Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-05-24-Speech-4-073-000"
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"en.20120524.6.4-073-000"2
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"Mr President, I believe that we are faced with a very sensitive issue when we come to talk about residence restrictions, particularly because this gives a push to right-wing populist and extremist forces. When we see the populist right-wing Swiss People’s Party successfully campaigning for a referendum on the issue of quotas for non-nationals, then we find ourselves on the horns of a dilemma.
There is something that I want to state clearly on behalf of our group: neither EU citizens nor anyone else should be allowed to become political footballs or the object of cheap right-wing propaganda as a result of so-called mass immigration, in this case involving Switzerland.
The problem is particularly difficult because it relates to European citizens. If we look at who obtains the largest number of residence permits, we find that over two-thirds are EU citizens. In April 2012, the Swiss authorities, in a hasty response, decided to introduce quotas for certain countries. If we take a closer look, we can see a contradiction here: if we consider the breakdown for residence permits as a whole, then we find that most are granted to Germans and Italians, not Czechs or Poles. The proportion of nationals from the eight countries in question is really relatively small and yet the 10 % rule is being invoked, something quite ridiculous in comparison with citizens of other countries. This again shows what happens when one deals with such questions in terms of percentages. You soon find yourself falling into a huge trap, as I would remind you.
It is politically dubious and counterproductive for Switzerland to invoke the agreement with the EU, referring to Article 10(4). We see this as a violation of the directive on the freedom of movement and the agreement with Switzerland and, above all, we consider it as discrimination against specific citizens and Member States. That must not be allowed to happen. We need equal treatment for all EU citizens, including in relation to Switzerland. We must be absolutely clear about this. For this reason, we refuse on principle to discuss quotas here, as they actually fan the flames of xenophobia."@en1
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