This week, Switzerland’s parliament voted in favour of raising the official retirement age for women. In Switzerland, the retirement age for women has long been 64, one year less than the retirement age of 65 for men, according to RTS. The parliamentary vote, of 124 versus 69 in favour, follows a vote in the upper […]
FILM: NOMADLAND **** fully deserves all of its awards
11 June 2021. “I’ll see you down the road”. That’s the credo of these people who live on the road, in vans and campers, as long as they are free to roam the land and settle momentarily where they want. They are the modern pioneers of another face of America, unknown to most of us. […]
Swiss unemployment continues to fall in May
By the end of May 2021, the percentage of Switzerland’s workforce registered as out of work had fallen to 3.1%, down from 3.3% in April 2021. The figures are based on those registered as unemployed at regional employment centres and exclude many of those that have been out of for more than two years and […]
How to get a Swiss Covid certificate
A Swiss Covid certificate is essentially an unfalsifiable QR code containing information on your Covid status, which is either vaccinated, infected and recovered or recently tested negative. The QR codes can be presented in paper (PDF) or electronic format via a mobile phone app. The most obvious use for these Covid certificates is international travel. […]
Switzerland’s Socialist Party pushes for full EU membership
After Switzerland ended negotiations with the EU on a new framework agreement, a parliamentary group of Socialist Party members is pushing for Switzerland to become a member of the EU, according to the newspaper Le Matin. The parliamentary group, which has the support of the party’s leadership, argues that full membership of the bloc is […]
Switzerland clears Covid-19 vaccine for 12 to 15 year-olds
On 4 June 2021, Swissmedic, Switzerland’s drug approval authority, announced it was extending authorisation of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine to 12-15 year olds. The vaccine, also known under the brand name Comirnaty®, has had temporary ordinary authorisation for use in Switzerland on people aged 16 or over since 19 December 2020. Swissmedic started looking at approving […]
Switzerland’s underground tunnel project gets green light from upper house
On 1 June 2021, a project to build an underground freight tunnel network stretching from Geneva to St Gallen, gained almost unanimous support in the Council of States, Switzerland upper house. The project, which was launched in 2013 by private investors, won favour with 39 members of the Council of States with 1 abstention. In […]
Swiss pesticide votes – pesticides, antibiotics, gut bacteria, hormones and disease
As we move through time scientific research improves our understanding of the world. The resulting revelations often point to changes that could lead to progress. However, these changes are rarely painless. Shifting away from the use of antibiotics on livestock and the agricultural use of pesticides are not small adjustments. They underpin current farming methods […]
Swiss president warns EU against reprisal after collapsed negotiation
Last week, negotiations between Switzerland and the EU ended after failure to find agreement on key elements of a deal governing the relationship between Switzerland and the bloc. Over the weekend, Switzerland’s president Guy Parmelin defended the abrupt break in negotiations and sent a clear message to EU strategists in Brussels. Speaking to the newspaper […]
Swiss government adopts Covid certificate ordinance and announces launch date
On 4 June 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Council adopted an ordinance on Covid-19 certificates, which forms the legal basis for issuing the certificates in both forgery proof paper and electronic formats. The ordinance will enter into force on 7 June 2021 and provide the legal basis for issuing the certificates. The certificates are aimed mainly at […]
