site.btaSwitzerland May Reduce Long-term Work Permits for Bulgarians

Switzerland May Reduce Long-term Work Permits for Bulgarians

Sofia, May 10 (BTA) - From June 2017, Switzerland may reduce for a period of one year the number of long-term work permits available to Bulgarians, the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday. The Swiss government has decided to put in place stricter controls following an assessment of work permits issues to Bulgarians and Romanians between June 1 2016 and May 31 2017.

The measures are temporary and won't apply to old work permits as well as short-term work permits.

The Bulgarian Foreign Ministry recalls that Bulgarians and Romanians were given an equal access to the Swiss labour market in May 2016 when a transitional period under the EU-Switzerland Agreement on the Free Movement on Persons expired.
However, it allows the Swiss government to impose temporary measures and restrict the number of work permits if detects pressure on the labour market.

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ekaterina Zaharieva conferred with Pascale Baeriswyl, State Secretary at the Swiss Ministry of Foreign Affairs, who said that the decision is a routine procedure with a limited scope for a limited period and is not a discriminatory measure against Bulgarians and Romanians.

The Foreign Ministry recalls that in 2012 Switzerland introduced similar measures for eight countries from the first wave of EU accession and in 2013 extended them to another 17 EU members.

Zaharieva and Baeriswyl discussed the Bulgarian-Swiss relations and cooperation, highlighting juvenile justice and dual education. The Bulgarian Foreign Minister renewed an invitation for her Swiss counterpart Didier Burkhalter to visit Bulgaria.