This week, a proposal put forward by Lisa Mazzone, a federal parliamentarian from Geneva, to grant automatic citizenship to those born in Switzerland was rejected by 29 to 13 votes in the Council of States, Switzerland’s upper house, reported 20 Minutes. Unrestricted jus soli, or birthright citizenship, is increasingly rare beyond the nations of North […]
Daytime lights to become compulsory for e-bikes in Switzerland
From 1 April 2022, e-bikes ridden on Swiss roads will need to have lights, according to a report by RTS. In addition, e-bikes capable of reaching power-assisted speeds of up to 45 km/h must be equipped with speedometers from 1 April 2024. This rule is aimed at ensuring riders respect speed limits in 20 km/h […]
Swiss parliamentarians must make foreign nationalities public
Dual nationality is a hot political topic for a few outspoken politicians in Switzerland who are concerned that dual nationals holding elected positions in Switzerland have a conflict of interest. One suggestion for removing any potential split loyalty was to ban anyone with dual nationality from elected office, effectively forcing any dual nationals set on […]
Covid: Swiss government recommends vaccination of 5-11 year olds
This week, Switzerland’s federal government recommended two-dose Covid-19 vaccinations for children aged 5 to 11, reported RTS, in particular those suffering from chronic illness. On 10 December 2021, Swissmedic, Switzerland’s drug approval agency, announced its approval of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine for use on children of this age. Once the vaccines are available for this age […]
Switzerland repatriates children from Syria for the first time
Two children with Swiss nationality are to be repatriated from northern Syria without their mother, who once belonged to the terrorist group Islamic State, reported RTS. It will be the first time Switzerland has organised such a repatriation. The two girls aged 9 and 15 will return to Geneva. The girls’ fathers have been calling […]
Cigarettes might soon cost double in Switzerland
The world is getting tougher on tobacco. This week, New Zealand’s government announced plans to make it illegal to sell cigarettes to anyone born after 2008. In Switzerland, where cigarettes are around 40% of the price in New Zealand, an anti-smoking association has called for prices to be hiked from CHF 8 to CHF 14 […]
Switzerland to follow France and investigate sexual abuse in Catholic Church
Following in the footsteps of France the Catholic Church in Switzerland recently instructed two historians to investigate sexual abuse within the organisation, reported RTS. The researchers running the investigation are from the University of Zurich. They now have the task of collecting testimony from victims which will form the basis of a report on sexual […]
Switzerland no longer classified as a currency manipulator
According to the latest report by the U.S. Department of the Treasury released this week, Switzerland is no longer defined as a currency manipulator, a status it has held for some time. To be classified as a currency manipulator by the U.S. Treasury a nation has to fulfil three criteria. It has to have a […]
Swiss-EU relations – no second billion for the EU
Since Switzerland broke off talks with the EU on closer integration in May 2021, some within government have been looking for ways to send a positive signal to the bloc. On 30 September 2021, the Swiss government agreed to pay around CHF 1 billion to Brussels with no strings attached. 131 versus 55 members of […]
Voters in Zurich support ban on oil and gas heating
Last weekend, 63% of voters in the canton of Zurich confirmed a government decision to phase out heating oil and gas heating in the canton. Laws passed by the cantonal government in 2014 to ban the installation of heating oil and gas heating in new and old buildings proved unpopular with some. Aiming to overturn […]
