Import quotas to protect farmers from outside competition are tightly managed in Switzerland. However, when Swiss farm production dips or demand rises, quotas are often eased to allow more low tariff imports. This week, Switzerland’s government extended quotas on butter and potatoes in response to shortages. On 22 June 2021, Switzerland’s Federal Office for Agriculture […]
Switzerland tops innovation in Europe in 2021
In 2021, Switzerland had the highest innovation score in Europe, according to a report published by the European Commission this week. Switzerland’s innovation score of 162.3 put it comfortably ahead of Sweden (156.5), the European nation in second place. The score measures innovation across 12 areas, which include workforce education, research systems (international research publications), […]
All new Swiss cars to have black box recorders
When an aircraft crashes, one the first actions is searching for the black box, which is typically bright orange, in order to understand what went wrong. Switzerland’s road authority would like to see similar technology added to all new cars from 7 July 2024, according to RTS. These black boxes would record information such as […]
Basel to become the fifth canton with a minimum wage
Over the weekend, a majority of voters in the canton of Basel-City voted in favour of a minimum wage of CHF 21 (US$ 23) an hour. The move will make Basel-City the first German-speaking Swiss canton to adopt a minimum wage, following in the footsteps of Geneva, Neuchâtel, Jura and Ticino. Until fairly recently Switzerland […]
Biden and Putin shake hands in Geneva
Around midday on Wednesday 16 June 2021, Vladimir Putin landed at Geneva Airport, according to RTS. US president Joe Biden arrived in Geneva on Tuesday. An hour later, Swiss president Guy Parmelin stood between the two presidents outside the villa La Grange and welcomed them to Geneva, which he referred to as a city of […]
Swiss anti-pesticide votes fail – 13 June 2021
Two referenda aiming to cut the use of pesticides on Swiss farms failed to find majorities in voting on Sunday 13 June 2021. The vote focused on clean drinking water and food failed to pass by 39.32% to 60.68%. The initiative found a majority in its favour only in the urban canton of Basel-City (58.76%) […]
Swiss vote in favour of Covid laws and tougher anti-terror policing – 13 June 2021
Two sets of rules produced by Switzerland’s government, one to allow the government to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic and another to allow the police to go further in policing terrorism found support with a majority of Swiss voters on Sunday, 13 June 2021. 60.21% of voters supported the government’s Covid-19 laws and 56.58% supported […]
Swiss vote against further CO2 taxes
Swiss government plans to raise taxes on high emission activities, which included heating houses with oil, motoring and flying failed to find a majority across the nation in voting that took place on 13 June 2021. Overall, 51.59% of voters were against the plan, a result that has surprised many. The new taxes, which were […]
Swiss to vote on CO2 taxes. How much could it cost?
On 13 June 2021, Swiss voters will decide on whether to accept a government plan to raise taxes on certain high emission activities, which include additional taxes on heating oil, flights and petrol and diesel for road use. The aim of the revised law is to change behaviour and reduce Switzerland’s emissions. The amount that […]
Swiss parliament votes to raise retirement age for women
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 […]
