The week in Switzerland
Dear Swiss Abroad,
How much do you spend on health insurance in your country? The Swiss knew an increase was coming, but this week the government confirmed that health insurance premiums would rise by an average of 5% next year, to CHF412 ($495).
On Sunday the Swiss electorate emphatically rejected two initiatives – on neutrality and food security – with the Swiss Abroad on almost exactly the same wavelength as their compatriots in Switzerland on the former.
The neutrality initiative, which sought to enshrine a strict interpretation of neutrality in the constitution, was rejected by 70.2% of all voters and 70.4% of Swiss Abroad (in the 12 cantons for which the Federal Statistical Office has detailed figures).
For Agnese Zucca at the gfs.bern polling institute, what was most notable was rather that Swiss citizens living abroad – who she said are generally more urban and progressive, and who generally vote further to the left – didn’t reject the proposal even more decisively than the rest of the country.
While 72.5% of all voters rejected the food security initiative, which aimed to strengthen domestic food production, prioritise plant-based foods and protect groundwater resources, “only” 63.4% of expat voters did. “Swiss citizens living abroad are more sensitive to environmental issues and almost always provide a counterpoint to the domestic population,” according to Zucca.
Did you get your voting papers in time? Two days before the vote, Swiss public broadcaster SRF noted that many voters living abroad do not. “E-voting is seen as a ray of hope for them, but it remains controversial,” it wrote about an issue that Swissinfo has covered frequently.
On Friday Swiss Economics Minister Guy Parmelin announced he would step down at the end of December after 11 years in office and immediately following his second year as president.
Rumours of Parmelin’s resignation had been circulating for some time. There had been repeated speculation about his health; it was often said he was suffering from back problems. Parmelin, 66, himself vehemently denied such rumours, making it clear that he intended to remain in office until the end of the current parliamentary term in autumn 2027 – provided his health held up.
Parmelin described the Covid pandemic as one of the most difficult moments of his career, saying he found it hard that the government had to order business closures.
His second year in the rotating one-year Swiss presidency has been a challenging one. On New Year’s Eve, 41 people died and more than 100 were injured in a fire in a bar in Crans-Montana. The US trade dispute and the ongoing parliamentary debate on the EU treaty package are just two of the many issues currently on the political agenda.
Parmelin comes from Bursins, canton Vaud, in French-speaking Switzerland and is a wine grower by trade. He is a member of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party and has been part of the seven-person government since 2016.
The Senate spent about 24 hours this week debating Switzerland’s future relationship with the European Union.
On Wednesday it voted to make a national referendum on a deal that would deepen Swiss economic integration with the EU dependent on majority support among the country’s cantons, as well as voters. Requiring a double majority raises the bar to ratification of the agreement that represents the biggest overhaul of bilateral relations in a generation.
On Thursday, with the exception of the electricity agreement, which is not yet ready for debate, the Senate approved all the federal decrees in the EU treaty package. This included a CHF193 million ($230 million) contribution for Switzerland’s participation in the EU’s Erasmus+ education programme in 2027. It also approved the new health agreement, intended to strengthen cross-border coordination and cooperation with the EU in the event of a health crisis, such as a pandemic.
A day earlier the Senate approved all 14 measures in the EU treaty package aimed at preventing wage dumping and unfair competition in Switzerland.
The Bilateral Agreements III dossier will now go to the House of Representatives.
Swiss health insurance premiums are set to rise by an average of 5% next year, with the average monthly premium reaching CHF412 ($495).
The monthly premium for adults will rise by CHF22.80 to CHF487.60, the Federal Office of Public Health (FOPH) said on Tuesday. Young adults will have to pay an average of CHF338.80, and for children the premium will rise to CHF128.10.
According to the FOPH, the rising health insurance premiums are a direct consequence of rising healthcare costs. The main reasons for the increase in costs are said to be the ageing population, medical innovations and the rise in the number of treatments: more healthcare services are being offered and used.
“Blaming patients alone is not enough,” the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ) wrote in an editorial on Tuesday. “Anyone who has to spend a lot of money on health insurance wants to get something in return. Patients who rush straight to the doctor for a common cold are certainly a nuisance, but the really major cost drivers are hospitals and doctors’ practices. This makes it all the more important for the government and the cantons to provide the right incentives to organise healthcare in an efficient, coordinated and transparent manner.”
Gianni Infantino, the beleaguered Swiss president of FIFA, has lost another ally: on Wednesday the Swiss Football Association (SFA) said it no longer backed his bid for another term as president of world football’s governing body.
The SFA said it had decided to withdraw the support it had pledged as recently as June following a “comprehensive reassessment of developments” over the past few months.
“From the SFA’s perspective, various events raise fundamental questions regarding leadership, governance, transparency and decision-making processes within FIFA,” it said in a statement.
Infantino intends to stand for election for a fourth – and final – four-year term at the FIFA Congress in March. Although opposition is now considerable, there is as yet no rival candidate.
“The only correct stance to take,” declared the Tages-Anzeiger in an editorial on Wednesday. “With the World Cup, FIFA has a product that it doesn’t even need to market. Countries are already clamouring to host the tournament as it is. For that reason alone, there is no need to curry favour with all the emirs, sheikhs, Trumps and Putins. And there is certainly no need for someone like Infantino.”
The week ahead
It’s Nobel week, beginning with the prize for physiology or medicine on Monday, followed by physics on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday, literature on Thursday and peace on Friday (the Nobel memorial prize in economic sciences will be awarded on Monday October 12). Will any Swiss get the call?
Fribourg will become the centre of the Swiss cheese world from Tuesday until Sunday as the 14th edition of the Swiss Cheese Awards gets underway.
The 83rd OLMA Agricultural and Food Fair, Switzerland’s largest public fair, runs from Thursday until October 18.
Sub-edited by dos
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