If the British had had a Swiss-like “safeguard clause” with the EU to put a brake on immigration there would have been no Brexit, Switzerland’s justice minister has claimed.
Switzerland’s Justice Minister Beat Jans has hailed the country’s proposed new bilateral deal with the European Union.
In particular the minister commended the importance of the so-called safeguard clause that will limit immigration in certain cases. Jans says the clause offers flexibility and preserves Switzerland’s ability to act.
“If the British had achieved this, there would have been no Brexit,” Jans said.
As a reminder, the safeguard clause is intended to limit immigration from EU countries into Switzerland to protect the labour market and the country’s social welfare system in the event of a sudden rise of new arrivals from one of the European Union countries. (The same rules apply to other EFTA nations — Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein).
During recent negotiations between Switzerland and the EU, however, this provision caused a protracted tug-of-war, with the Swiss insisting on keeping the law intact, while officials in Brussels saying the provision went “a step too far”.
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At the conclusion of the latest round of negotiations, the two sides agreed that Switzerland could maintain this clause, but lose the ability to activate it unilaterally; under the new terms, Bern would have to involve Brussels in this decision.
But Jans also stressed the new clause was more effective than the current one and that immigration could be limited without losing access to the EU single market.
“Our chief negotiator Patric Franzen would be knighted in England for this – he and the entire negotiating delegation have done an excellent job,” he said.
Swiss voters will have the final say on the EU deal in a future referendum, although no date has been set for the vote.
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