Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
The ongoing negotiations between Bern and Brussels remain the big story today, with the final outcome expected to be announced on Friday. According to Swiss public television SRF, instead of one comprehensive agreement parliament can expect to decide on four separate packages.
One contentious topic in the discussions is immigration, which the president of Economiesuisse addressed today in an extensive interview with the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ).
Also in today’s briefing, we cover a compensation claim submitted to the Swiss government by the family of a man killed in an Islamist attack in 2020, along with the latest statistics on families and relationships in Switzerland.
Have a good read.
The EU agreement: four separate referendums
The Swiss federal government has decided to split the new EU agreement into four distinct packages for parliamentary and public approval.
Negotiations with the EU are in their final stages and the results are expected this Friday. Sources confirmed that the agreements, covering free movement of persons and transport, the electricity market, food safety, and health, will each be put to a separate referendum. The purpose of separating the four agreements in this way seems to be to avoid jeopardising the overall negotiations in parliament by scuttling even those agreements that are not contested.
This strategy has already sparked debate in the Federal Palace. Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter of the Centre Party supports the move, saying, “Parliament and the people must have the opportunity to vote on these different decisions.” She added that separating the contentious points is crucial.
However, the right-wing Swiss People’s Party strongly opposes the plan. “The federal government is trying to divide everything into more digestible morsels. It is not honest,” criticised Swiss People’s Party politician Franz Grüter. He suggested the government is attempting to minimise resistance on the electricity deal by splitting the agreements.
- Swiss public television, SRFExternal link article (in German)
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Economiesuisse: balancing free movement of workers and infrastructure
The president of Economiesuisse, the Swiss Business Federation, has weighed in on the EU agreements, particularly on free movement of persons. Christoph Mäder told the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) that the Swiss government should have the ability to manage immigration if it “exceeds tolerable limits”.
“Switzerland benefits greatly from the free movement of people, and we want to maintain it,” said Mäder. However, he emphasised that recent immigration levels are “too high.” He linked public concerns to asylum-related migration, which he said is “putting pressure on resources and influencing the immigration debate.”
Mäder believes that asylum-related migration is one of the main reasons for the population’s fears: “The current economic migration has little to do with labour market needs or the original purpose of asylum,” says Mäder. “It is increasing the pressure on resources and influencing the immigration debate.”
For Mäder, it is necessary for business representatives to take the concerns of the population seriously. “But this is an effort that the economy cannot make alone. The infrastructure is not designed to accommodate so many people”.
- Christoph Mäder’s full interview in the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) External link(in German)
Compensation claim over Morges Islamist attack
The family of Joao, a 29-year-old man fatally stabbed in an Islamist attack in Morges in 2020, is demanding CHF200,000 ($223,704) in compensation from the federal government. The family argues that the federal prosecutor’s office failed in its duty to act, which could have prevented the tragedy.
Shortly before Joao’s murder occurred, the attacker was under surveillance following his release from prison. The prosecutor at the time, Juliette Noto, told him that the slightest infraction would land him back in prison. Despite being required to report weekly to the police, he failed to do so. The public prosecutor’s office was aware of these infractions but did not take action.
On September 12, 2020, the man entered a kebab shop, stabbed Joao, and shouted, “Allah is great.”
“With her completely incomprehensible inaction…Federal Prosecutor Juliette Noto made a serious mistake in the exercise of her duties,” writes lawyer Dario Barbosa in a letter to the Federal Department of Finance. The claim seeks CHF80,000 each for Joao’s parents and CHF40,000 for his brother.
- More details in the Swiss public radio, RTSExternal link article (in French)
FSO survey: insights on Swiss relationships
The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) has published its latest five-year survey on families and generations in Switzerland. The findings reveal that three-quarters of adults are in a committed relationship, with men reporting slightly higher satisfaction levels than women.
The data, from 2023, shows that only 11% of those in a relationship do not live with their partner, and for many, it takes less than two years to move in together. Over half of couples have an age difference of no more than three years (57%), while two-thirds share the same level of education (64%), and the majority are of the same nationality (81%).
Couples living together report higher satisfaction, particularly those without children. Notably, there is no significant difference in satisfaction levels between same-sex and different-sex couples.
- The FSO studyExternal link, available in French and German
Picture of the Day
Today’s picture offers a glimpse of tourists enjoying the sunny slopes of Arosa in canton Graubünden—a scene many people in Bern, including myself, can only envy. These December mornings, Bern often remains shrouded in fog.
Translated from Italian with DeepL/amva/
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