Swiss Politics

Activists remain upbeat over commodities reforms

This content was published on Apr 22, 2013 “I wouldn’t describe it as a defeat at all,” said commodities/human rights specialist Urs Rybi of the Berne Declaration, a Swiss non-governmental organisation that favours more regulation of Switzerland’s fast-growing industry. “It’s just [a] first step of many. If we’d already got concrete, binding regulations as an outcome of this process it would have been…

Swiss Politics

Commodity sector hails light touch approach

This content was published on Apr 22, 2013 But the regulatory respite has been thrown into the shade by continued foreign attacks on banking secrecy and cantonal tax perks. The cosy Swiss conditions enjoyed by traders may be coming to an end, with rival countries queuing up to poach disgruntled firms. Traders have heaped praise on last month’s recommendations of a government…

Swiss Politics

Bern and Paris set to sign inheritance deal

This content was published on Apr 21, 2013 “We’re very close to a deal … I’ve asked the French tax authorities to dispel the last reservations,” said French Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici on Saturday at the spring meeting of the 188-nation International Monetary Fund (IMF) and its sister lending agency, the World Bank. Moscovici added that he had met his Swiss counterpart Eveline…

Swiss Politics

Bern: city of movements and overtures

This content was published on Apr 20, 2013

Swiss Politics

Swiss seen as lagging in global hunt for tax cheats

This content was published on Apr 19, 2013 “Switzerland for the time being is stuck,” said Pascal Saint-Amans, director of the OECD’s Centre for Tax Policy. The Paris-based organisation, which comprises 34 industrialised nations, presented its report to the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors meeting in connection with the International Monetary Fund and World Bank semi-annual conference in Washington. The…

Swiss Politics

Seeking a political cure for rising health costs

This content was published on Apr 19, 2013 Health insurance is compulsory under Swiss law, and there are currently about 60 companies providing it. In 2014 or 2015 the initiative for public health insurance will be put to a nationwide vote, which if accepted will see current providers of basic cover replaced by a single public fund. The initiative – supported by the centre-left…

Swiss Politics

Campaign against second road tunnel gathers pace

This content was published on Apr 18, 2013 The Alpine Initiative group, supported by 30 other organisations, on Thursday handed in a petition signed by about 68,000 people, urging the authorities to reconsider the plans. The move comes as part of a broad consultation about a draft bill by the cabinet for parliament. Fabio Pedrina, president of the Alpine Initiative, said the petition…

Swiss Politics

Blocked weapon sales draws public attention

This content was published on Apr 18, 2013 The government in January vetoed the deal for handgun parts worth more than CHF400,000 on the grounds that the handguns – assembled in the US for export to Saudi Arabia – could be used to violate human rights. The latest statistics on Swiss export licences of arms and weapons parts – ranging from electronic equipment,…

Swiss Politics

Protecting human rights or industry interests?

This content was published on Apr 18, 2013 After years of negotiations the United Nations in March agreed the first ever legally binding international treaty to regulate the multi-billion dollar business, with the goal of stopping weapons sales to conflict zones. Switzerland pushed for the deal, while its own laws go beyond it.

Swiss Politics

Managing the police in the 21st century

This content was published on Apr 17, 2013 Take the police forces: cantonal sovereignty over the police is inscribed in the Swiss constitution; 26 cantons, 26 police ministers, 26 police chiefs. “In the 21st century it might seem a bit incongruous, but the system is tried and tested,” explained Christophe Koller, of the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration, and project leader of…

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Activists remain upbeat over commodities reforms

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Commodity sector hails light touch approach

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Bern and Paris set to sign inheritance deal

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Bern: city of movements and overtures

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Swiss seen as lagging in global hunt for tax cheats

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Seeking a political cure for rising health costs

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Campaign against second road tunnel gathers pace

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Blocked weapon sales draws public attention

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Protecting human rights or industry interests?

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Managing the police in the 21st century

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