Switzerland: The referendum's consequences for higher education and research cooperation

The referendum on the Swiss federal popular initiative Against mass immigration on 9 February showed a voting result of 50.3 % in favour of the initiative; as a result, Swiss participation in the EU framework programmes Horizon 2020 and Erasmus+ is not only at stake but has been for the moment shelved, with far reaching consequences for cooperation in higher education and EU-Swiss relations. The current situation has left many open questions which ACA will try to address.
What are the legal consequences of the referendum outcome?
The proposal for the federal popular initiative was launched by the conservative Swiss People’s Party, aiming for a modification of the Swiss constitution in order to allow for the country to regulate immigration independently by setting up annual immigration contingents. This, however, represents a breach of contract of the agreement on freedom of movement between the Swiss Confederation and the European Union, signed in 1999. The European Union and Switzerland have signed a body of bilateral agreements, which are all equally linked to each other through a so called guillotine clause.

European Commission - Statement

European Commission - Swiss participation in Horizon2020

Swiss federal popular initiative Against mass immigration (in German)

Agreement on freedom of movement between Switzerland and EU/EFTA (in German)

State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation - Swiss participation in Erasmus+ (download)

State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation - Swiss participation in Horizon2020 (download). More...