A new Swiss initiative seeks to tilt travel away from planes and towards rail. Launched by actif-trafiC and backed by a coalition of campaign groups and political parties, it proposes a levy on airline tickets and private jet travel to fund public transport and expand cross-border rail links. The logic is straightforward: flying is too […]
A new proposal to make it easier to become Swiss reaches parliament
A proposal to ease Switzerland’s naturalisation rules has reached the Swiss National Council, Switzerland’s parliament. The so-called Democracy Initiative has already cleared the first hurdle. Backers gathered 104,782 valid signatures—comfortably above the 100,000 required—forcing a national vote. The plan would make naturalisation more administrative and less discretionary. Applicants who have lived legally in Switzerland for […]
Young Swiss liberals launch initiative to curb size of government
The youth wing of the Liberal Party (PLR/FDP) has launched a popular initiative to curb the growth of Switzerland’s federal administration, arguing that it has expanded silently, continuously and without restraint, reported RTS. Backed by other centre-right parties, the proposal would tie the growth of federal spending to changes in the median wage, effectively capping […]
Swiss government presents counter-proposal to responsible business initiative
The Swiss government has opened a consultation on a counter-proposal to a new popular initiative on corporate responsibility, arguing that companies should respect human rights and the environment without undermining their competitiveness. A previous initiative failed in 2020, winning a majority of voters but not of cantons. A watered-down counter-proposal came into force in 2022, […]
Federal Council will scrap imputed rental value from 2029
Six months after a decisive “yes” at the ballot box, the government has clarified how it will implement reforms to the taxation of residential property. It has consulted the Conference of Cantonal Finance Directors and concluded that cantons need adequate time to prepare for the transition. Mountain cantons had pushed for a later start, arguing […]
Capping Switzerland’s population: simple in theory, tricky in practice
This week, the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) launched what it hopes will be its political campaign of the year: an initiative to cap the population at 10m. Voters will decide on June 14th. Both the Federal Council and parliament oppose the plan and offer no counter-proposal. The idea is straightforward: Switzerland’s population, currently about 9m, […]
Swiss voters reject plan to cut broadcasting fee and back individual taxation
Swiss voters rejected an initiative to slash the national radio-television fee while approving a reform introducing individual taxation for married couples. They also backed a government counter-proposal on cash in the constitution and rejected a climate fund. Broadcasting fee initiative rejectedVoters rejected the initiative “200 francs is enough!”, which proposed cutting the radio-television fee from […]
Swiss voter preferences firm up ahead of March votes
Opinion formation varies across the four proposals to be voted on 8 March. It is most advanced for the initiative targeting SRG SSR, where 85% of likely voters say they have made up their minds. More than two-thirds also report firm positions on the cash initiative, the climate fund initiative and individual taxation. By contrast, […]
Swiss anti-GM initiative gathers enough signatures for a vote
Regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in Switzerland is set to return to the ballot box. A popular initiative titled “For food without genetically modified organisms” was submitted to the Federal Chancellery on Friday with more than 137,000 signatures, comfortably above the 100,000 required to trigger a nationwide vote. The proposal calls for continued strict […]
What is Switzerland’s broadcasting levy?
Redevance (or Medienabgabe in German) is a word much heard since the launch of the “200 francs is enough!” initiative, on which voters will decide on March 8th. The levy is a compulsory annual charge paid by every household in Switzerland, whether or not they consume radio or television. Some firms pay it, too. Collection […]
