Switzerland could be forced to pay around CHF 1 billion a year under an EU reform of cross-border worker unemployment benefits.
The reform, agreed in Brussels in late April after nearly a decade of talks, shifts the cost of paying jobless frontaliers from their country of residence to the country where they worked.
France and other EU member states have already signalled they will press Switzerland to sign on.
Geneva, Vaud, and Ticino are bracing themselves for pressure on their employment services.
The Federal Council has not yet taken a position but will have to rule on the change as part of the bilateral free movement accords.
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