Swiss to vote on four issues on June 9
The Swiss people will vote on four issues at a federal level on June 9: two initiatives on health insurance premiums, the vaccination initiative and the referendum against the Energy Law.
The comprehensive energy reform adopted by parliament last September is designed to implement the government’s Energy Strategy 2050. The aim is to increase electricity production in the long term. Production targets have been set for 2035 and 2050.
It will be easier to build large-scale hydro, solar and wind power plants. As they are now in the national interest, their construction will take precedence over nature or landscape protection. If the targets are not met, smaller facilities will be given the same privileges.
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The Franz Weber Foundation, supported by other organisations, collected enough signatures to force a referendum against the law, which it regards as dangerous for nature and landscape protection in Switzerland. It believes that it makes absolutely no sense, in the name of the climate, to clear forests, cover Alpine landscapes with solar panels and flood biotopes for hydroelectric power.
Twice the premiums
The electorate will also vote twice on health insurance premiums, a subject of particular concern to the public, as a further rise in premiums could be announced in September.
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The “10% initiative” from the left-wing Social Democratic Party calls for no policyholder to have to pay more than 10% of their income on health insurance premiums. Premium reductions via cantonal subsidies should be financed to the tune of at least two-thirds by the government and the remainder by the cantons.
The government has come up with an indirect counterproposal. As a result, most cantons will have to increase their contribution to reducing health insurance premiums for low-income policyholders, to a minimum amount of between 3.5% and 7.5% of the cantonal costs of compulsory health insurance. This is the result of a compromise in parliament, whereas the government had initially asked the cantons to make a greater effort.
The Centre Party’s initiative “For lower premiums” provides for a brake on healthcare costs, which should rise in line with the economy and salaries. This brake would operate in the same way as the government’s spending brake. When healthcare costs rise by 20% more than wages per year, the government must take measures to bring costs down.
However, the government and parliament feel that the initiative does not take into account factors such as demographics, medical and technological progress and the dependence of salaries on economic trends. An indirect counterproposal with more targeted measures is ready. At its heart is the introduction of cost-containment targets for services, reviewed every four years.
Mandatory vaccination?
The initiative “For freedom and physical integrity”, launched in the context of Covid-19 by the Swiss Freedom Movement, aims to exclude any obligation to vaccinate. No penalty or social or professional prejudice should result from a refusal. More generally, the initiators want to ensure that a person’s physical or psychological integrity can be violated only with their consent.
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In parliament only the right-wing Swiss People’s Party supported the text and argued in vain for a counterproposal. The government and all the other parties took the view that acceptance of the initiative would lead to legal uncertainty in various areas of society, particularly in terms of criminal prosecution and the protection of children and adults. What’s more, no one in Switzerland can be forced to undergo vaccinations against their will.
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