Author: switzerlandtimes.ch

After 24 hours of debate, senators backed much of the new bilateral package—but toughened the rules on referendums and immigration. After roughly 24 hours of debate, Switzerland’s Council of States has finished its first examination of most of the country’s sprawling new package of agreements with the European Union. Its verdict was broadly favourable, but with some distinctly Swiss amendments. Switzerland’s relationship with the EU has long been built on bilateral deals rather than membership. Swiss voters rejected joining the European Economic Area in 1992, and over the following decades Bern and Brussels assembled a patchwork of agreements covering areas…

Switzerland finished third at WorldSkills, the global competition for young people in vocational trades, which ended in Shanghai on Sunday. It was the best-performing European country. The 42-strong Swiss team won 12 medals: four golds, two silvers and six bronzes and ranked third overall based on the average medal points scored by each national team. Only China and South Korea finished ahead of it – see medal table here. Another 23 Swiss competitors received medals of excellence, awarded for performances that met a high standard but fell short of the podium. Switzerland’s showing is notable given its size. China has…

Swiss voters are likely to have their say on a proposal to introduce parental leave. The Green Liberals announced on Wednesday that they had submitted 112,517 signatures in support of the initiative to the Federal Chancellery for verification. The number of signatures comfortably exceeds the required threshold, subject to official verification. The initiative is also backed by the Green Party, Alliance F, the trade union federation Travail.Suisse and the women’s wing of the Centre Party. Supporters argue that Switzerland’s birth rate, which has fallen to a historic low of 1.3 children per woman, makes reform necessary. Yet evidence that paid…

The “Safeguard Neutrality” initiative, launched by Pro Suisse and members of the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP), was rejected by 70.1% of voters. Every canton voted against it. The proposal sought to enshrine a stricter interpretation of Swiss neutrality in the constitution. It was backed mainly by conservative groups, along with part of the left. The Federal Council and almost all major parties, with the exception of the UDC/SVP, opposed it. The rejection was even stronger for the “For Safe Food” initiative. The proposal was rejected by 72.5% of voters. All cantons also voted against it. Its supporters wanted, among other…

Sunrise, Switzerland’s second-largest telecoms company, is planning another round of job cuts. Up to 450 positions could go, equivalent to almost 16% of its current workforce, reported RTS. The cuts form part of a broader overhaul of the company’s operating model. Sunrise says it wants to focus its organisation more closely on customer retention, network quality and reliability, while speeding up the development and launch of new products and services. The company has not yet said how it will be organised after the restructuring or which divisions will bear the brunt of the cuts. Staff working in shops, sales and…

Instead of sending staff to walk the tracks and inspect them by eye, Swiss Federal Railways (SBB) uses specially equipped diagnostic trains and artificial intelligence to examine around 2,000km of track each month, according to SRF. Rather than inspecting the railway at walking pace, the trains travel at up to 120kph, measuring and filming the track as they go. AI then analyses the images to identify damage and defects. The technology is not new. SBB began experimenting with AI for track inspection about a decade ago, but the early results were disappointing: the system produced too many errors. Advances in…

Temu and Shein are sending a growing number of packages to Switzerland. A Chinese logistics firm now wants a share of their delivery business. Helped by heavy advertising and rock-bottom prices Chinese online retailers are squeezing domestic e-commerce firms. Now a Chinese logistics company is following them into the market and may squeeze existing parcel delivery services. Speedaf is building a parcel-delivery network in Switzerland which could quickly become significant, Stephan Wagner, a logistics professor at ETH Zurich, told SRF. Its planned sorting capacity—up to 50,000 parcels a day—is sizeable for a newcomer. At full tilt, that would amount to…

Low water is making inland shipping less reliable. More freight may move by road and rail, pushing up transport costs—and, eventually, consumer prices. In August the Rhine at Kaub, a key measuring point in Germany, fell to just six centimetres, a record low, according to Reuters. The Rhine was not alone. Rivers across Europe, including the Danube in Hungary and Romania, the Po in Italy and the Loire in France, also reached exceptionally low levels. Such conditions could become more common. Today, extremely low water levels might be expected to persist for about 40 consecutive days. In future, that figure…

The Swiss passport remains one of the world’s most powerful travel documents, ranking ninth globally in the latest Passport Reports index. Swiss citizens can travel visa-free to 119 destinations. Another 54 allow entry with a visa on arrival or an electronic travel authorisation. Only 25 destinations require Swiss travellers to obtain a visa in advance. Travel is virtually unrestricted across Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean. Swiss passport holders have access to 93% of destinations in Oceania and 72.2% in Africa. Switzerland fares less well within Europe. It ranks 13th among 47 countries, behind several EU members, including Germany and…

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) has left its policy rate unchanged at zero, the lowest policy rate in the world. Inflation remains subdued. Consumer prices rose by 0.8% in August, the highest rate in two years but still comfortably within the SNB’s definition of price stability, which covers inflation of between zero and 2%. The central bank expects inflation to rise to 1.2% in the fourth quarter, largely because of higher oil prices, before easing again during 2027. Its latest forecast puts average annual inflation at between 0.7% and 0.8% in 2026, 2027 and 2028, before edging up to as…