More Swiss municipalities merge in bid to survive

Around a fifth of Switzerland's communes have their own parliaments, and local laws relating to matters such as streets, school buildings, water and energy prices, as well as parking regulations. Keystone

Municipal mergers led to the disappearance of 33 Swiss communes in 2017, according SonntagsZeitung newspaper. Another 145 municipalities have plans to merge. 

Those figures reflects a broader trend towards municipal amalgamations. The past ten years witnessed the merger of 500 municipalities, the newspaper wrote, citing official statistics.

The trend is most visible in the mountain regions “where the rate of emigration has intensified once again,” according to Reto Lindegger, director of the Association of Swiss Municipalities. 

To ensure their survival, smaller municipalities — or communes — are banding together and merging into one. Some are going even further in a bid to boost their number of residents. 

Following the example of Albinen in the region of Valais, the nearby municipality of Varen is offering conditional financial assistance to anyone who moves there.

Swiss communes are the lowest administrative division of Switzerland. They are governed by their own elected representatives and often enjoy considerable discretionary powers.

Communes can decide on matters of education, health, transport and public security. They also collect all taxes.