| Switzerland |
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A referendum on extending the freedom of movement for workers within the European Union to Bulgaria and Romania, who joined the EU on 1 January 2007, and on removing the sunset provision from the agreement was held in Switzerland on 8 February 2009. If Swiss voters had rejected the continuation and extension, the EU would likely have invoked the so-called "guillotine clause" to terminate all agreements made as part of the bilateral treaties.[1]
A poll from January 2009 saw 49% in favour of extending the agreement, 40% opposed and 11% undecided; 48% of voters said they would participate in the referendum.[2]
The referendum concluded with a decisive vote in favour of the extension, with German and French-speaking cantons mostly voting in favour (except for narrow votes against in Schwyz, Glarus and Appenzell Innerrhoden) and the Italian-speaking Ticino strongly voting against.[3]
The decisively positive result caused the left-wing Green Party and the Social Democratic Party to state that they would renew their push for Swiss EU membership.[4]
| Swiss referendum, February 2009[5] | ||
|---|---|---|
| Choice | Votes | Percentage |
| Yes | 1,517,132 | 59.61% |
| No | 1,027,899 | 40.39% |
| Valid votes | 2,545,031 | 98.95% |
| Invalid or blank votes | 27,009 | 1.05% |
| Total votes | 2,572,040 | 100.00% |
| Voter turnout | 51.44% | |
| Electorate | 4,999,618 | |
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