Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Today's briefing has a strong focus on Swiss politics and the influence of US President Donald Trump. He's been inspiring the right-wing Swiss People's Party in particular, who have followed an idea recently implemented by the Trump administration.
We also look at other decisions decided today at the federal parliament in Bern and at the People's Party's attempt to activate the safeguard clause to limit immigration.
Happy reading!
Today the right-wing Swiss People’s Party filed a parliamentary motion that urges the government to pull Switzerland out of the World Health Organization (WHO) “as soon as possible”, the 24heures newspaper reported.
The party calls the WHO “a bureaucratic monster” that is increasingly encroaching on states’ sovereignty.
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives adopted a declaration calling on the government to step up cooperation with Europe on security policy. It believes that Europe must respond in unison to geopolitical upheavals and tensions. The People’s Party was the only party to oppose the declaration.
Parliament also took a number of other important decisions today. The House of Representatives decided to extend the moratorium on genetic engineering by five years. The Senate adopted a motion calling for sleep disorders to be included in the national strategy for the prevention of non-communicable diseases.
- Article by 24heuresExternal link on the Swiss People’s Party motion
- The Keystone-ATS article on the House of Representatives’ declaration
More
At the beginning of the year, the Swiss People’s Party tried to activate the safeguard clause to limit immigration, CH Media’s German-language newspapers reveal. Parliamentarians from other parties denounced this as an attempt to torpedo the new package of agreements with the European Union.
The party felt that the government should enact measures to limit immigration. Magdalena Martullo-Blocher of the People’s Party (pictured) revealed this on Tuesday evening in Zurich during a debate on the new package of treaties with the EU.
The People’s Party request was discussed by the House of Representatives’ Foreign Policy Committee. However, the representatives of the other parties pointed out that the safeguard clause was only applicable under certain conditions. Most members of the committee thus rejected the request.
“It would be a big mistake to invoke the safeguard clause at a time when the new package of agreements between Switzerland and the EU is being finalised,” said Social Democrat Eric Nussbaumer. Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter from the Centre Party pointed out that the safeguard clause only allows immigration to be limited in the event of serious economic or social problems, arguing that these conditions had not been met.
- Article in Aargauer ZeitungExternal link (German behind paywall)
- SWI explainer article on state of EU-Swiss relations
Swiss parliamentarians tend to talk too much. The result is a backlog of business, according to the Ticino newspaper Corriere del Ticino. So far, all attempts to find a solution have failed.
During debates on popular initiatives, each member of the House of Representatives has the opportunity to speak. Yesterday, for example, during the debate on the cash initiative, 34 speakers came forward. When debates drag on, the House of Representatives chamber is sometimes half-empty, and parliamentarians take advantage of this to do something else.
The problem is such that at the end of each session, there are between 800 and 1,000 items left undecided. And after two years they end up in the bin. In May, the House of Representatives is due to hold an extraordinary session to deal with the outstanding parliamentary business. However, during these days, parliamentarians submit more items than they manage to discuss.
The solutions proposed to correct this phenomenon are not convincing. A parliamentary initiative by Damien Cottier of the Radical-Liberal Party to reduce speaking time in the lower chamber from five to three minutes was recently rejected. Yesterday an initiative to limit the number of parliamentary interventions that parliamentarians can table per legislature was also rejected.
- Article in Corriere del TicinoExternal link (in Italian)
- Men speak twice as much as women in federal parliament – RTS analysis
The number of people transported by the Swiss Federal Railways has never been higher. The national railway company presented its results today.
Last year 1.39 million passengers travelled daily on long-distance and regional trains. The growth was mainly driven by international and leisure traffic, and to a lesser extent by commuter traffic due to telecommuting, said chief executive officer Vincent Ducrot.
The Federal Railways expects growth of 34% in passenger-kilometres in Switzerland. This will require an expansion of the overall rail offering. The Federal Railways will also be expanding its international connections, particularly to Germany and Italy. A direct link between Switzerland and London is also under consideration.
The Swiss Transport Workers’ Union has urged the Federal Railways to “make targeted investments in its employees”. It points out that employees have made a major contribution to the firm’s ability to overcome the challenges facing the rail industry and to achieve a profit of CHF275 million ($310 million).
- Keystone-ATS news report
- The Federal Railways wants to invest in high-speed international connections – NZZ report External link(in German)
Picture of the day
A journalist films the new Airbus A350 aircraft at the Swiss International Air Lines (SWISS) annual press conference in Zurich-Kloten today. The aircraft will join the fleet in summer 2025.
Adapted from French by DeepL/sb/ts
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