Author: switzerlandtimes.ch
Swiss voters will be presented with four questions on 9 June 2024, announced the administration this week. According to RTS the four votes are on two initiatives on health insurance premiums, one on laws related to green energy and one on vaccinations. The Socialist Party gathered enough signatures for a vote on its 10% initiative, which calls for the government to subsidise the health insurance premiums of anyone paying in excess of 10% of their income on premiums. And they want the federal government to foot two thirds of the bill – the Federal Council wants cantons to cover more…
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Purchasing power has been hit much less in Switzerland than in other European nations. Between 2020 and 2023 food prices went up 6% in Switzerland. The same figure in Germany (+17%), UK (+40%) and Estonia (+43%) is much higher. At the same time, big ticket items like health insurance and rent have made a big dent in Swiss budgets. These more visible prices rises have created a perception that overall costs have risen more than they actually have. This perception has led the population to cut back on spending. The most popular cut back has been spending on going out…
Changes to Swiss law on renting recently passed by parliament have met with public resistance. This week, enough signatures were collected to trigger a vote aimed at overturning the work of parliament on rental law reform, according to RTS. The two changes, which would make it easier for landlords to move into their own properties and require written approval to sublet, are viewed by some as a cynical move to weaken the hand of tenants. A representative of the group organising the referendum described the changes as a frontal attack by the real estate lobby on tenancy law. Last year,…
This week, the referendum roster was announced for 3 March 2023. There will two votes on Switzerland’s state pension system. One aims to tackle the impending funding crisis by extending the retirement age, and the other aims to alleviate old age poverty by increasing payments without a plan to pay for it. The first would raise the retirement age by one year to 66 by 2032 and then link it to life expectancy beyond that date. If life expectancy rises by one year then the retirement age would rise by 0.8 years. While the proposal is structured around dealing with…
Motorways across much of Switzerland are clogged at peak times. Recently, the federal government agreed to expand key trunk routes to six lanes. In response, members of the Green Party (and others) started organising a vote against spending CHF 5.3 billion on wider roads. This week, they reached the required number of signatures to call a popular vote, reported SRF. According to vote organisers, more roads will mean more cars. The CHF 5.3 billion would be better invested in sustainable forms of transport, for example a shift from road to rail, they say. Not everyone agrees. Certain members of the…
On 12 January 2024, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) announced the donation of as many as 78 trams to the Ukrainian cities of Lviv and Vinnytsa. The cities of Bern and Zurich will provide 11 and up to 67 decommissioned but fully operational trams respectively. SECO will organise and finance the transport of the trams to Ukraine as well as organise and fund employee training on the vehicles. The trams, which are expected to be delivered in late summer, are in good condition and could be used for a further 10 to 12 years. The trams from Bern…
Electric car sales continue to rise in Switzerland. In 2023, the percentage of total new cars registered that were electric rose to 20.9%, up from 17.3% in 2022, reported Swiss eMobility. At 1 January 2024, 163,511 electric cars were registered in Switzerland, around 3% of the total cars on Swiss roads. German-speaking Switzerland was the most enthusiastic about electric cars. In the canton of Zurich, 25.8% of newly registered cars in 2023 were electric, 5.1 percentage points above the national average. In 2023, the most popular electric cars in Switzerland were: TESLA MODEL Y (6,174 newly registered) SKODA ENYAQ (5,167)…
Solar power production will make up 10% of the electricity consumed in Switzerland in 2024, estimates the association Swissolar. 2023 was a good year for the expansion of Switzerland’s solar power capacity, which rose 40% from 2022. The strong performance was partly driven by sharply rising electricity costs. The median price across Switzerland shot up 28.5% between 2022 and 2023. These high prices prompted companies and consumers to move forward with plans to install solar panels. For consumers, solar panel installation was often combined with a switch to an electric heat pump or the purchase of an electric vehicle. In…
It is currently illegal to produce fois gras of fur in Switzerland. However, these products can still be imported into the country. Two referenda, which recently passed the 100,000 minimum signature hurdle, are now set to be put before voters, reported RTS. Both initiatives are aimed at reducing animal cruelty. Fois gras is produced by restraining and force feeding geese excessive amounts of food. Nearly every nation in Europe has banned the production of fois gras. Only France, Hungary and Bulgaria still allow the practice. In Switzerland it has been banned for more than 40 years. The federal government has…