Swiss Government Rejects Calls For Mandatory Vote On Bilaterals II
The Swiss government announced this week that none of the nine bilateral treaties
recently agreed with the European Union will be put to a mandatory referendum,
a move which has been condemned by the right wing Swiss People's Party. According to the Swissinfo news service, following a regular weekly meeting,
the Swiss cabinet explained that the agreements did not merit the calling of
a compulsory referendum, as they do not require Switzerland to join a supranational
body or collective security organisation. The government's decision means opponents of the accords, which include the
Schengen agreement on cross-border crime, will now have to collect 50,000 signatures
in order to force a nationwide vote on the issue. Although it is expected that the People's Party and allies such as the Campaign
for an Independent and Neutral Switzerland (CINS) will have no problem gathering
the required support for their objections, the government is likely to find
it easier to push the agreements through in such a ballot, whereas a mandatory
vote would require the support of a majority of both voters and cantons to pass
them. This follows the announcement earlier this week that in response to concerns
expressed by Switzerland with regard to the timeframe given for the implementation
of the 'Bilaterals II' treaties, the EU has opted to delay the implementation
of its Savings Tax Directive by six months, to July 1, 2005. .
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