Swiss voters ease citizenship

BASEL, Switzerland Voters in Switzerland decided Sunday to make it easier for young “thirdgeneration foreigners” to get Swiss citizenship, agreeing to extend to about 25,000 people under age 25 access to the fasttrack process now available to foreign spouses of Swiss nationals.

The national statistics office said the “naturalization of third-generation immigrants” initiative passed with 60.4% of the vote, paving the way to a simplified path to citizenship for young people whose parents and grandparents have lived in Switzerland for decades.

As in some other European countries, being born in Switzerland doesn’t automatically confer citizenship. While about 25,000 people are estimated to be eligible for the new process, the referendum’s passage ultimately could be farreaching in a country where noncitizens make up one-fourth of the population.

The citizenship measure was one of three on the national ballot Sunday. Another carried international implications: Voters handily rejected a corporate tax reform designed to harmonize taxes at a competitive, relatively low rate, a victory of sorts for the political left that had shunned alleged handouts to foreign businesses.

The statistics office said 59.1% of voters rejected the measure, which would have scrapped the two-track tax system that offers lower rates to foreign firms to lure investment — potentially at the expense of higher taxcountries of the neighboring European Union.

Experts say the tax initiative’s failure means that overall rates are likely to be set higher — which would be a disincentive to companies that bring in jobs and ultimately tax revenue.