Foreign top executives are not allowed to stay

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On Tuesday, the State Council migration politicians made a U-turn rarely seen even in Bern. The state political committee of the Council of States does not even want to talk about recruiting highly qualified foreigners who have studied in Switzerland for the local labor market. A few years ago, the National Council and the Council of States demanded just that from the Federal Council.

Marcel Dobler (42), national councilor of the St. Gallen FDP, suggested at the time that university graduates and PhD students from non-EU countries could remain unbureaucratically in Switzerland after graduation if they found a job in an area with a proven shortage of skilled workers. workforce. . It is not so easy today, because there are quotas for people from such third countries. Only 8,500 people receive such a permit every year. When they run out, the rest are out of luck.

All parties signed

As a result, the specialists trained at great expense with Swiss tax money have to leave the country. Dobler wanted to prevent this with his motion. And many with him: not only 27 other politicians from all parties, including the SVP, signed his proposal. The National Council and the Council of States also agreed with a large majority, after which the Federal Council proposed an amendment to the Aliens Act.

But now that the amendment is on the table, the migration politicians of the State Council no longer want to hear about the demand. Investigations show that his own party members stabbed Dobler in the back. Only left-green councilors on the committee supported his idea.

Unconstitutional and unnecessary

Andrea Caroni (43) rejected Dobler’s proposal from the start. The State Council of the FDP of Ausserrhoden now feels confirmed: the Bundesrat says clearly that an exception to the quotas is against the constitution. After the yes to the mass immigration initiative, quotas for foreigners coming from outside the EU are mandatory.

And against the constitution – “we shouldn’t do that. Especially since, according to the federal government, quotas have never been exhausted in recent years,” says Caroni. “So there are enough quotas for these university graduates, the cantons just have to use them. “

Corona-related decline

In fact, the quotas have not been exhausted in recent years – but that was mainly due to the corona pandemic. In 2019, however, the Bundesrat had to increase quotas under pressure from the economy.

There are still problems today, says FDP national councilor and entrepreneur Andri Silberschmidt (29): “It is clear that SMEs and start-ups have little chance of getting someone within the quota. Also because the approval practice of the cantons quite restrictive.” Silberschmidt thinks: “With the deliberate admission of highly qualified foreigners trained in Switzerland, we control immigration exactly independently, as the SVP demanded with the mass immigration initiative.”

Dobler doesn’t give up

In any case, Dobler is disappointed. “The decision is frustrating, especially when representatives from all parties signed my proposal. I now expect constructive solutions to an existing problem’, he says and announces that he will enter into discussion with the Council of States again.

He receives support from the green side: Green alderman Lisa Mazzone (35) calls the opponents’ arguments “far removed from reality”. “Especially because the employers’ associations had come forward and urgently requested us to clear the way for university graduates.”

Source:Blick