Swiss federal votes on September 22

Biodiversity and occupational pensions are on the agenda in the federal votes on September 22. The Swiss will vote on an initiative calling for more resources to be devoted to nature and on a referendum against the reform of the second pillar of the pension system.

A new stage in the reform of Switzerland’s old-age pension system will be put to the test at the ballot box on September 22.

The revision of the first pillar, old age and survivors’ insurance (OASI), was approved by the electorate in 2022. It is now the turn of the second pillar, compulsory occupational pension provision, to be put to the vote.

Like OASI, compulsory occupational pension provision is affected by rising life expectancy. The decline in the number of working people compared with retirees is threatening its financial equilibrium. Low interest rates have also had a negative impact on occupational pension provision, undermining investment returns for pension funds.

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Parliament and the government have drawn up a plan to guarantee the long-term financing of the second pillar. The main measure is a reduction in the conversion rate, which converts the capital accumulated by employees and their employers into a pension.

Lowering this rate from 6.8% to 6% will result in a reduction in individual pensions. Compensation is planned for those affected. The reform also plans to open up occupational pension provision to low-income earners.

The plan is opposed by the left and the unions, which believe that working people will have to contribute more in order to receive lower pensions when they retire. They have filed a referendum to demand a popular vote on the subject.

Also opposed by the unions and left-wing parties, the reform of the first pillar was finally approved by voters in 2022. Its key measure was to raise the retirement age for women from 64 to 65, with effect from 2025.

The project known as “AVS 21” also provided incentives to work beyond the official retirement age. It was coupled with an increase in value-added tax from 7.7% to 8.1%, which was intended to provide additional funding for the OASI.

There is a radical change of subject for the second item put to a federal vote on September 22. The Swiss are also voting on the biodiversity initiative.

Tabled in September 2020 by nature and environmental protection associations, the text calls for sufficient resources and land for nature. It also seeks to enshrine better protection of the landscape and built heritage in the Swiss constitution.

Supporters of the initiative believe that biodiversity in Switzerland is in an unsatisfactory state and that the measures already taken are not enough to remedy the problem. The idea is therefore to force the public authorities to take action.

The initiative is being opposed by a broad alliance that includes the main right-wing and centrist parties, farming circles and economic organisations. They consider the initiative to be “extreme and ineffective”. In their view, the current law is sufficient to promote biodiversity.

The committee opposed to the initiative criticises it for making some 30% of the country’s territory untouchable. This would limit food production and hamper the production of renewable energies.

In Switzerland, as elsewhere in the world, the lists of threatened species continue to grow. The Federal Office for the Environment points out that the decline in biodiversity is even more marked in Switzerland than in most other European countries. Half of all natural environments and a third of all species are under threat.

Translated from French by DeepL/ts