German & Austrian voters support Swiss-style immigration quotas for EU-residents

[ingemann]

Direct democracy are general a bad idea, not because people are stupid, but because issues tend to be much more complex than people expect. The Swiss quota referendum are a good example, at first it doesn't seem a big deal, until you look at the factors that any attempt to set up such quota, will annul the treaties which give the Swiss access to European markets. It would not have been a big problem if EU needed Switzerland, but because they don't really need them, the Swiss can serve as a useful object lesson for EU members in how much EU removal of custom barriers means. Of course the Swiss will likely find something to give EU to make them accept the quotas, they're not idiots, and they know precisely what the access to European markets means to them.