SWITZERLAND 8 February 2009 Swiss voters to decide on free movement of workers

A referendum in Switzerland, which is not a member of the European Union, will decide on the continuation of its labor treaty with 25 EU states and the extension of the accord to the two newest members, Bulgaria and Romania. Three of the four parties in the government and the business community support the deal. The right-wing Swiss People's Party, which holds the most seats in parliament, opposes it. A No vote would threaten some 16 bilateral accords with the European Union.

Switzerland joins the EU's passport-free zone on 12 Dec, but this Schengen-area agreement will be threatened if the Swiss vote to close the border to Bulgarian and Romanian workers.

The bilateral accords with the European Union cover trade and labor, asylum, customs and tax issues. In 1992 Swiss voters narrowly rejected joining the European Economic Area treaty, a halfway house to EU membership. Nov/08

RELATED READING:

People's Party reverses stand on labour treaty (SwissInfo 30 Oct 2009)
http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/politics/internal_affairs/People_s_Party_reverses_stand_on_labour_treaty.html?siteSect=1511&sid=9911137&cKey=1225386608000&ty=st