Updated 22:20 Bern, Switzerland (GenevaLunch) - Switzerland went to the polls Sunday and voted an overwhelming yes to a federal initiative to extend indefinitely the country’s agreement with the European Union (EU) on the free movement of labour. In a vote that some media are calling a surprise (Le Temps, Fre), Zurich voters have abolished flat fee taxes for wealthy foreigners. According to swissinfo, 137 foreigners currently have agreements with the canton to pay a set fee instead of being taxed at normal rates.
Only four cantons voted no to the federal EU initiative, with 59.6% of voters nationwide saying yes. Voter turnout was 50.9%. The initiative extends the EU labour agreement to Bulgaria and Romania, a contentious issue, with the right-wing UDC party fighting it.
The strongest no vote came from Ticino, but Glaris, Inner Appenzell-Rhodes and Schwyz were also opposed to the EU initiative. Details: TSR, Fre and swissinfo.
In cantonal votes which took place at the same time, Genevans voted in favour of all four issues on the ballot, including one that approves electronic voting. Vaud citizens approved two measures to reduce taxes and provide fiscal help with childcare.
This work by genevalunch.com is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported.
News story, GenevaLunch, 8 February 2009.
Filed under: Politics
Tags: Bulgaria, childcare taxes, electronic voting Geneva, EU, European Union, Politics, Romania, Swiss vote, Ticino, Vaud tax vote
February 9th, 2009 at 5:34 pm
[...] climbed more than 20% and growth in sales of filled chocolate bars was up 9.4%. Switzerland, whose 8 February vote in favour of retaining indefinitely its close ties with the European Union, remains open to [...]