National Council in favor of millions to protect the EU’s external border
Published: Wednesday, Dec 6th 2023, 09:50
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The National Council wants Switzerland to continue to contribute financially to the protection of the Schengen external borders. On Wednesday, the Grand Chamber was the first chamber to approve a corresponding bill. This involves a contribution of around CHF 300 million over a period of seven years.
The National Council reached its decision by 105 votes to 65 with 21 abstentions. The matter will now go to the Council of States.
Specifically, this involves payments into a fund to support those Schengen states that have a long external land or sea border. The so-called BMVI Fund replaces an older fund to which Switzerland had already been paying since 2018 and which expired in 2020. It is valid for the period from 2021 to 2027.
For safety
For its part, Switzerland will receive financial resources of around CHF 50 million from the fund for national measures, the Federal Council wrote in August when adopting the dispatch to Parliament.
In the opinion of the Federal Council and the majority of the advisory committee, the fund serves the security of Switzerland and the prevention of irregular migration.
It was also a sign of solidarity, the majority of the Commission wrote in its opinion. However, it emphasized that human rights must be respected at the Schengen external borders. At the same time, transparency was needed with regard to the use of resources from the fund.
SVP did not want to enter
A minority of the SVP unsuccessfully requested that the vote not be taken. It criticized the failure to protect the Schengen external borders. The EU states were not fulfilling their obligations. In addition, the contribution demanded from Switzerland was disproportionately high.
"This bill is beyond good and evil," said Erich Hess (SVP/BE). Switzerland was allowing itself to be ripped off. The Schengen external border would remain porous even with more money. The SVP called for the reintroduction of systematic border controls at the Swiss border.
The Social Democrats, Center Party and FDP supported the bill. The SP supports the basic idea of the fund, said Priska Seiler Graf (SP/ZH). At the same time, however, she encouraged the Federal Council to keep a "very watchful eye" on the use of the funds.
Maja Riniker (FDP/AG) pointed out that organized crime and terrorism could not be combated single-handedly.
For the Greens, human rights concerns prevailed. The majority of the parliamentary group abstained from voting. Group spokesperson Marionna Schlatter (ZH) said that clear conditions should have been attached to the Swiss contribution.
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