Referendum on immigration limit could threaten EU agreements and cripple economy, say Swiss businesses

Referendum on immigration limit could threaten EU agreements and cripple economy, say Swiss businesses

Switzerland will vote this summer on a proposal from the far-right Swiss People’s party (SVP) to limit the country’s population to 10 million, a move that would threaten key agreements with the EU and, opponents say, cripple the economy.

The government said on Wednesday the referendum on the SVP’s “No to a 10 million Switzerland” initiative, which is strongly opposed by both chambers of parliament and the business and financial services community, would be held on 10 June.

The initiative would oblige the Swiss government and parliament to act if the country’s permanent population, currently 9.1 million, exceeds 9.5 million by denying entrance to newcomers, including asylum seekers and the families of foreign residents.

  • dogslayeggs@lemmy.worldEnglish
    61·
    2 days ago

    I’ve spent some time in Switzerland. There is a TON of space that is suitable for habitation that either isn’t used or is used for farming (necessarily). I remember traveling around thinking how empty it felt outside of cities. Even the cities didn’t feel crowded compared to other cities I’ve been to.

    A) Your 1% hypothetical would be making the population 10x higher than now, so obviously they could not handle having the 1%. It’s a dumb hypothetical.

    B) Assuming we go with your hypothetical, each person of that 80 million people in 16,000 sqmi would get 5600 sqft. My entire property, regardless of my house size, is not 5600 sqft. So I wouldn’t feel bad about that much space. Yeah, much of the mountainous areas are not habitable, but that’s why multilevel housing was developed. If we assume only 25% of their country is habitable, then that still gives each person of that 80 million person around 1400 sqft. That’s bigger than my 3br house! If we go multilevel housing, then you can still have a ton of space for people.

    • huppakee@piefed.socialEnglish
      31·
      2 days ago

      Thanks for calculating that, land to live on is definitely not a defining factor in deciding whether Switzerland is overpopulated or not. Maybe back in a time where everybody had to feed themselves from working the land, but in 2026 you could easily fill Switzerland 10 times over and it still wouldn’t be a densely populated country. Plenty of cities that are much smaller in size while having over 10 mio inhabitants.