Swiss Senate approves federal budget without opposition
Senate says yes to the federal budget without a dissenting vote.
Keystone-SDA
Select your language
Generated with artificial intelligence.
Listening: Swiss Senate approves federal budget without opposition
The Swiss army will receive an additional CHF530 million ($600 million) in 2025, and no cuts will be made to direct payments for agriculture. This is clear following the Senate's decisions on the budget. What is controversial is how much will be saved on foreign aid.
This content was published on
3 minutes
Keystone-SDA
Deutsch
de
Ständerat sagt ohne Gegenstimme Ja zum Bundesbudget
Original
The Senate approved the budget on Monday evening by 42 votes to 0 with one abstention. However, many points in the budget have not yet been finalised. The ball is now back in the House of Representatives’ court. The amount by which development and foreign aid will be cut is controversial.
The Senate wants to reduce spending on bilateral development cooperation and economic cooperation by a total of CHF30 million. The House of Representatives, on the other hand, cut foreign aid by CHF250 million.
The Senate wants to compensate for the higher expenditure on the army in the 2025 budget with cuts in various areas. The package it has approved totals CHF346 million. This does not resolve the funding issue, as the House of Representatives now has to decide on several points of the cutback concept.
In addition, the Finance Committee of the Senate wants to rely on income from the OECD minimum tax to finance the army alongside the compensation concept. It wants the government to receive more money from this pot than initially planned and to be able to use it for the army. No decision has yet been made on this motion.
Support for agriculture
Direct payments for agriculture will remain at the current level next year and will not be reduced.
The Senate tacitly followed the House of Representatives’ decision last week. Both chambers thus approved around CHF2.8 billion for direct payments to farms for 2025, CHF42 million more than the government had originally requested.
Both chambers also approved an additional CHF4.8 million for sales promotion, totalling around CHF70.45 million. The Senate also said yes to an additional CHF10 million for vaccines against bluetongue in sheep and cattle.
Translated from German by DeepL/ts
This news story has been written and carefully fact-checked by an external editorial team. At SWI swissinfo.ch we select the most relevant news for an international audience and use automatic translation tools such as DeepL to translate it into English. Providing you with automatically translated news gives us the time to write more in-depth articles.
If you want to know more about how we work, have a look here, if you want to learn more about how we use technology, click here, and if you have feedback on this news story please write to english@swissinfo.ch.
Popular Stories
More
Demographics
Flat-hunting in Switzerland’s cheapest and most expensive municipalities
Train vs plane: would you take a direct train between London and Geneva?
Eurostar is planning to run direct trains from Britain to Germany and Switzerland from the early 2030s. Would you favour the train over the plane? If not, why not?
Irregular migration to Switzerland halves year-on-year
This content was published on
Irregular migration to Switzerland has decreased significantly. The figures from January to May show that only half as many illegal stays were recorded compared to the same period last year.
This content was published on
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) is to cut around 3,500 jobs as a result of financial cuts linked in particular to US decisions. Hundreds of temporary contracts will also be cut, the UN agency said in Geneva on Monday.
Swiss government to help cantons in expelling rejected asylum-seekers
This content was published on
The federal government is to provide greater relief and support to the cantons when it comes to deporting people who are not entitled to asylum in Switzerland. This is what Parliament wants. After the National Council, the Council of States also adopted a corresponding proposal on Monday.
This content was published on
One in four people in Switzerland feel stressed often or almost always. Among the under-30s, the figure is as high as 40 per cent. This is according to the "Health Forecast" study financed by health insurer Sanitas.
This content was published on
The permafrost in the Swiss Alps is thawing faster and faster. The thawed top layers of permafrost have never been as thick as they were last year. This is shown by the latest data from the Swiss permafrost monitoring network Permos.
Landslide in Blatten causes CHF320 million in damage
This content was published on
The landslide in Blatten VS and the resulting floods caused damage totalling CHF 320 million. Around CHF 260 million of this was due to damage to buildings and household contents, according to estimates by Swiss private insurers.
Swiss village of Brienz closed due to landslide risk
This content was published on
The Graubünden village of Brienz was closed again on Monday due to the risk of landslides. Rock masses on the mountain above the village recently accelerated to such an extent that they are threatening to collapse. The inhabitants have been evacuated since last November.
Failure to help rape victims remains unpunishable in Switzerland
This content was published on
Failing to come to the aid of a rape victim will remain unpunishable. Against the advice of the National Council, the Council of States on Monday rejected by 30 votes to 13 a Socialist parliamentary initiative to review the current law.
Swiss parliament calls for pilot project for digital signature collection
This content was published on
The electronic collection of signatures for initiatives and referendums is to be trialled in a pilot project. After the Council of States, the National Council also approved a corresponding proposal on Monday.
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.