Brussels begins retaliation against Swiss referendum result

A day after the Swiss government cancelled its freedom of movement agreement with Croatia, Brussels has frozen grants to Swiss universities and research facilities worth hundreds of millions of euros.

The EU’s initial retaliatory strike has not just removed Switzerland from the Horizon 20920 scheme which provides funds for research and innovation, but has also impacted the Erasmus student exchange programme, now suspended. In total, some six thousand students from both sides of the border are expected to be affected.

Although the Swiss government was on track to create some 8,000 new jobs via the EU grant scheme, most Swiss citizens think that high immigration levels are an unacceptable trade-off. Vice-chair of the European Students’ Union Elizabeth Gehrke is concerned that the country is isolating its academics and students from the rest of Europe.

Lausanne’s Federal Institute of Technology stands to lose between 80 and 100 million francs-worth of research grants every year, and the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich is expected to lose a similar amount in funds. In the rest of Europe, support for the Swiss people’s decision is increasing as free movement becomes even more controversial at grass roots level.

The Swiss People’s Party, originators of the referendum, are unrepentant, saying that even more immigrants would have put a severe strain on the national budget. The party also wants to make it easier to deport migrants who don’t integrate, and is urging that all foreigners should be denied government benefits and services.