Business leaders denounce energy tax proposals

Business leaders have given short shrift to proposals for a new energy tax, which go before voters in a nationwide ballot next month.

Influential businessmen from different sectors of the economy held a news conference in Berne on Tuesday to ask voters to reject all three plans.

Each of the proposals calls for an additional levy on energy. The money raised would be used for the promotion of alternative forms of energy or to support the country’s social security system.

But the businessmen said the tax would place an unbearable burden on the nation’s economy.

The Swiss Federation of Commerce and Industry supported calls for more sustainable sources of energy and a cleaner environment. But it said it favoured government plans for a C0-2 law to restrict emissions if industry fails to clean up its act.

The Employers’ Association said all of the proposals would hurt small and medium sized businesses and warned that they could lead to a 50 per cent increase in the cost of fuel.

The Swiss Hoteliers’ Association was also represented at the news conference and said that tourism would be badly hit. And the Watchmakers’ Association said production costs were expected to rise by 14 per cent if any of the proposals went through.

Voters will decide on the fate of the three proposals on September 24.

swissinfo with agencies