On July 1 2013 Croatia became the 28th member state of the
European Union. However, Croatia's accession to the European
Union has had no bearing on the Agreement on the Free Movement of
Persons between Switzerland and the European Union. In each case of
enlargement of the European Union, the agreement must be amended
first (additional protocol).
Agreement extended to Croatia
The extension of the agreement to Croatia was negotiated in a
new Protocol III which was initialled in 2013. Protocol III
provides for the free movement of persons after a transition period
of 10 years. However, as a consequence of the popular initiative,
which aims at stopping mass immigration (adopted by the Swiss
electorate on February 9 2014), the Swiss government could no
longer sign the already negotiated Protocol III. As such, the
protocol would not be compliant with the new provision of the Swiss
Constitution regarding mass immigration.
