Switzerland Today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

It's a tough job, but someone has to do it – and 'I'm ready': this is how you could sum up the interview given to various newspapers by the Centre Party's candidate to succeed Viola Amherd in government, Markus Ritter.

If elected, he will be able to travel in style in the Federal Council's new aircraft, the Bombardier Global 7500. However, the previous hangar is not large enough to house it, and there is still no suitable facility for it at Belp Airport, near Bern.

Our selection continues with an analysis by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ), which suggests that the agreement reached between Switzerland and the European Union may struggle to win public approval in a vote.

Finally, we examine why residents living near the Leibstadt nuclear power plant in northern Switzerland want to take the Federal Office for the Environment to court.

Happy reading!

Keystone / Gian Ehrenzeller

The succession of resigning minister Viola Amherd is ‘difficult’, acknowledges the Centre Party’s candidate for the government seat, Markus Ritter (in photo above), in an interview with the Tamedia Group.

Since Amherd announced her resignation, many of the Centre Party’s favoured candidates have ruled themselves out of the race. Ritter, a native of canton St Gallen and president of the Swiss Farmers’ Union, believes there is good reason for this lack of interest. The defence ministry, currently led by Amherd, is facing criticism from the parliament’s financial commission, which recently described the situation as ‘worrying’ in a letter to the outgoing defence minister.

However, Ritter says he is ready to take on the job, emphasising that he is used to “working 365 days a year and helping out at home in his spare time”. In his view, this is also why there is a shortage of candidates, particularly from urban areas.

He clarifies that it would be “completely wrong” to suggest that people in cities are lazy. Instead, he suggests that they “perhaps have a slightly different idea of work and think that 45 or 50 hours a week is enough. I am convinced that, as a government minister, you must be prepared to work 60, 70, 80 hours and be fully present – there is no other way.”

• Read the full interview in the Tages AnzeigerExternal link (subscription, in German)
• An interview with Swiss public broadcaster, RTSExternal link (in French)

Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

According to analysis by the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) newspaper, the agreement reached between Switzerland and the EU would struggle to pass a public vote unless Switzerland were to enter a recession.

The recent deal between Bern and Brussels updates existing bilateral agreements and introduces new ones. Switzerland’s access to the European single market and participation in research collaboration programmes such as Horizon and Erasmus are at stake.

The agreement could be put to a vote in 2027 or 2028 – unless the Swiss People’s Party’s anti-immigration initiative, ‘No to a 10-Million Switzerland’, is approved first. According to the NZZ, the prospects of success for the deal do not look promising.

Opponents of the agreement are vocal, while its supporters remain more subdued. Added to this is the fact that most Swiss citizens have grown accustomed to economic prosperity – even compared to neighbouring countries – which means that the long-term benefits of access to the single market may not seem like a compelling argument for closer ties with the EU. This perspective could shift in the event of a recession, but of course, no one hopes for that.

• Read the full Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ)External link analysis

Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

The Federal Council’s new jet is too large for the hangars at Belp Airport, near Bern, where it was meant to be parked. Pending the construction of a new facility, it will be temporarily relocated to the military airfield in Payerne in western Switzerland – at a cost.

It was already known that Belp lacked space for the new Bombardier Global 7500, as the Federal Office for Defence Procurement (armasuisse) stated when the aircraft was unveiled last week. However, Blick has revisited this issue, criticising federal authorities for the additional expenses involved, which are on top of the CHF103 million ($114 million) allocated for the jet.

Even the military hangars at Payerne are not large enough, an anonymous source tells the newspaper. Federal authorities will therefore have to rent additional space for two years until the new hangar at Belp is completed. Blick also points out that once the larger facility is built, rental costs will rise further.

Blick says the most troubling aspect is that in the current strained economic climate the purchase of a new jet should theoretically have been impossible. Instead, the government found a “financial loophole” by adding the aircraft’s cost to the 2023 budget at the last minute as an additional expenditure.

• Read the full article on BlickExternal link

Keystone / Gaetan Bally

Around 15 people living near the Leibstadt nuclear power plant, both in canton Aargau and in neighbouring Germany, have filed a complaint with Switzerland’s Federal Administrative Court against the plant operator and the Swiss environment ministry.

They argue that Switzerland has failed to comply with international conventions requiring operators to conduct an environmental impact assessment for the long-term operation of nuclear power plants.

Commissioned in 1984, the nuclear plant was originally intended to operate for 40 years. Its lifespan has since been extended to 2044, meaning it has now entered its long-term operation phase.

In February last year, local residents approached the environment ministry requesting the environmental impact assessment. 

However, their request was ignored, and no review was conducted. As a result, they turned to the Federal Administrative Court, accusing the ministry of failing to uphold democratic participation and adhere to international treaties. This is according to a press release issued today by the organisations supporting the plaintiffs, including Greenpeace and the Swiss Energy Foundation, SES.

• The news reported by Swiss public broadcaster, SRFExternal link (in German)

Keystone / Ennio Leanza

Picture of the day

Today, sirens echoed across Switzerland. However, there was no cause for alarm – it was simply the annual test conducted on the first Wednesday in February.

For those unfamiliar with this Swiss tradition, it may come as a surprise and even cause concern.

Would you know what to do if the alarm signalled a real emergency? Find out in the article by my colleague Thomas Stephens (available in English, German, French and Italian).

Translated from Italian using DeepL/amva/sb