The Lady Godiva pub in the centre of Geneva is being challenged over the use of its name by Turkish-owned Belgian chocolate brand, Godiva. The chocolate company claims the pub is trading off its name and brand and has delivered a 90 day ultimatum to the pub owner to stop using the name and associated […]
Geneva wins prestigious energy award
For the second time running, Geneva has won the Gold European Energy Award (EEA) for its visionary energy policies. Considered the most prestigious distinction of its kind for European cities and issued every four years, the award recognizes Geneva’s performance with a top rating of 82% of renewable energy initiatives compared to 77% in 2010, […]
Who is speaking out for Swiss Muslims?
If Swiss Muslims are not speaking out with a single voice to condemn the brutalities of ISIS, it may be because there is no single voice that speaks for all of Islam. The majority of Swiss Muslims come from Balkan countries such as Kosovo, Bosnia and Macedonia, and practise Sufism, a moderate form of Sunni […]
Rural-urban construction: need for broader vision
As part of the 28 September referendum, the half-cantons of Basel Town (BS) and Basel Country (BL) voted whether to join forces as part of a larger – and more manageable – Greater Basel. While city voted for, the countryside voted against, but they did agree to develop more cooperation with each other. This is […]
French out to tax Basel Airport
Unlike Geneva airport, which is located entirely on Swiss soil but still operates a French side, Switzerland’s third major airport – Basel-Mulhouse EuroAirport – is on French territory, but run by the Swiss. Paris now wants to run the show by taxing all revenue, plus imposing its own rights on both French employees and companies. […]
Switzerland to silence whistle-blowers
Proposed law provides no protection for whistleblowers The proposed whistleblowing law adopted by the Swiss Conseil des Etats, the upper house of parliament, will effectively silence employees who are best placed to report wrongdoing and threats to the public interest. The law, which focuses on whistleblowing procedures rather than on the public interest value in […]
Considerate driving in Switzerland – a contradiction in terms?
Last week the Swiss parliament voted on a proposal to allow cars to overtake not just on the left, but also the right. Proponents claimed that such a radical measure would speed up the flow of traffic on the nation’s busy motorways. Anyone who has driven between Geneva and Vevey will recall, however, that the […]
No question, it’s a great place to die.
If you live in Switzerland and plan to retire and die here be thankful. The country has just been ranked the third best place in the world to be old in by the Global Age Watch Index 2014 which measures how well 96 countries are supporting their older populations. Norway leads the ranking followed by […]
Switzerland as a global sustainability hub
Five hundred people from more than 40 countries met in Lausanne at the annual Business-for-Society Forum to discuss positioning Switzerland as a global sustainability hub. This is not the first time such an idea has been promoted. Variations on this theme have been mooted previously by the government, think tanks and universities alike. What makes […]
Montreux appoints new Municipal Secretary
Montreux has appointed M. Olivier Rapin (45) as its new Secrétaire municipal (town clerk). A qualified lawyer with a post-graduate diploma in European Community Law, he takes over at the start of February from Mme Corinne Martin who was recently appointed Head of local housing services. Olivier Rapin is no stranger to local and regional […]