Switzerland Today

Greetings from Lausanne!

Last week the Swiss government launched its national appeal to the population to save on household energy ahead of possible electricity and gas shortages this winter.

We have been asked to turn down the heat indoors, switch off unused electrical devices and lights and put lids on cooking pots, for example.

Action to cut energy consumption is going on everywhere, especially in the big cities. This week Yverdon and Geneva announced that they had set up special taskforces to find energy-saving measures. Zurich says it plans to turn off lights in public buildings and lower the temperature of local swimming pools, among other measures. Expect more local authorities to follow.

© Keystone / Georgios Kefalas

In the news: Swiss-Chinese relations, human development and heatwaves.

• The Swiss foreign ministry summoned China’sambassador in Bern to raise concerns following the publication of a long-awaited United Nations report on human rights abuses against the Uyghur minority in western China, the government said on Wednesday.
• Over the past two years, nine out of 10 countries have slid backwardsExternal link on the Human Development Index, UNDP reported today. SwitzerlandExternal link sits at the top of the index this year with a life expectancy of 84 years, an average of 16.5 years spent in education and a median salary of $66,000.
• The Swiss company behind the Russian gas pipeline Nord Stream 2 has received a four-month extension to try to repay its debts. Nord Stream 2 is a subsidiary of the Russian gas company Gazprom and has its headquarters in the low-tax canton of Zug. The pipeline through the Baltic Sea, was to bring Russian gas to Germany. But the German government put the approval process for Nord Stream 2 on hold in view of Russia’s war against Ukraine. 
• Hot days followed by sweltering nights in summer might become the new norm towards the end of this century. Researchers from the University of ZurichstudiedExternal link the frequency, intensity and length of extreme heatwaves in five Swiss cities. They estimate that extreme heatwaves could increase by a factor of five in Switzerland, with Lugano and Geneva likely to be the worst-affected cities.

© Keystone / Peter Klaunzer

Switzerland ranks among worst European states for gender income gap.

It is well known that Swiss women continue to be paid less than men, particularly in the public sector. But a new report looking at the “Gender Overall Earnings Gap” and comparing it against other European countries gives a sense of the scale of the problem.

The report publishedExternal link by the Federal Statistical Office on Wednesday showed that womeninSwitzerlandearn 43.2% less than men and draw less pension due to higher rates of part-time work.

Switzerland performed relatively poorly compared to other European countries. In 2018, Switzerland was rankedExternal link third out of 30 countries – behind the Netherlands and Austria – with the largest overall wage gap between women and men.

The report said the big difference between the sexes in Switzerland is mainly due to the “high proportion of women who workpart-time”. Women make up half of the highly skilled workforce but work fewer hours. While 63% of all employed women aged 25 to 54 work part-time in the Alpine country, the figure is only 28% in the European Union.

In 2020, the gender pension gap was 34.6%, said the study requested by parliament in 2019. The average total annual pension for women was CHF35,840 ($36,456), CHF18,924 lower than that for men. This reflected differences in employment participation, the effects of family and life models, and wage inequality between the sexes over time.

Swiss troops have been involved in NATO peacekeeping operations (KFOR) in Kosovo since 1999 but Switzerland is not a member of the western military alliance. © Keystone/Christian Beutler

Swiss seek closer defence ties to EU and NATO.

Switzerland has been a NATO partner since 1996 in the framework of Partnership for Peace alongside Austria, Finland, Sweden and Ireland. But the government wants a closer relationship.

A policy paperExternal link approved by the Federal Council says Switzerland should seek closer defence and security ties to NATO and the European Union while preserving its traditional neutrality in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Switzerland must be able to defend itself as much as possible,” Defence Minister Viola Amherd told reporters on Wednesday. She said NATO membership, which would mean the end of neutrality, is not an option for Switzerland, but it must also take the new situation into account. 

Russia has destroyed the foundations of a rule-based order of peace in Europe through its military attack on Ukraine, the government noted. European armies are reorienting themselves towards deterrence and defence against military attack, and towards conventional warfare. A new dynamic of cooperation between European states is underway, it concludes.

The report say it is in Switzerland’s interest to orient its security and defence policy more consistently than before towards international cooperation, citing chances to expand policy cooperation in Europe, specifically with NATO and the EU.

This could include participating more in joint exercises, expanding military cooperation, intensifying the existing Partnership for Peace ties with NATO or joining up with EU rapid-deployment teams for rescue and evacuation operations.

In parallel with cooperation, the modernisation of the Swiss army must be accelerated, the report stresses. The Federal Department of Defence points to critical shortcomings in the area of anti-tank defence and the ability to sustain a conflict over the long term, especially with regard to ammunition stocks, which it wants to boost.