1/5
The newly elected Federal Councilor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider will be responsible for the law dossier.
Pascal TischhauserDeputy Head of Policy
For years we argue, yell at each other, the dishes are smashed, there is a “kick”. At some point it becomes clear that a divorce is needed. Then there is calm.
But shortly before the divorce date, the argument begins again. That’s when it’s about money. Especially if the partner takes this money with her to the new one.
In this case to the canton of Jura, the ex-wife’s name is Moutier. Unnoticed by the public, Bern and Jura disagree about the cost implications of moving the municipality from the Bernese Jura to the canton of Jura.
The youngest is close
According to Blick information, Bern wants to give less of the money it receives from the financial equalization than the Jura would like. But the youngest canton in Switzerland – like so many young people – is often tight on cash. He would like more support from Father State. According to unconfirmed information, it is about five million francs. According to reports, Bern only wants to pay 24 million instead of 29 million.
Now the federal government should arbitrate. The Department of Justice, headed by Karin Keller-Sutter (58), is responsible – for now. In January, the newly elected Federal Councilor Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (58) will take over the department, as the entire Federal Council decided on Thursday.
Attacks by the Béliers were a long time ago
Baume cutter? Isn’t that the Jura woman who campaigned for the entire Bernese Jura to move to her canton? Exactly! – A constellation in which some Bernese question whether the FDJP can make impartial decisions.
A renewed flare-up of the Jura question should be avoided. The attacks by the Jura separatists, the Béliers, were long ago (see box). With the election of Baume-Schneider, Switzerland has finally reached out to the canton.
The Jurassic Conflict
The canton of Jura was founded on January 1, 1979. The conflict between the French-speaking separatists and the canton of Bern, which flared up again after the Second World War, was finally supposed to end – but it is not over to this day.
The dispute goes back a long way: at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, areas of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel went to the Canton of Bern. Since then, many in the Bernese Jura regions have felt oppressed by the German-speaking majority in the canton.
In January 1993, the extent of the anger towards the people of Bern became apparent: a 21-year-old separatist wanted to plant a bomb in Bern’s city hall, but it went off too early on the edge of the old town. The young man died as a result. He was Bélier, a member of the militant Separatist youth organization.
As a result, the canton of Jura, Bern and the federal government entered into a dialogue to resolve the Jura conflict. But there are still efforts to bring communities in the Bernese Jura to the canton of Jura.
On March 28, 2021, a majority in Moutier voted in favor of changing the canton for the last time. “The legal question is solved!”, It was called afterwards.
But it’s not quite that simple: there is currently a debate as to when the change of canton should take place. And for money from the national financial equalization system. Sermin Faki
The canton of Jura was founded on January 1, 1979. The conflict between the French-speaking separatists and the canton of Bern, which flared up again after the Second World War, was finally supposed to end – but it is not over to this day.
The dispute goes back a long way: at the Congress of Vienna in 1815, areas of the Prince-Bishopric of Basel went to the Canton of Bern. Since then, many in the Bernese Jura regions have felt oppressed by the German-speaking majority in the canton.
In January 1993, the extent of the anger towards the people of Bern became apparent: a 21-year-old separatist wanted to plant a bomb in Bern’s city hall, but it went off too early on the edge of the old town. The young man died as a result. He was Bélier, a member of the militant Separatist youth organization.
As a result, the canton of Jura, Bern and the federal government entered into a dialogue to resolve the Jura conflict. But there are still efforts to bring communities in the Bernese Jura to the canton of Jura.
On March 28, 2021, a majority in Moutier voted in favor of changing the canton for the last time. “The legal question is solved!”, It was called afterwards.
But it’s not quite that simple: there is currently a debate as to when the change of canton should take place. And for money from the national financial equalization system. Sermin Faki
Baume-Schneider says nothing
It would be an irony of history if just the choice of the Jurassic led to renewed arguments. The sympathetic neo-Federal Councilor does not want to comment on Blick whether she wants to stand down on the legal issue. “I’m not in office yet,” she says. It’s not appropriate to say anything.
In the Department of Justice, which the SP politician will take over in three weeks, the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) is the responsible contact point. It informed that with Moutier’s transfer to the Jura, the Jura question was closed. “It is now up to the cantons and local stakeholders to settle the various open issues in the interest of the population.” However, the federal government is still available for mediation.
And then the FOJ admits: “The role of the Minister of Justice will be clarified at a later date.”
David Eray for election: “She is a Federal Councilor for all of Switzerland”(06:51)
Content confidential
When asked, the canton of Bern only says that the talks between the cantons are well advanced. But the canton admits that these talks “also include the question of financial equalization”.
Although the change of canton is planned for 2026, “the detailed content of the negotiations between the governments and their timetable are confidential until the decisions of the two governments are available,” Bern notes.
It sounds similar in the Jura: the negotiations went quietly and constructively – and “with the strictest confidentiality”. But the Jura also confirms that questions of financial equalization are an issue.
Perhaps Baume-Schneider of all people can ensure that the legal question is suddenly no longer an issue. As she told the newspaper “Bund” in 2013, she hated the Bernese dialect in her childhood and, when shopping in the village shop, acted “as if I didn’t understand a word of German”. In the meantime, she is happy to speak Swiss German. So she could build bridges.
Elisabeth Baume-Schneider: “We must build bridges”(00:31)