Swiss government restricts B permits for Romania and Bulgaria

Switzerland will limit Bulgarian and Romanian citizens' access to the Swiss labour market for the next 12 months, the government said on Wednesday, as it seeks to slow increased migration from those two countries since last year, Reuters reported.

The number of five-year "B" residence permits for people coming from the two countries will be fixed at 996: the decision would be due to the threshold of workers from those countries taking largely seasonal jobs had been exceeded between June 2016 and May 2017.

Free movement of workers between Switzerland and the European Union is largely guaranteed through bilateral agreements, although a so-called "safeguard clause" allows for limits like those being adopted by Switzerland if the number of people arriving exceeds certain levels.

Figures published yesterday by the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), show a fall in the number of unemployed in Switzerland. With 146,330 people registered as unemployed, in April the rate of unemployment slid from 3.4% to 3.3%.