Author: switzerlandtimes.ch

Swiss voters will decide on two federal questions on June 14th, the Federal Council confirmed on Wednesday: a popular initiative to cap population growth and a tightening of access to civilian service, challenged by referendum. A ceiling on populationThe first proposal, launched by the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP) and titled “No Switzerland of 10 million!”, seeks stricter controls on immigration to ensure that the country’s permanent resident population does not exceed 10m by 2050. The federal authorities would be required to act once the population surpasses 9.5m. Under the initiative, persons admitted on a provisional basis would no longer be…

Swiss voters appear reluctant to raise value-added tax (VAT) to finance either higher defence spending or a 13th monthly state pension, according to a survey conducted for Blick. Opposition spans the political spectrum. More than three-quarters of the roughly 15,000 respondents in German- and French-speaking Switzerland rejected a temporary 0.8 percentage-point increase in VAT to fund additional resources for the armed forces. Resistance was similarly strong to a 0.7-point increase to finance the newly approved 13th payment of the state pension. Two-thirds said they were clearly or rather opposed; only 21% were somewhat in favour and 13% clearly in favour.…

Scott Poynton, a forester based near Nyon in the canton of Vaud, spent last Wednesday in unusual company. In northern Ghana he met eight women who had taken their livelihoods firmly into their own hands. Impressed by their initiative, he later dubbed them the “Inspiration Sisters”, a title they accepted with quiet pride. The encounter took place in Kugolugo, a village in Tolon district, west of Tamale, the capital of Ghana’s Northern Region. Poynton was there to discuss biochar and its potential to restore soils degraded by decades of ploughing and heavy use of chemical fertilisers. Biochar is a form…

Switzerland may bid to host the 2038 Winter Olympics—despite a long record of public resistance, reports SRF. Voters rejected Olympic projects in cantonal referendums in 2013, 2017 and 2018—Graubunden twice then Valais. This time, however, the proposal is being advanced without a vote. The bid is being prepared by Swiss Olympic, which argues that past rejections are a poor guide. Earlier proposals centred on a single host region that would also shoulder most of the costs. The new concept, dubbed “Games à la Suisse”, would be decentralised, rely largely on existing infrastructure and spread responsibilities across the country. All previous…

On March 8, voters in Aargau will decide whether to reduce social assistance for people who have relied on welfare for more than two years, reports SRF. The proposal, launched by the youth wing of the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP), reflects a broader debate over how far social aid should go—and how hard it should push recipients back into work. The popular initiative, titled Work must pay, would lower the basic welfare allowance by at least 5% for long-term recipients. Exemptions would apply to children, parents of infants under four months, and people aged 55 and over—but only if they…

Most cantonal governments oppose Switzerland’s proposed shift to individual taxation, warning that it would be costly, administratively burdensome and unnecessarily centralising, reports SRF. Their resistance is strong enough that the Conference of Cantonal Governments has issued a rare joint statement urging voters to reject the reform in a referendum scheduled for March 8th. The change is too fundamental, said Markus Dieth, president of the conference and a member of Aargau’s cantonal government. Cantons accept that the so-called marriage penalty in the direct federal tax should be corrected. But they argue that replacing joint taxation with a fully individualised system goes…

The number of fare evaders caught on Switzerland’s public-transport network is increasing steadily. In 2024, 1.17m passengers were found travelling without a valid ticket, according to figures released on Wednesday by the Alliance SwissPass. That is well above the one-million mark crossed for the first time the previous year. The data, reported by various media source including bluewin.ch, have been collected since 2019 through a centralised information system shared by transport operators. Over the past six years, the number of passengers caught without a ticket—or with only a partially valid one—has risen without interruption. Switzerland does not publish a single…

Switzerland’s annual test of its civil-defence sirens was largely successful. Nearly 99% of the country’s roughly 5,000 alarms functioned properly during the nationwide drill on Wednesday, according to the Federal Office of Civil Protection. The figure is broadly unchanged from last year. Cantons and municipalities have been instructed to repair or replace faulty equipment without delay. Several cantons also tested mobile sirens, which are used in sparsely populated areas and can serve as a back-up if fixed installations fail. The sirens are sounded each year on the first Wednesday in February. But the system has limits. Some people—particularly those in…

Switzerland’s labour market weakened further at the start of 2026. The unemployment rate rose to 3.2% in January, up 0.1 percentage points from December, marking a second consecutive monthly increase after stagnating in November, according to data released by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO). The number of people registered with regional employment offices climbed by 3.4% over the month to 152,280. At 3.2%, the jobless rate is at its highest level since October 2020, when a series of increases eventually pushed unemployment to 3.7% in January 2021 before a gradual decline set in later that year. Adjusted for…

With four federal proposals heading to a vote on March 8th, opinion polls suggest one contest remains finely balanced, while voters appear to have made up their minds on the other three. According to a mid-January survey commissioned by SRG, the initiative targeting the public broadcaster is deadlocked. By contrast, individual taxation commands broad support, the climate fund looks headed for defeat, and the cash initiative will hinge on a tie-breaker. The most uncertain contest concerns the so-called SRG initiative, which proposes cutting the household media fee, which effectively all households must pay, to CHF 200 and abolishing it altogether…