On 25 September 2016, the Swiss electorate will vote on the ‘Green Economy’ initiative, the work of the Green party. Switzerland’s per capita consumption of the earth is far from sustainable. The Green party says three earths would be required if everyone on the planet consumed natural resources, such as water, air, soil or raw materials, […]
Brexit will affect Switzerland, says Swiss president
Swiss president Johann Schneider-Ammann said “This decision affects your country directly and indirectly.” Firstly, relations between Switzerland and the UK will need to be redrawn. This will not happen today, but once the UK formally leaves, in around two years time. The current rules for people and companies will stay in place until further notice. Switzerland […]
At a glance – Switzerland’s nuclear power stations
In 2015, Switzerland consumed 58 billion kWh of electricity. It exported 43 billion kWh, mainly to Italy, and imported 42 billion kWh, mainly from France, Austria and Germany. Around 35% of the total was produced from nuclear, 59% from hydro, and 6% from other sources, based on 2015 Swiss Federal Office of Energy SFOE numbers. The […]
Why Switzerland’s unconditional basic income vote failed
Switzerland’s universal income proposal was rejected by voters on Sunday. And while a majority of voters in a small number of communes voted in favour of it, nationwide 76.9% were against it. So why did it fail? A number of people with a connection to Switzerland shared their views on Quora.com. Here are three: Read Pandy Legend's […]
5 June 2016 Swiss referenda results
The votes have been counted. The Swiss Statistics Office charts below show results by canton and district. The initiatives to pay an unconditional income, to change the way state-owned companies are run, and to spend further fuel tax on transport infrastructure have all been rejected. The vote on changes to asylum law has been accepted […]
Swiss federal votes – Sunday 5 June 2016
This coming Sunday 5 June 2016, Swiss will vote on a number of federal and cantonal initiatives. The five votes on the federal ballot this Sunday are set out in this article. The vote attracting the greatest international attention is the proposal to pay every adult an unconditional income of CHF 2,500 a month, and […]
Is making profits good for Switzerland’s state-owned companies?
Initiative: In favour of public services Despite being majority owned by the state, Swisscom, Swiss Rail, and Swiss Post are all profit-driven: the Swiss government owns 51 percent of Swisscom and 100 percent of Switzerland’s rail and post businesses. For backers of the initiative, seeking profit stands in the way of these enterprises providing good levels […]
Are Swiss drivers being unfairly milked by the government?
Initiative: In favour of fair traffic financing Currently, not all of Switzerland’s fuel tax is allocated to improving and expanding Switzerland’s infrastructure, some of it flows into the overall Federal budget. Restricting fuel taxes to the road The Swiss People’s party (UDC/SVP) along with representatives from a broad selection of parties and interest groups, want all tax gained […]
Swiss vote on designer baby controversy
The Swiss Evangelical People’s Party (EVP/PEV) has launched an initiative to counter the law on reproductive medicine, which allows all embryos fertilised outside the uterus (in-vitro) to be genetically tested. Under the law, the use of preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) on foetuses in-vitro is possible for carriers of genetically inherited disorders and for patients undergoing regular fertility treatment […]
Free legal advice for asylum seekers. Naive or sensible?
With amendments to asylum law, the Swiss government aims to speed up the asylum process, cut costs and ensure a fairer process for asylum seekers. Current asylum claims can last up to 400 days. The revision sets to cap this at a maximum of 100 days and 140 days in exceptional cases. During this period, asylum […]
