A fee between two thousand (approximately 2,118 euros) and four thousand francs (4,237 euros) for European Union citizens who move to live in Switzerland. This is what the Swiss country would like to introduce, with a clause, in the package of agreements with the EU, discussed in recent days by the Council of States, the equivalent of the Italian Senate.
The immigration escape clause
The Council of States on Immigration has gone beyond the government’s plans. The tax requested, in fact, is intended to complete the safeguard clause that Switzerland can activate to limit entries into the country, if it is deemed that immigration causes serious social and economic problems. Furthermore, for the “senators”, the Federal Council should be obliged to consider the application of the clause in the event that the entry threshold is exceeded even in just one of these four aspects: net immigration from the European Union, number of new cross-border commuters, unemployment and social assistance rate.
How this tax works
The tax is defined as “incentive” and would be linked to the activation of the safeguard clause. The tax would be at least four thousand francs for employees, for whom the company that hires them will pay, but it would also apply to the self-employed and to people “without gainful activity”. The amount would instead amount to two thousand francs for adult citizens who reunite with their family in Switzerland.