Switzerland Backs Bill Prioritizing Job Applications for Swiss Over EU Nationals

Swiss lawmakers voted in favor of a bill to give priority to job-seekers among Swiss nationals over applicants from the European Union, media reported Friday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — According g to the BBC broadcaster, the bill is not specific about the quotas, but is due to introduce guidelines for employers.

At a referendum held in February 2014, Swiss voters backed introducing quotas on EU migration. The vote jeopardized aspects of the 1999 EU-Switzerland treaty, which gives Switzerland, which is not an EU member state, favorable access to the bloc's markets in exchange for eased entry of the EU workforce to the country.

In case of the limits imposed, Bern runs the risk to being denied access to the European Union's single market.

The talks on the issue have been ongoing since 2014, and during the mid-2016 round of negotiations, Switzerland and the European Union failed to reach consensus on the free movement. In October, Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann said he hoped to settle with Brussels the issue of European labor inflows until February 9, 2017, a deadline for the government to introduce caps on EU nationals coming to the country.