Author: switzerlandtimes.ch

In Switzerland the fuel used by piste groomers to prepare ski slopes is cheaper than that used by most other vehicles. The reason is a refund of the mineral oil tax—a levy that, in practice, does not apply to machines that operate off public roads. The arrangement has drawn the ire of the Green Liberal Party (GLP), which wants it scrapped, according to RTS. The same tax relief applies to agricultural and forestry vehicles. Much of the roughly 80 centimes a litre fuel tax is earmarked for building and maintaining roads—an infrastructure that piste groomers and farm machinery rarely use.…

Moutier celebrated its transfer from the canton of Bern to Jura at the end of 2025, in a ceremony that underlined the historic nature of the change. Marcel Winistoerfer, the town’s mayor, told around 300 people gathered outside the town hall that, half a century after the founding of the canton, Moutier will now join Jura and rediscover its natural home, reported SRF. Residents, he said, would experience intense and extraordinary emotions as a new chapter was added to the country’s history. Federal Councillor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider, herself from Jura, attended privately. The celebrations included a banquet for 1,200 guests, a…

20 Minutes, Switzerland’s free commuter newspaper, appeared in print for the last time on Tuesday, ending a 26-year run, reported the newspaper. Its publisher, TX Group, had announced the decision in the summer. The closure also consigns to history the blue distribution boxes that once stood at railway stations and tram stops across the country. The paper marked the occasion with a special farewell edition, distributed in German-, French- and Italian-speaking Switzerland. The issue looked back on the publication’s own history. Some of the trademark blue boxes, readers were told, will live on in museum collections. Launched in December 1999,…

Lawmakers from the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) have tabled a motion to tighten language requirements for naturalisation, reports RTS. They want applicants for a Swiss passport to demonstrate B2 oral and B1 written competence in one of the national languages — a higher bar than at present. Under current federal rules, candidates must be able to manage everyday communication: B1 in speaking and listening and A2 in reading and writing, according to the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages. This allows routine spoken interaction and simple written communication. The UDC/SVP argues that this is not enough. Jean-Luc Addor, the…

Swiss voters will be asked to decide whether the country should accede to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, according to the government. On 23 December 2025, The Alliance for a Nuclear Weapons Ban submitted 135,000 signatures to the Federal Chancellery, enough to trigger a nationwide vote. The initiative is backed by the Socialist Party, the Greens, the Evangelical People’s Party and a range of civil-society groups, including the Group for a Switzerland without an Army (GSoA), Greenpeace, Terre des Hommes and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. The signatures, said Noemi Buzzi of GSoA, send…

Donald Trump has announced a deal with several large pharmaceutical firms, including Switzerland’s Novartis and Genentech, a subsidiary of Roche, reported SRF. The agreement, unveiled at the White House, is intended to lower the prices of selected medicines in the United States and to allow drugmakers to sell them directly to consumers online. In exchange, participating companies will receive three years of duty-free treatment for imported pharmaceuticals. Executives from several firms attended the announcement, including Novartis’s chief executive, Vasant Narasimhan. For Roche and Novartis, the deal brings an end to months of uncertainty over the future pricing and tariff regime…

A cross-border criminal network responsible for dozens of thefts in Switzerland has been dismantled in neighbouring France, reported RTS. The investigation, led jointly by Swiss and French authorities with support from Europol, Eurojust and Fedpol, targeted an organised group involved in stealing luxury vehicles and burglarising gun shops across several Swiss cantons. The main criminal proceedings are being conducted in France, where coordinated arrests have been made. Swiss investigations, meanwhile, helped to establish the scale of the operation and the central role played by those who issued orders, according to prosecutors and police in the canton of Neuchâtel. The group…

Swiss agriculture could, in theory, feed the entire population without imports. That is the counter-intuitive conclusion of a new study by the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture (FiBL), the ETH Zurich and the consultancy O+L GmbH. The research, published in Swiss Agricultural Research, models a scenario in which domestic production alone would suffice. In terms of self-sufficiency, Switzerland currently produces only about half of the food it consumes, meaning around 40–50 % of food consumed domestically is imported. The finding of the study rests on the resource-intensiveness of livestock production. Meat and dairy need far more land, feed and energy…

Donald Trump has set Switzerland a deadline to conclude a binding trade agreement, reported RTS. Washington wants a legally enforceable deal in place by March 31st 2026. Failing that, the United States says it may review and reconsider the tariffs imposed on Swiss exports. According to several Swiss newspapers, the Trump administration is keen to turn a non-binding declaration of intent signed on November 14th into a formal bilateral agreement. A document from the US trade representative, published in the Federal Register, makes clear that the recent retroactive cut in tariffs—from 39% to 15%—was granted in the expectation and hope…

The Federal Council wants to roll out roadside displays that warn drivers when their vehicles exceed recommended noise levels, reported RTS. After adopting a report on the issue on Friday, the government said such devices could help curb excessive engine noise, which it described as an avoidable nuisance that harms quality of life and can damage health. The report examined five potential implementation models and favoured screens equipped with sound-measurement devices. These would show drivers when their vehicles exceed a noise threshold and issue an alert—such as a prompt to slow down. Other variants were discarded for legal and technical…