Swiss voters are voting to decide whether to curb immigration by European Union citizens, in a referendum that risks igniting a row with Brussels.
While opponents of the "Stop Mass Immigration" plan have stayed ahead in the opinion polls, their lead has gradually narrowed to a few points.
Neutral Switzerland is not in the EU but is ringed by countries that are members and does most of its trade with the 28-nation bloc.
Since 2007, the EU's 500 million residents have enjoyed an equal footing with locals on the job market of Switzerland, a country of eight million.
That is part of a raft of deals signed with the EU in 1999 after five years of talks, approved by Swiss voters in a 2000 referendum and then phased in.
But a referendum coalition helmed by the right-wing populist Swiss People's Party - the largest in Switzerland's parliament - says that opening the door fully to EU citizens was a huge mistake.
If passed, the coalition's proposal would bind the government to renegotiate the labour market deal within three years.
The government, most political parties and the Swiss business and industry federations warn that ripping it up would kill off the related economic deals and dent Switzerland's credibility as a partner for the EU.
They also say that slapping restrictions on hiring EU citizens would be a disaster, arguing that the steady stream of foreign labour is a driving force of this wealthy economy with virtually full employment and an ageing population.
Until 2007, Swiss firms had to clear bureaucratic hurdles before being allowed to recruit a non-resident, with official quotas for foreign employees set down for each business sector.
Brussels has warned that Switzerland cannot pick and choose from the binding package of deals negotiated painstakingly in the 1990s, seen as a way for Switzerland to enjoy the benefits of access to the EU market without joining the bloc.
