Switzerland Today

Dear Swiss Abroad,

Good news for people who don’t have a problem with importing food from halfway round the world: there are no longer any restrictions on Japanese delicacies, some of which had been subject to restrictions since the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima in 2011.

Also today, an in-depth interview with Filippo Lombardi, president of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad.

Keystone / Kimimasa Mayama

In the news:  All Japanese food back on Swiss menus, the wealthiest citizens in the world, and another UBS settlement.

• Switzerland has lifted all import restrictions on Japanese food following the nuclear accident in Fukushima in 2011. Certain items of food had to be tested for radioactive contamination before being exported to Switzerland. Most recently, there were still restrictions mainly on wild mushrooms, certain types of fish and wild plants.
• Switzerland topped the list of countries with the largest per capita wealth last year. Thanks to numerous wealthy individuals, average worth in the Alpine country was $685,000 (CHF600,000), according to a study published today by UBS and its subsidiary Credit Suisse. Switzerland was followed by the US and Hong Kong.
• Separately, UBS has agreed to pay $1.435 billion to settle US charges that it misled investors into buying troubled mortgage securities, concluding an industrywide probe into a root cause of the 2008 global financial crisis. UBS’s settlement resolved DoJ claims in a 2018 lawsuit filed in Brooklyn that the bank had defrauded investors by knowingly making false and misleading statements about more than $41 billion in loans backing 40 residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) issued in 2006 and 2007.

© Ti-press

Ahead of federal elections in October, Filippo Lombardi, president of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), looks back on the last four-year parliamentary term and highlights progress on two issues.

In an interview with SWI swissinfo.ch Lombardi, who sat in the Senate for canton Ticino from 2014 to 2019, discusses the Covid pandemic, data leaks, the free movement of people and the challenge of communication among the Swiss Abroad. He also addresses the long-standing headaches for Swiss expats: bank accounts and e-voting – “there we finally made a breakthrough”, he said.

When asked for the advantages of electronic voting, he explained that “all our citizens who have the right to participate in Swiss democracy can do so, no matter where they are in the short or long term”.

Although e-voting won’t be introduced for this year’s federal elections, Lombardi remains confident that one day the possibility will exist. “This isn’t the case yet, but it will be in the end,” he said.

Read the full interview here.

Kai Reusser / swissinfo.ch

Talking of the upcoming federal elections, as part of our coverage we’re looking at what the six main political parties in Switzerland are planning to do for the Swiss Abroad. Today we turn to The Centre.

The Centre is the result of a merger in 2020 between the centre-right Christian Democratic Party (Filippo Lombardi’s old party) and the centre-right Conservative Democratic Party. Maxime Marteil, The Centre’s deputy general-secretary, tells Emilie Ridard that “changing the party’s name seems to have had a positive effect beyond our borders as the number of Swiss expats who want to be included on our party’s electoral list has risen”.

He also believes that an international network is more efficient for the Swiss Abroad to engage in Swiss political life than having a party branch outside the country. With its exchange platformExternal link The Centre strives to create networks, spread information and motivate the Swiss Abroad to be politically active.

“The Swiss Abroad make up 9% of the Swiss population. This is the reality in our country, and their voices must be heard in our direct democracy,” Marteil says. The Centre advocates for the re-introduction of e-voting but says “safety comes before speed”. The government should implement regulations to guarantee data protection and security, so voters can build up trust in the system, he says. “A system is good only if it is used, and it will be good only if people trust it.”

Here you can read our full coverage on The Centre’s proposals for the Swiss Abroad.

***WANTED****

We’re looking for participants for our recording of Let’s Talk in ENGLISH!

When: Wednesday, August 16, Time: 4.15pm-5pm (online)

We’ll be talking about climate change and what makes us Swiss.

Would you like to be part of our video call and join the discussion in English? Then get in touch with [e-mail]