Presenting the cabinet’s political aims for next year, President Doris Leuthard told the Senate on Tuesday that Switzerland could not escape the currency difficulties of the euro area.
Switzerland is not a member of the group of countries using the euro, but the European Union is its main trading partner.
Leuthard urged senators to help reform the state old-age pension insurance which is faced with an ageing population. In September parliament voted down a proposal to raise women’s retirement age to 65.
In foreign affairs the cabinet seeks to clarify Switzerland’s relations with the EU, in particular further bilateral treaties with the 27-nation bloc.
For 2011 the government set a total of 17 targets and five priorities, including boosting the economy, ensuring security, improving national unity, improving the sustainable and effective use of resources as well fostering Switzerland’s role on the international stage.
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Parliament vetoes old age pension reform
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An alliance of rightwing and centre-left parties threw out a reform of the state old age pension scheme – one of the main tenets of Switzerland’s social security system – in the final reading of the bill on Friday. The reform was aimed at increasing revenue of about SFr800 million ($817 million) a year by…
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Swiss exporters are already facing the double whammy of a franc strengthening against the euro and the dollar. And there are signs of more trouble as the United States, China, Japan and other nations signal further currency weakening. Recent weeks have seen a spate of statements from around the world indicating future rounds of quantitative…
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President and Economics Minister Doris Leuthard and Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey announced that a working group would examine possible options to define a future strategy by the end of the year. The focus will be on adapting Swiss law to EU rules for the more than 120 bilateral accords with Brussels and the introduction of…
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Switzerland has a turbulent relationship with the European Union. While many Swiss would be happy to join the EU, there are even more who are not interested as nationwide votes have shown in the past. (Keystone)
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