money for not being part of Schengen. We travelled Europe over the last years. Spain, France, Italy... they all got a decent share of out hard earned. We typically make last minute weekend trips. We cannot go to London in the way as the wife would need to apply for a visa first. Same with the US: If we need to apply six months before and wait for an invite to go to Berne to explain in a face to face interview that we really do not try to be illegal immigrants in the US... well, then I travel to countries that treat us friendly and value my money. There are plenty.

That would be a big deal if I were non-EU. I'd become claustrophobic if I wouldn't be able to leave Switzerland without a visa.

Schengen is a great acchievement.

I never said it wasn't a big deal for non-EUs...but the majority of people in Switzerland are Swiss, EU or American types who don't need a visa to travel to most Schengan countries anyway, so Schengan doesn't make a great deal of difference to most of the people in Switzerland.

Yep, hope so. the swiss should police their borders.

There were no systematic checks on Swiss borders even before Schengen. Checks were random, and continued to be so afterwards. Non-EU residence permit holders from the neighboring countries could in any case enter Switzerland without a visa. Have travelled a couple of times from Germany by train/road with no passport control while entering Switzerland at Basel before Schengen.

Schengen, with its exchange of databases, with other EU countries, has actually helped catch criminals who could commit a crime in Switzerland and then cross over the border.

As usual a lot of ignorance and misinformation, and the SVP happy to take advantage by claiming that Schengen interferes with Swiss immigration policies.