Switzerland Today
Dear Swiss Abroad,
Switzerland is splashing out. Parliament is pouring another CHF400 million ($488 million) into an over-budget fighter jet project. It is considering CHF50 million for a new army pistol that has not yet been made. And it has also earmarked more than CHF500 million to secure farmers’ support for a free trade deal with South American nations.
These are small sums alongside the CHF50 billion Switzerland plans to spend to expand its transport infrastructure in the years ahead. But Switzerland’s federal auditors have criticised key parts of the current plans.
Warm regards from Bern,
The Senate has endorsed the free trade agreement with Mercosur after offering Swiss farmers over half a billion Swiss francs in compensation, effectively neutralising opposition to the deal.
The agreement was negotiated between the EFTA states – including Switzerland – and the Mercosur countries of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. The House of Representatives narrowly rejected the deal in June and is expected to reconsider it this week after Monday’s vote in the Senate. Only members of the Social Democrats and Greens voted against it.
“If the agreement fails, we would have a considerable need to explain ourselves in terms of foreign policy,” Centre Party Senator Benedikt Würth declared. “It seems to be the spirit of the times that everyone wants to strike a deal and push through their own particular interests.” His remarks referred to demands from the farmers’ lobby, which ultimately met secured CHF517 million in compensation. The Federal Council had originally proposed CHF158 million.
“The ‘yes’ vote is a tactical masterstroke by the Swiss Farmers’ Union. But whether the tactic will pay off at the ballot box remains to be seen,” SRF wrote today. A referendum remains possible. The business paper Finanz und Wirtschaft commented: “The federal government in Bern is bowing to the pitchfork. If approval of free trade depends on how much extra the state pays, the whole thing takes on a logic of blackmail.”
The House of Representatives today approved the army budget. There was controversy over funding for the F-35 fighter jet, and questions surrounding the new army pistol.
The lower chamber gave its approval for CHF400 million in extra funding for the purchase of US F-35 fighter jets, as already approved by the Senate. The extra money is needed because the F-35 is proving much more expensive than originally promised. Last week, an investigation concluded that the fixed price for the jets, as previously cited by the defence ministry, had effectively never existed.
Centre-right parliamentarians insisted there is no alternative to the F-35 and even called for an additional CHF1 billion for the jet. Left-wing groups meanwhile criticised the fact that the latest revelations have damaged confidence in the procurement process.
The NZZ reports that the Social Democrats are now demanding a parliamentary commission of inquiry. For critics, the affair increasingly recalls Switzerland’s Mirage scandal. Supporters, however, argue that the F-35 jet project is too big to abandon.
Meanwhile, Watson has raised questions about another military purchase. According to an investigation by the news site, SIG Sauer won a CHF50 million contract for a new Swiss Army P320 pistol despite significant shortcomings and despite the weapon existing only as a design concept. The decisive factor, according to Watson, was that the pistol would be manufactured in Switzerland, supporting the domestic defence industry.
The Federal Council wants to invest CHF50 billion in rail and road infrastructure by 2045. But Switzerland’s federal auditors have criticised key parts of the current plans.
The “Verkehr 45” package includes quarter-hourly train services between Bern and Zurich, the Grimsel Tunnel, and six lanes on sections of the A1 motorway. Yet the Swiss Federal Audit Office says it is often unclear why certain decisions were made.
Auditor Beat Stamm told SRF: “In some cases, we find the prioritisation difficult to understand; it is based on outdated data and also on a methodology that is, in some respects, unclear and out of date.” He added that the cost-effectiveness of the projects is, in some cases, overestimated.
Another problem is that the prioritisation is based largely on a single report by the federal technology institute ETH Zurich. “This study was produced in a very short period of time even though billions are at stake here, as well as the future of Switzerland’s transport infrastructure. It does not seem appropriate that such a hastily produced study should set the course for future investments,” said Stamm.
The Federal Office of Transport, led by Albert Rösti, stands by the ETH Zurich study.
Smart glasses can record and film secretly. As their popularity grows, so do calls for tighter regulation in Switzerland.
“These glasses completely undermine personal rights,” Rahel Estermann of the Digital Society Switzerland told the Tages-Anzeiger. Estermann, who campaigns for the protection of citizens and consumers, added: “We must take smart glasses off the market for the time being.”
Activists are already collecting signatures for the petition “No toys for stalkers – ban smart glasses now!”
Green Party parliamentarian Gerhard Andrey is also calling for a sales ban: “These glasses pose a security problem for Switzerland.”
But centre-right politicians interviewed by the paper point to existing data protection laws and argue that the real issue is misuse of the technology rather than the product itself.
Centre Party parliamentarian Isabelle Chappuis is calling for at least a moratorium on real-time facial recognition. She says recordings that are not clearly indicated as such should, by default, be considered unlawful.
Translated from German, sub-edited by Simon Bradley
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