What you need to know about the Swiss spring parliamentary session

Last talks before a vote in the House of Representatives. Keystone / Anthony Anex

During its spring session, the Swiss parliament will be grappling with several matters of concern to Swiss nationals abroad. These include child benefits for retirees and the Swiss Abroad Act – but, above all, the question of federal funding.

The much-talked-about cost-saving packageExternal link has to be finalised during the spring session, which runs from March 2 to 20. With its “Relief Package 27”, the Federal Council, Switzerland’s executive body of government, aims to save around CHF3 billion ($3.9 billion) per year by 2029. Time is of the essence, as the cost-cutting measures are supposed to come into force as early as 2027.

The different points need to be wrapped up now in order to leave enough time for anyone so wishing to organise a referendum. The Green Party has already announced plans to do so. The Senate, meanwhile, took a first stand on the measures in December. It wants to reduce the cuts by about a third compared to the Federal Council’s proposal. The ball is now in the court of the House of Representatives.

Saving money on Swiss nationals abroad?

The cost-saving package contains several cuts that affect Swiss citizens abroad. Thus, the Federal Council wants to scrap the federal contribution to the foreign mandate of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SBC), totalling CHF19 million a year. This money goes to the Swissinfo and Tvsvizzera platforms and to partnerships with the international broadcasters TV5 MondeExternal link and 3Sat. The Senate has already rejected this cut. Within the House of Representatives, the Finance Committee, charged with deliberating on the matter, is now also recommending that the SBC’s international mandate not be touched by the austerity measures.

The Finance Committee – unlike the Senate – also wants the federal contributions to the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) to be taken out of the cost-cutting package. These total CHF400,000 a year. “It’s a small sum and every item on the savings list has strong advocates,” says Simon Stadler, centre-right member of the House of Representatives and vice-president of the Finance Committee.

The savings package also includes substantial cuts to Swiss schools abroad. The Senate wants to mitigate these cuts. It remains to be seen what the House of Representatives will decide.

New, controversial ideas in the savings package

Two new measures are sure to spark controversy, as the House of Representatives’ Finance Committee has added two potential sources of revenue to the Federal Council’s proposal. Firstly, it wants systemically important Swiss banks to pay the federal government a kind of insurance premium. This plan was already on the table in parliament, but is now to be included in the accounting for the cost-cutting measures. 

Secondly, new higher tariffs on meat imports are intended to boost the balance sheet of the cost-cutting measures, while at the same time cushioning the impact on farmers of agreements with the United States and Mercosur. Both of these new ideas were already hotly contested within the Finance Committee. So now the two houses have been given additional, unrelated bargaining chips, providing them with ample material for compromise – or conflict.

If the House of Representatives follows its committee’s recommendations, this will give rise to some 20 differences with the Senate’s position. As things stand, the parliament’s proposals would generate savings of around CHF5.9 billion for the years 2027 to 2029.

Swiss Abroad Act put to the test

In the Senate, a motion submitted by Carlo Sommaruga is now challenging the Swiss Abroad Act. This law came into force in 2015 and ensured that the needs of Swiss citizens living abroad were firmly anchored in Swiss government policy.

Just ten years later, however, the momentum has waned. This is clear from the cost-cutting proposals by the Federal Council, as well as from past referendum campaigns, in which Swiss nationals abroad were portrayed as profiteers.

The Senate will decide on an update of the Swiss Abroad Act. Keystone / Alessandro Della Valle

With his motion, Sommaruga is calling on the Federal Council to examine “whether the law is still in keeping with the changed environment”. The Federal Council should also examine “the partnership with the OSA and the resulting benefits”. Meanwhile, Sommaruga is a member of the executive board of the Council of the Swiss Abroad and has had close ties with the OSA for many years.

The Federal Council recommends adopting the motion. It sees here an opportunity to bolster its new consular strategy and new technological possibilities in consular affairs through an update of the Swiss Abroad Act.

