Keeping the country clean: three-quarters of the staff at the central laundery in Zurich are foreign (Keystone

Most Swiss newspapers have shown understanding for the government’s decision to re-introduce quotas for immigration from eight eastern European countries.
At the same time, editorialists queried its effectiveness and consequences – above all concerning Switzerland’s relationship with the European Union.

The Südostschweiz for example wondered “whether the bill for Switzerland would increase in the long run”.

“It appears more likely that within Brussels the pressure will increase to keep a really tight rein on its small neighbour and remove its special status,” it said.

Under the decision taken on Wednesday, B resident permits for people from Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Slovakia as well as the three Baltic Republics of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia will be limited to just over 2,000 for a period of at least 12 months.

The measure was invoked under a safeguard clause of a bilateral treaty between the EU and Switzerland for the free movement of people. It will take effect from May 1 and be reviewed next April. It can be extended until 2014 at the latest.

“Signal to the people”The Tages-Anzeiger in Zurich also believed the goodwill shown towards Switzerland – “which is increasingly seen as stubborn and unmanageable” – would further dwindle in any case.

For the Neue Luzerner Zeitung this “signal to the people” was apparently so important for the government that the government accepted that in doing so it would irritate the EU.

Indeed, in a statement on Wednesday the EU’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said Switzerland’s decision was a violation of the free movement of people accord.

“This measure is not justified economically, nor by the labour market situation, nor by the number of EU citizens looking to establish their residence in Switzerland,” she said.

Swiss Justice Minister Simonetta Sommaruga argued the move was part of a package of long-term measures to control the flow of people entering Switzerland amid pressure from political parties to limit immigration.

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