Switzerland Today

Hello from Bern,

With new coronavirus cases exceeding 11,000 again today, travel plans are looking a bit more complicated. For those who would still like to “experience” Swiss sights and sounds from the comfort and safety of your home, you can live vicariously through my colleague Sara Ibrahim, who is checking out the views of the virtual Alps at the Swiss Pavilion in Dubai.

Keystone/Urs Flüeler

In the News: Cantonal pandemic scorecard; reforming the pension system and money-laundering fines.

• An analysis on how cantons managed the pandemic shows that federalism has passed the “litmus test” but many challenges remain. Avenir Suisse, a thinktank with close ties with industry, found that cantons have dealt with the pandemic very differently and with varying degrees of success. This depended in part on how they deployed resources. But the study also pointed out real issues with different systems for contact tracing and for dealing with things like testing in schools. What the public viewed as hesitation and procrastination on the part of the cantons was actually the result of a lack of clarity on roles that hinders cantons’ ability to deploy resources, according to Avenir Suisse.
• Parliament approved a major reform of the Swiss pension system, including a controversial rise in the retirement age of women. The aim of the reform is to stabilise the finances of the mandatory pension scheme, funded through contributions by employers, employees and the state, amid a growing elderly population. Several attempts at pension reform have failed at the ballot box. This latest reform is set to come into force in 2023 at the earliest.
• The Federal Criminal Court has acquitted the ex-CEO of Falcon Private Bank of money-laundering charges. The bank, however, was found guilty of not having significant controls in place to prevent money laundering. The Court fined the bank CHF3.5 million and another CHF7 million in damages.

Keystone / Francesca Agosta

Omicron may spell the end of Switzerland’s special way in schools, but the beginning of holidays for some.

For parents like myself the past few days have been full of surprises. Last week canton Bern announced that schools would close two days before the official holiday start. Yesterday the “early holidays” were extended to an entire week before the original Christmas break. Parents took to Twitter with a colourful array of reactions from praise to downright anger over the news.

Bern isn’t the only one though. Some cantons are extending the school holidays into January; others will start mass testing and a mask requirement in the new year; and some are making plans for possible home-schooling. This comes after Omicron ripped through schools, sending officials scrambling to quarantine or even close down schools, including this oneExternal link today in Geneva, as quickly as possible.

Some Swiss media have reported the news as a measure to “save ChristmasExternal link” but my sense is that if the holidays weren’t around the corner, schools would probably have had to shut their doors anyway to slow infection rates.

As my colleague Isobel Leybold-Johnson reported yesterday, teachers have had enough. The teachers’ associations said the rise in quarantine among pupils and teachers over the past few weeks had “strongly shaken the school system” with unforeseen absences bringing schools to their limits. Teachers have been on the front lines, fielding questions from worried parents, making home-schooling plans, and, all the while, colleagues are also stuck in quarantine.

Although cantons are in charge of education and schools, the teachers association wrote that the “health of our children and young people was a national issue and must therefore be managed in this way”.

© Keystone / Valentin Flauraud

Can a “Made in Switzerland” Alinghi take back the America’s Cup?

There’s no ocean in sight but that hasn’t kept Switzerland from setting sail. Two-time America’s Cup winner Alinghi announced it is planning a comeback after an 11-year absence. This time in partnership with Red Bull.

The rules won’t quite be the same though as they were when Alinghi won the Cup in 2003. At the time, the host country scratched the nationality rule stipulating that all crew members must be nationals of the challenging syndicate. Alinghi took full advantage of this, hiring many of the world’s top America’s Cup sailors particularly from New Zealand.

This time though, Alinghi won’t be able to poach a global crew. The new regulations require 100% of the race crew for each competitor to either be a passport holder of the country of the team’s yacht club or to have been physically present in that country for a certain period of time.

This wasn’t the only sailing news on our radar today. The French-language paper La Tribune de Genève reported that the Lateen Sailing Association in Vaud plannedExternal link to apply for the ancient sailing tradition to be included in UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage. The triangular sail, which developed during the Roman Empire, first appeared on Lake Geneva in the 14th century. At its peak, about 50 boats could be found on the lake. 

Switzerland has already registered five traditions on the UNESCO list: Fête des Vignerons, avalanche risk management, expertise in watchmaking and mechanical engineeringExternal link, Holy Week processions in Mendrisio, and the Basel Carnival.