Planned initiative would push government on Europe
An alliance of political and civil society organisations has unveiled plans for a possible popular initiative that would force Bern to act on its deadlocked relations with the European Union.
This content was published on
2 minutes
Keystone-SDA/jc
Русский
ru
Законодательная инициатива запустит новый этап отношений с ЕС?
Presenting the text on Tuesday, Alliance Europe said that the federal government was doing nothing to break the deadlock with the EU after it abandoned talks on an institutional framework agreement in May 2021.
Major sticking points are salary protection, state aid rules, and the access of EU citizens to Swiss social security benefits. The Alliance Europe text specifically mentions salary protection, which is a demand of the unions and left-wing parties.
Its proposed initiative would force “the big vote on Europe that the federal government wants to avoid”, said a committee for the alliance. If the initiative passed, Bern would be obliged to enter into negotiations with Brussels in order to clarify the institutional issues.
Pressure on parliament
However, Alliance Europe does not plan to launch its initiative immediately, but first to put pressure on parliament. The Senate foreign policy committee is to debate on Monday a parliamentary initiative from the House of Representatives calling for the facilitation of bilateral relations and the continuation of European integration.
“We are convinced that the Council of States [Senate] will move forward on the issue,” said Sibel Arslan of the Green Party. But if all solutions fail in the chambers, or if the planned law is not binding enough, the “Europe” initiative will be launched.
Alliance Europe includes the Greens and a number of groups such as the Swiss Students’ Union, the cultural umbrella organisation Suisseculture and the association “Switzerland in Europe”. It said all parties and major organisations had been approached to draft this text, which would be acceptable at least to the Social Democratic and Radical Green parties.
Swiss money laundering office registers record number of reports
This content was published on
The Money Laundering Reporting Office Switzerland (MROS) registered a record number of reports of suspicious activity last year.
Two teens accused of planning terror attack released from custody
This content was published on
The Schaffhausen judiciary has released the two teenagers from custody who allegedly planned bomb attacks in Switzerland.
OECD: Sluggish economic activity slowing growth in Switzerland
This content was published on
Sluggish economic activity at the start of the year is weighing on growth in Switzerland, with GDP expected to fall to 1.1% in 2024.
Report finds mistakes which led to Swiss government data breach
This content was published on
Mistakes were made by both the government and internet company Xplain in the case of a criminal cyber-attack on the Bern-based IT business.
Swiss government wants better gender balance in federal administration
This content was published on
New Swiss government personnel management targets say there must be even more female managers in the federal administration.
Swiss national science foundation funded over 5,000 projects in 2023
This content was published on
In 2023, the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) provided a total of CHF961 million worth of funding towards research projects.
Switzerland invites 160 delegations to June Ukraine peace talks
This content was published on
Russia is currently not among the delegations invited to talks aimed at helping bring about peace in the conflict between Moscow and Ukraine.
Survey: air travel most popular way to go on holidays for Swiss
This content was published on
Despite the climate crisis, flying is the most popular mode of transport for private travel – particularly among young, urban and high-income travellers.
Swiss government to use phone data to identify asylum seekers
This content was published on
From April 2025, authorities plan to be able to analyse data from mobile phones, computers and other data carriers to identify asylum seekers.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Switzerland wants to intensify talks with EU
This content was published on
Switzerland resolves to "step up" exploratory talks with the EU aimed at resolving differences concerning future bilateral relations.
Why Switzerland doesn’t want to join the European Union
This content was published on
From money to direct democracy: we look at some of the main reasons behind Switzerland's decision not to join the 27-nation bloc.
This content was published on
Citing “substantial differences”, the government has decided not to move ahead with a controversial institutional agreement on relations with the EU.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.