Author: switzerlandtimes.ch

On 21 March 2025, Switzerland’s parliament approved an historic trade deal with India. The deal will give Swiss businesses an advantage over EU, US and UK competitors whose governments have yet to reach trade deals with India. The deal was supported by 131 versus 22 parliamentary votes. The main opposition came from Socialist Party members keen to see investments associated with social and environmental damage excluded from any agreement. The successful vote, which accepted a deal covering nearly 95% of Switzerland’s exports to India, is the result of 16 years of negotiations. The agreement, which was signed a year ago,…

The number of medical professionals in Switzerland rose by 3.7% in 2024. However, the proportion of foreign doctors working in the country continues to increase, reaching 41.3% of all doctors in 2024. Relying so heavily on foreign medical professionals is risky, according to a representative of a medical association who spoke to SRF. In 2003, 17% of doctors in Switzerland were foreign. By 2024, 21 years later, this figure had more than doubled to over 41%, significantly exceeding the OECD average of 19%. Most of these professionals come from Germany (49%), Italy (10%), France (7%), and Austria (6%). These four…

All-electric vehicle registrations as a percentage of the total fell in Switzerland in 2024, according to recent data from the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). So did the total number. After years of strong growth, all-electric vehicles as a percentage of new vehicle registrations fell in 2024. For passenger cars the percentage fell from 20.7% in 2023 to 19.0% in 2024. For goods vehicles the same figure fell from 12.2% to 8.6%. There were also fewer new all-electric car registrations in 2024. Across the year 46,500 new electric vehicles were registered, 6,000 fewer than in 2023. The shift was driven by…

Renewable energy, such as electricity produced from the sun, comes with challenges. Sunshine does not follow our pattern of electricity consumption. Storing excess production helps. However, sometimes batteries hit full capacity. When this happens any excess must be dumped. Christoph Bucher and his team at Bern University of Applied Sciences advocate adding a system that intelligently throttles the amount solar installations can put into the grid, reported SRF. Throttling the amount of electricity solar panel owners can put into the system is not without controversy. Any excess electricity produced that is not used or injected into the grid is lost…

The vote this weekend delivered a clear “no”. The Environmental Responsibility Initiative set highly ambitious limits to emissions and the consumption of natural resources, defined as planetary boundaries, to be reached within 10 years. Polls ahead of the vote made it clear that a majority of those polled considered the economic costs of meeting such targets within a 10 year time frame would be too great. Many were concerned about the impact on jobs, prosperity and a loss of competitive advantage for Swiss companies. On 9 February 2025, 69.84% of voters rejected the plan. No canton acheived a majority, however…

This week, Switzerland’s Federal Council announced it was against a popular initiative to make it easier to become Swiss. The team behind the initiative hopes to convince a majority of Swiss voters to allow foreign residents to apply for citizenship after 5 years of residence, regardless of the type or permit held. Currently, 10 years of residence with 3 years on a C-permit are required before an application for Swiss citizenship can be submitted. In addition, evidence of mastery of the local language, success in a local knowledge test, no criminal convictions, no delinquent debts in the register, and no…

A study by the University of Geneva estimates that those who speak German in addition to French in the Switzerland’s French-speaking region earn on average 10% to 20% more than those without German, reported SRF. Across Switzerland’s French-speaking region, German is taught at school. Those remaining in school until 18 have typically studied the language for seven years. However, the resulting language level is often below what employers require, according François Grin, who has studied the value of multilingualism in the local job market. Switzerland has four national languages: German, French, Italian and Romansh. However, across much of the country,…

By Bill Harby What exactly is the alpine descent or désalpe / alpabzug? This article explores the event’s history and where to see it. In Switzerland, we know the clock will soon strike autumn when processions of cows crowned with flowers and hung with huge clanging bells, descend from summer alpine pastures to their winter barns before the snows come. Led by cowherds and children dressed in embroidered traditional jackets and dresses, the colorfully bedecked dairy cows come by mountain trails to village streets, where people greet the colorful parades. Désalpes Crans Montana This end-of-summer tradition, known as the Désalpes…

While many central banks, such as the US Fed and the Bank of England, are holding off on rate cuts, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) is diving in. On 20 March 2025, the SNB cut its interest rate by a further 0.25 percentage points to 0.25%. The rate hasn’t been this low since September 2022, two and a half years ago. The SNB signalled that it was lowering the rate to deter inflows into the Swiss franc. Since March 2021, the franc has strengthened significantly compared to the euro. Back then one franc cost 90 euro cents. Now it costs…

The Pact on Migration and Asylum, a new EU plan to manage migration agreed upon by EU countries last year and officially endorsed by Switzerland’s executive last week, faces resistance from both the left and the right, RTS reported. The pact requires more asylum applications to be processed in the countries where migrants first arrive at the EU’s external borders. Those who do not qualify for asylum can then be directly returned to their home countries. The Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive, argues that the revised Schengen/Dublin system will reduce the number of unvetted migrants reaching Switzerland. However, some Swiss politicians…