Swiss Senate rejects cuts to Swissinfo’s finances

Senators gather on Wednesday shortly before the debate on the austerity package. Keystone / Peter Schneider

The Swiss government has proposed dozens of cost-cutting measures under a vast savings package aimed at keeping the federal budget in check. One of the proposed measures involves cutting the federal contribution to the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation’s (SBC) foreign mandate, which includes Swissinfo. On Wednesday, the Senate narrowly rejected this cut.

The federal contribution to the SBC’s foreign media services amounts to CHF19 million ($23 million) per year. This is used to finance Swissinfo and tvsvizzera.it, as well as partnerships with the international broadcasters TV5Monde and 3sat. The main component of the international offering is Swissinfo.

On Wednesday, the Senate voted on this contribution as part of its deliberations on the federal savings package. A commission of experts had identified the foreign mandate budget line as one of 60 potential savings.

It is estimated that if all proposed savings measures were accepted by parliament unchanged, the government could save CHF2.4 billion a year. The savings could be used to finance pensions and increased military spending, among other things.

A united front

Ahead of the vote, a parliamentary committee had recommended the Senate cancel the Swissinfo funds. However, a number of senators opposed this idea and voted against the cancellation by 22 votes to 19. The vote was swayed partly due to representatives from French-speaking Switzerland and canton Ticino who came together in support of the foreign mandate.

“I don’t think we have enough friends in the world to deprive us of a platform that explains our reality, our culture, our federalism and especially our cultural and linguistic diversity,” said Senator Isabelle Chassot of the Centre Party in defence of Swissinfo. She argued that a reduction would mean Swissinfo could only be published in four languages instead of the current ten.

‘Switzerland’s image needs strengthening’

In her speech, Chassot mentioned the 430 million households in over 210 countries and regions that the SBC’s foreign mandate reaches. She also recalled the government’s mandate, which aims “to strengthen relations between the Swiss Abroad and Switzerland and to promote Switzerland’s image abroad”.

Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter: “This reduction was absolutely justifiable”. Keystone / Peter Schneider

Other members of the Senate underlined the importance of the TV channels TV5Monde and 3Sat as well as tvsvizzera.it. “We can present ourselves to the world via TV5Monde,” said Senator Pierre Yves-Maillard.

“Switzerland’s image in the world must be strengthened, and the French-speaking world is one of the means to achieve this,” he added. In view of this impact, the costs are moderate, he noted.

Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter unsuccessfully defended the government’s savings plan in the Senate. She explained that half of the foreign programme was financed by the SBC and half by the federal government. If the government now withdraws, something will remain, she said, adding that information about Switzerland is now much more readily available than it used to be.

Over 17,000 signatures in support of Swissinfo

“Of course, it would be desirable if this contribution could be maintained. However, we were looking for subsidy elements that could be discussed,” she said, adding that this reduction was “absolutely justifiable”.

Jakob Stark, a spokesperson for the preparatory committee, had argued along similar lines: “Information is globally accessible today and it is time to cut off this old braid – even if it hurts,” said Stark of the right-wing Swiss People’s Party at the start of the debate.

A few hours before the Senate debate, representatives of the media union SSM submitted a petition to save the foreign mandate to the Federal Chancellery.

National Councillor Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter gives a short speech ahead of the handing in of the petition “Save Swissinfo and the foreign mandate!”. swissinfo

In less than three months, the petition had gathered over 17,000 signatories in support of Swissinfo. The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), Soliswiss, Educationsuisse and other media associations were also involved.

Following the debates and votes in the Senate, the government’s austerity package will be discussed in the House of Representatives next spring.

Swiss schools abroad

The Federal Council wants to stop funding Swiss schools abroad. This subsidy for “promoting the education of young Swiss abroad” amounts to CHF1.5 million a year. The Senate rejected this cut, arguing that the savings could be achieved by other means.

The Federal Council also wants to reduce expenditure and transfers by the Swiss foreign ministry. It proposes savings of CHF19 million, of which CHF400,000 are paid to the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) for relations with the Swiss Abroad. “The reduction will be achieved primarily through efficiency gains,” the Federal Council said in its message on the subject. The Senate approved this reduction without debate.

Edited by Mark Livingston/adapted from German with AI/sb