Swiss government warns against capping population at 10 million

The Swiss government, together with the cantons and labour unions, has warned against the popular initiative "No to ten million Switzerland". +Get the most important news from Switzerland in your inbox They argue the proposal would jeopardise Switzerland's prosperity, security and humanitarian tradition. Switzerland relies heavily on foreign workers, who represented a third of the total workforce in the country at the end of 2022. The initiative could force the country to terminate its free-movement accord with the European Union if the threshold is approached. On Monday in Bern, Justice Minister Beat Jans warned that an end to the free movement of persons would jeopardise the bilateral approach and exacerbate staff shortages. He appeared together with representatives of the cantons, employers and trade unions. Participation in the Schengen and Dublin agreements would also be jeopardised. The Schengen/Dublin cooperation facilitates close cooperation between the EU Member States and ...