Reuters AlertNet Lite - Swiss vote narrowly to give aid to new EU states

Reuters AlertNet Full site

NEWSDESK

Swiss vote narrowly to give aid to new EU states

26 Nov 2006 15:57:46 GMT
Source: Reuters

GENEVA, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Switzerland voted narrowly on Sunday in favour of government plans to give 1 billion Swiss francs ($820 million) in aid to new members of the European Union, avoiding any clash with Brussels.

Government ministers had warned that a 'no' vote in the referendum could harm ties with the European Union, which is by far the rich Alpine state's largest trading partner.

The aid, nearly half of which will go to Poland, will be paid out over 10 years and replaces a previous programme of assistance to former Soviet bloc states -- most of them now EU members.

Some 53 percent of voters approved the package, which has already been approved by parliament.

The aid was opposed by the fervently anti-EU Swiss People's Party (SVP), the largest party in parliament, which raised the signatures needed to force a referendum on the issue under Switzerland's system of direct democracy.

The SVP says the 1 billion Swiss francs may be only the tip of the iceberg and that Switzerland may eventually have to hand over far more.

Poland, with 489 million Swiss francs, would be the largest recipient out of the 10 countries which joined in May 2004, followed by Hungary with 131 million and the Czech Republic with 110 million.

The money would be added to a vastly larger transfer of funds by Brussels aimed at improving infrastructure in the mainly former Soviet bloc countries and narrowing the yawning economic gap with pre-2004 EU member states.

Neutral Switzerland is not a member of the 25-state EU, but it is surrounded by members of the bloc and they account for more than one third of its trade.

The amount Switzerland is giving is significantly less than the $1.31 billion that Norway, another non-EU European state, is prepared to contribute.

The Swiss government says it will be able to provide the aid without increasing taxes or raising more debt. More than 60 percent of the total will come from re-directing aid now being given to some eastern European countries, including Russia.

AlertNet news is provided by

Email this article Send comments

Countries

Small country map
© 2004 Europa Technologies Ltd.

Reset map

• Cyprus profile
· View map

• Czech Republic profile
· View map

• Estonia profile
· View map

• Hungary profile
· View map

• Latvia profile
· View map

• Lithuania profile

• Malta profile

• Poland profile

• Slovakia profile

• Slovenia profile

MORE >>

NGO latest

• Alliance urges action to close the HIV services gap at International Development Committee session on global HIV epidemic
International HIV/AIDS Alliance - UK

• The need for urgent international action on cluster munitions
ICRC - Switzerland

MORE >>

Latest news

• Iraqi asylum-seekers should not be sent home-UNHCR

• British doctors condemn plastic surgery lottery

• UNICEF staffer shot dead in Baghdad

• New UN chief again urges stay of Iraqi executions

• Plane crashes in 2006 lowest for over 40 years

MORE >>

Last updated:Wed Jan 10 16:55:59 2007