Swiss voters look set to decide for a second time whether to impose curbs on immigration from the European Union after the cabinet proposed on Wednesday allowing a straight yes-or-no referendum on an issue that still bedevils ties with the EU.
In a 2014 referendum, voters narrowly backed upper limits and quotas to reduce immigration from the EU, amid concerns that foreigners who already make up a quarter of Switzerland's population were continuing to flood into the country. The quotas were then enshrined in the Swiss constitution.
But pro-Europe activists, worried about ending free movement of EU citizens -- a condition for enhanced Swiss access to the single market -- countered with an initiative called 'Raus aus der Sackgasse' (RASA), or "Out of the Cul de Sac", that would gut the 2014 vote by removing the quotas from the constitution.
The government opposes the RASA initiative because it still wants a constitutional mandate to steer immigration.
But it was unable to forge an alternative to RASA that it could push through parliament and win public support under Switzerland's system of direct democracy, which gives voters final say in major matters.
That means the RASA initiative is set to go to voters after parliament takes its stance on the issue by an April 2018 deadline
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