After the town’s current administration declared the 2017 vote result, dubbed “Mouxit”, invalid last week, a tripartite gathering of town leaders and representatives from the cantons of Bern and Jura, convened to look into the issue, according to RTS. Last week, the 18 June 2017 referendum result was deemed invalid based on allegations including propaganda, […]
Swiss prison rate one of world’s lowest
This week, Switzerland’s Federal Statistical Office released the latest Swiss prison figures. In 2017, the total incarceration rate was 81 per 100,000, down from 83 in 2016. Switzerland’s rate is a far cry from the 656 per 100,000 found in the US. In a world ranking of 222 countries, Switzerland comes in 162nd lowest. In […]
Swiss gender pay gap 10th highest in Europe
In a recently published study Switzerland has the 10th highest gender pay gap in Europe. Switzerland’s gap of 17% is bigger than Italy’s (5.3%), Luxembourg’s (5.5%), Belgium’s (6.1%), Sweden’s (13.3%), Spain’s (14.2%), Denmark’s (15%), France’s (15.2%) or the Netherlands’ (15.6%), but lower than Finland’s (17.4%), Portugal’s (17.5%), Austria’s (20.1%), the UK’s (21%) or Germany’s (21.5%). […]
Geneva decides to ban the most polluting vehicles
On Friday, Geneva’s parliament voted in favour of a plan to progressively ban the most polluting vehicles from the city centre when air pollution reaches certain levels. While the legal details need to be worked out, the plan, which was put together by the canton’s executive, could be modeled on the French system. The French […]
Swiss vote results on self-determination, cow horns and welfare fraud – 25 November 2018
Today, Swiss voters voted on self-determination, cow horn and welfare fraud investigation initiatives. Both the self-determination and cow horn votes were rejected by 66.2% and 54.7% of voters respectively. Majorities in all cantons voted against the self-determination initiative. While most cantons were against providing extra financial support to farmers keeping livestock with horns, five cantons had majorities in favour of it. The cantons of […]
Smoking soon to be banned on Swiss train platforms
Today, Switzerland’s public transport union (UTP) announced it would ban smoking on train platforms from 1 June 2019. From this date, smoking will only be allowed in designated smoking areas. The UTP hopes the ban will improve the comfort of passengers, reduce cleaning costs and better cater for both non-smokers and smokers. In Switzerland, platform […]
Switzerland’s electronic motorway vignette to be optional
This week, Switzerland’s Federal Council decided the planned electronic motorway vignette will be optional. Drivers will be able to choose. Anyone wanting to drive on Switzerland’s motorway network must first buy a vignette, a road tax sticker introduced in 1985, which must be displayed on the windscreen. It currently costs CHF 40. The government’s announcement […]
Nestlé to move Nespresso global headquarters from Lausanne
Nestlé recently announced that the global headquarters of Nespresso will move from Lausanne to Vevey. The announcement confirms rumours that have been circulating for some time. While the move will affect around 350 staff no redundancies are planned. From 2021, Nespresso’s global management team will be housed in a building it owns containing the Nest […]
Swiss law, not foreign judges vote
This vote, also known as the Self-determination initiative, goes before Swiss voters on Sunday 25 November 2019. It aims to fundamentally change the way Switzerland deals with conflicts between its constitution and the nation’s web of international agreements. If accepted, Swiss constitutional law would trump any conflicting international law or agreement. This would mean that […]
Swiss cow horn vote this weekend
This Sunday, Swiss voters will decide whether farmers who leave horns on livestock should get an additional subsidy from Switzerland’s taxpayers. The initiative does not aim to ban horn removal. The share of hornless cows and goats has increased over the last twenty years to around three quarters of cows and a third of goats. […]