Child benefits for retirees: emigrants could lose out

The spring session could well spell the end for so-called old-age child pensionsExternal link. Mainly paid to men who are still supporting children in their retirement, these now cost Switzerland CHF230 million per year. For a number of emigrants, these pensions provide a substantial boost to their livelihoods. This is particularly true for those who remarried after emigrating and have children to provide for, whether their own or their spouse’s from a previous relationship.

The prevailing opinion in Switzerland is that these pensions can be abolished. Anyone experiencing hardship as a result can apply for increased supplementary benefits. These, however, are not available to people living abroad. Yet without the old-age child pensions, hundreds of emigrants would be extremely stretched. The House of Representatives approved the motion in 2024. Now it is coming before the Senate.

Signature collection soon also possible for Swiss citizens abroad?

The Senate, acting as the second chamber, will also make the final decision on a pilot project for electronic signature collection, or e-collectingExternal link. The House of Representatives has already approved the use of e-ID infrastructure for collecting signatures for referendums and people’s initiatives.

For Swiss citizens abroad, this would make signature collection – a cornerstone of direct democracy – accessible for the very first time. Until now, signature collection has only been possible in person and in Switzerland. Electronic signature collection has gained momentum in politics ever since the signature scam.

Rehabilitation of Swiss resistance fighters

The House of Representatives is debating the rehabilitation of Swiss resistance fightersExternal link. These were volunteers who fought with the French Resistance or Italian partisan groups. A majority in the Legal Affairs Committee argues that the fighters’ actions were justified in the historic context. The Federal Council agrees. The sentences handed down at the time to those who had served in foreign forces no longer match current views of justice.

Also scheduled for the spring session is a decision on a credit for a digital upgrade of the Central Compensation Office. This is the agency that transfers Swiss pensions abroad and is, as such, the most important link to Switzerland for many who have emigrated. We have already reported on the issue here.

Four days discussing the Neutrality Initiative

Of all the popular initiatives on the table, the Swiss People’s Party’s Neutrality Initiative will be given the greatest attention. The House of Representatives must decide on this and has scheduled four session days for the purpose. The initiative aims to enshrine perpetual armed neutrality in the Federal Constitution.

Supporters of the Neutrality Initiative. A view of the Swiss People’s Party group in the House of Representatives. Keystone / Anthony Anex

The Senate rejected the initiative in 2025 and adopted a direct counter-proposal. The committee dealing with the question in the House of Representatives also recommends rejecting the popular initiative, but does not want a counter-proposal.

Nuclear power back on the table

The Senate, acting as the first chamber, will debate whether Switzerland should lift the ban on building new nuclear power plants. This is what the indirect counter-proposal to the Stop Blackout InitiativeExternal link proposes. A majority in the relevant Senate committee wants to end the ban, but recommends a “no” to the Stop Blackout Initiative. In 2017, the Swiss electorate voted to phase out nuclear power in response to the reactor disaster in Fukushima, Japan.

The popular initiative For Safe FoodExternal link failed to pass in the House of Representatives. It calls for a steady shift towards plant-based food production. Now the Senate will be deciding on the matter. Its relevant committee has also recommended rejecting the initiative.

Also this spring, the House of Representatives will be grappling with new rules for the import of foie gras. The starting point for this is a popular initiative for a ban on foie gras importsExternal link, submitted by animal welfare organisations, and a counter-proposalExternal link by the relevant parliamentary committee. The Federal Council would prefer to work towards a mandatory declaration requirement instead.

And last of all, also sure to spark debate is a motion aimed at bringing the Compass InitiativeExternal link to a popular vote before the new agreements with the European Union are finalised. The crux of the matter is whether the so-called Bilateral Agreements III should be required to clear the hurdle of a majority vote in the cantons, as well as a majority of the people.

Edited by Samuel Jaberg. Adapted from German by Julia Bassam/sb.