so basically there will be around 150 000 new people moving to Switzerland this year, but as long as we won't let in 3-4 000 of those Eastern Europeans, our job market is safe! Sounds legit..

Maybe because you have accidentally double counted Serbians.

Otherwise the numbers of Non EU look like 630.8K in 2006 to 664.3K in 2010. That looks like a 5.4% increase to me instead of the 25% you mention.

I used the table you provided. When I double counted the Serbians I got the answer you referred to.

To put the above into perspective, in the four years to 2010 people from:
Germany increased by 51%
France increased by 30%
Portugal by 22%
Africa by 43.5%
America 17.5%
Asia by 19%

I'm curious, what sort of limits, if any, are there for citizens of the UK in terms of immigration to Suisse?

As expected, the SVP seems to agree to this.

Percentages could seem a lot, but i think absolute numbers must be better here.

In absolute numbers,in 2010 permanent residents were like this:
- EU 27/EFTA 1,101,500
(Germany 287,100 , Italy 287,100 , Portugal 212,600)
- ASIA 110,500
- AMERICAS 74,500
- AFRICA 71,500

Just to put things in perspective, Africa has 56 countries but its population in Switzerland is more or less 1/4th of the German(or Italian/Portuguese) residents.

p.s: as usual people fail to see the elephant in the room. Keep targeting asylum seekers, Balkan folks or East European people.

None right now, but if the EU economic and Swiss political climate get very ugly, there could be quotas.

I talked about percentages because there was a lot of talk that after the introduction of the bi-lateral treaties in 2007 then there was a big increase in immigrants from the EU countries. So I thought percentages would give a better view of the increases.

When I counted non-EU I actually left out the European non EU countries that were in the table for a reason I cannot remember now

Well not when your dealing with EU VS Non EU which was the whole point of my correcting post of another poster (not because i was trying to create another topic).

The other detail was as additional information that I calculated which people can interpret any which way they want. The %'s was to show a trend - the numbers are there for all to see on 'Martons' link in the last page, so I felt no need to rinse and repeat.

The real point being that - discussing non EU numbers is pretty pointless as its a 1/5th of EU numbers

Your welcome

My point was, these "new" EU countries are considered indeed like Non-EU and it's unfair to target them when we all know their % is relatively lower than some other EU countries.

Interesting that the Rickli said there are around 200,000 Germans living in Switzerland when the official figures are a lot more than this; but she is blonde.

She also said that after her statements at the weekend she received comments where 95% of the people supported her.
In the comments following the article in Blick that you referenced less than 50% supported her (at least when I checked just now).

About "The real point being that - discussing non EU numbers is pretty pointless as its a 1/5th of EU numbers2

You do know what the topic of this thread is? Right?

But you dont have a point as they are two separate things.

EU 8 is NOTHING like non EU.
- This safeguard clause affects future B PERMITS not L for now. That means that L's for EU8 are still possible - it is sad for EU8 but not the end of the world
- The EU 8 also still have permit quotas which is completely unlike non EU (but different to EU 17 as the agreements ARE different)
- For now this exists only for the next 12 months. MAXIMUM limit is only till 2014. i.e. Not forever according to the agreement
- There is nothing much else that can be done for non EU as that is in itself already very strict - just ask a non EU how hard it is to come to CH already

So what happened in this case? The clause stated that over a 3 year period the average of EU8 permits granted per year CANNOT exceed the average by more than 10% the following year. This essentially was triggered because the average was somewhere in the vicinity of 2000 odd AND between May 1, 2011 till now there have already been 6000 permits granted. Thats considerably over the limit by any terms.

Now the second point. The safeguard clause on the EU8 is purely SYMBOLIC. Something after 9 pages of posts very few here still dont seem to get. Thats already clear to anyone who cares to listen - the 4000 number of affected permits is a complete drop in the ocean, and thats the point, the action not the effect of the action. Switzerland has enacted this on the EU8 because it CAN and it is easy and LEGAL i.e. it was ALREADY agreed to. It cannot however target the old EU without placing itself into a position of navigating a legal minefield. Just look at the EU lawyers already scrambling at this one. Nevertheless this is still a good test case at how the EU reacts to agreements it agrees to - not forgetting the restrictions many old EU members still place on EU2 i.e. Hypocrites

So regardless of the hyperbole you read, SVP farmers will still grow apples, the unemployment rate will NOT drop, the economy will still function regardless of the amount of Polish here and you will still be able to buy chocolates in Migros.

The move was only to show the Swiss public that when the Swiss governments puts clauses into its agreements IT doesnt ignore them should those clauses be triggered. The fact that the Swiss have actually reacted to their own clause is whats surprising - fancy politicians actually doing something that will cause the EU to spin a few times. But if you look a little into the future of initiatives coming - it becomes quite clear why the 'left' has agreed to this - so on the other hand from a political strategy angle, it shouldnt surprise.

Whats the point of having safeguard clauses if when they are triggered the politicians light up cigars and ignore them. The Swiss have shown that there IS a point - and that does add faith in the government.

Switzerland leads where others will follow.
Watch what happens in France after the elections...

If these able people leave their own countries, who will remain?

Switzerland must not join the EU and have anonymous bureaucrats in Brussels make our laws.

second that...
we have no issues, the swiss tax system is really good concerning this,
DEBTS+HOUSEWIFE+CHILDREN = WIN $$$$

A) Most of the new immigrants came upon request of the Swiss economy.
A-2) I think that the increase of Germans and French will gradually return to normal
B) Africa/America/Asia are neither in the E.U. nor in the Schengen-Zone, so that nobody can blame either
C) Now, you can expect more Greeks and Spaniards to arrive than in the past, due to the present situation in their countries. AND the fact that average education in Spain and Greece is sufficient, so that they only have to learn the required language

A point many people seem to overlook is that, as you say, almost all immigrants come here because they have a job offer; otherwise they do not get a permit.
Unlike, for example, EU countries where you can move from EU country to EU country without firm job offers.

Government confirms immigration quota

Following its decision last week to impose a quota on residence permits for citizens of eight European Union countries, the Swiss government has finalised the details.

The cabinet approved the necessary changes to the regulations on Wednesday, limiting the number of permits to 2,180 for the 12-month period starting May 1.

More on Swissinfo EN

The DE version has more info here.

Capital S for Swissiness faultrad. Your comment was 'funny'.... I think you are the last person on 'God's Green Earth' to decide on if something is funny or not to be honest.

Why not ? Everybody knows it. Look at schoolbooks. Look at poetry you learn in Swiss schools, with important authors being people like Theodor Fontane, topics being "...Havelland" . Look at any song-book in churches, with a majority of things being of German origin. Look at customs and ways of life. Go to areas near the border like Schaffhausen. My grandfather grew up in a distance of 200 meters from the German border, Grandmum in a distance of two kilometers. And the Hohentwiehl is a prime sight of Schaffhausen. Look at Kreuzlingen and Konstanz. Yes, Kreuzlingen is Swiss and Protestant and Konstanz German and Catholic, but the culture is the same. The same with Stein-am-Rhein on one side and places like Oehningen, Gaienhofen, Radolfzell and Singen on the other side.