Author: switzerlandtimes.ch

Swiss households will get some relief from high electricity bills next year. Prices in the regulated basic-supply market will fall by a median 4% in 2027, according to ElCom, the federal electricity regulator. A typical household consuming 4,500kWh a year will pay about CHF 1,194, CHF 53 less than in 2026. The decline is being driven mainly by cheaper energy procurement. The energy component of the tariff will fall by 6.3%, from 12.11 centimes per kilowatt-hour to 11.35 centimes. Some expensive supply contracts signed during the energy crisis are now expiring, allowing utilities to replace them with cheaper purchases. That…

On September 27th voters in Vaud will decide whether to cut cantonal income and wealth taxes by 12%. Business groups say the measure would ease the tax burden and bolster purchasing power. The cantonal government, left-wing parties and trade unions warn that it would blow a hole in the public finances. The initiative is one of Vaud’s most fiercely contested cantonal votes in recent years. It was launched by three business organisations: the Vaud Employers’ Association, the Chamber of Real Estate and the Chamber of Commerce and Industry. In 2023 they collected more than 28,000 signatures, over twice the number…

This week, a 58.4MW battery-storage plant has opened in Gurtnellen, in the canton of Uri, reported Axpo. It is the largest of its kind in Switzerland, though probably not for long. What is it? Switzerland’s biggest battery-storage facility has been connected to the grid in Gurtnellen. The project was developed jointly by Axpo and Energie Uri and inaugurated on Wednesday. Axpo’s share has a capacity of 50MW; Energie Uri’s adds another 8.4MW. Axpo says its facility will serve the national grid, while Energie Uri’s will primarily meet cantonal needs. Why Gurtnellen? The site at Plattischachen is already an important electricity…

Each autumn Switzerland’s cattle leave their high pastures for the valleys. The journey, known as a désalpe in French-speaking Switzerland and an Alpabzug in German-speaking areas, has become one of the country’s most photogenic rural traditions. Here is what it is, where it came from and where to see one in 2026. Autumn announces itself noisily in the Swiss Alps. Cows wearing enormous bells and crowns of flowers make their way down from summer pastures, accompanied by farmers and their families, often in traditional dress. The procession is known as a désalpe in French-speaking Switzerland and an Alpabzug or Alpabfahrt…

Switzerland has endured its hottest summer since records began 162 years ago in 1864. Between June and August 2026 the national average temperature reached 17.2°C, MeteoSwiss said on Thursday, 0.4°C above the previous record set in 2003. The summer average was also 3.4°C above the 1991-2020 norm. The heat was especially intense in north-western Switzerland, where temperatures were 4°C above the long-term average—see map here. On July 30th the temperature at Basel-Binningen reached 39.7°C, matching the record high north of the Alps, set at Geneva-Cointrin on July 7th 2015, according to MeteoSwiss’s summer climate bulletin. Many places registered unprecedented temperatures.…

Switzerland’s gender pay gap narrowed again in 2024. Women earned 15.7% less than men on average, down from 16.2% in 2022, according to the Federal Statistical Office (FSO). The unexplained difference narrowed to 6.5%. The trend is longstanding. Across the economy, including both the private and public sectors, the gap stood at 19.0% in 2018 and 18.0% in 2020. The figures are based on gross monthly wages standardised to a full-time workload. Part of the difference reflects observable characteristics of men and women in the labour market, including education, tenure and seniority. Men and women are not distributed evenly across…

Zurich’s cantonal parliament has backed a proposal to ban headscarves in public schools and kindergartens, instructing the cantonal government to draft legislation, reported SRF. The motion, proposed by the Swiss People’s Party (UDC/SVP), passed on Monday by 87 votes to 82, with six abstentions. It would prohibit female pupils and teachers from wearing religious head coverings in public educational institutions. The UDC/SVP cited France, where conspicuous religious symbols, including Islamic headscarves, have been banned in state schools since 2004. The motion claimed that the French policy had improved the integration and academic performance of Muslim girls. The proposal was supported…

A hot summer has shifted attitudes towards cooling. Swiss voters also favour stronger protections for workers and pupils when temperatures soar. Air conditioning remains uncommon in Switzerland. Only about one household in ten has it. But that may be changing.A survey by Leewas for 20 Minuten and Tamedia, conducted after the hot summer of 2026, found that 67% of respondents favoured wider installation of air-conditioning systems. Support for public subsidies, however, was much weaker: 67% opposed state funding for air conditioners in private homes. Men were more enthusiastic about air conditioning than women: 71% supported wider installation, compared with 63%…

Switzerland’s government is stepping up support for forestry and agriculture, two sectors hit particularly hard by drought and extreme heat. On Wednesday the Federal Council approved CHF 17.5m for forests and CHF 54m for farms. Switzerland is enduring an exceptional drought. Never before has the country recorded so little rainfall by mid-August, Albert Rösti, the environment minister, told reporters in Bern. The duration of the dry spell, he said, is putting pressure on vulnerable people, livestock, waterways, ecosystems, forests, farming, power generation and river transport. The government is therefore taking short- and medium-term measures in forestry and agriculture, arguing that…

Revoking Swiss citizenship requires compelling grounds. Support for terrorism can provide them. Switzerland’s Federal Administrative Court has now upheld denaturalisation in an unusual case, reported SRF. The case concerns a 36-year-old man who was born in Bosnia and Herzegovina and became a naturalised Swiss citizen as a child. Five years ago a French court sentenced him to several years in prison for helping to prepare terrorist acts. He had run propaganda channels for Islamic State (IS) and recruited new members for the group. Soon after the French judgment, Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) began proceedings of its own. In…