Swiss Politics

Liberalised cheese market benefits all

This content was published on Oct 30, 2012 The Federal Office for Agriculture commissioned the economic think tank BAK Basel to assess the impact of the free dairy market on dairy production and consumers. The report concludes that Switzerland would not have fared any better if it had continued to subsidise and protect its cheese market. Bilateral agreements with the EU in addition…

Swiss Politics

More Americans give up passports over tax

This content was published on Oct 26, 2012 The US embassy to Switzerland told swissinfo.ch that it had processed 411 renunciations in the first nine months of this year. This compares to 180 Americans giving up their passports in 2011. While the number of Americans that turn in their passports is a small fraction of the estimated 35,000 to 40,000 US citizens living…

Swiss Politics

Asylum seekers – a view from the inside

This content was published on Oct 26, 2012 “Over the past few years the type of people seeking asylum has changed radically. Today they are no longer political refugees in the strict sense. Most come to Europe in search of work and to improve their standard of living.” So says Margherita (not her real name), who has been working in the centre at Chiasso for…

Swiss Politics

Caps for new medical practices tabled

This content was published on Oct 24, 2012 Interior Minister Alain Berset said the planned re-introduction of a moratorium on some practices and other restrictions would be limited to three years and was in response to several demands by parliament. “It is a tried and tested method and the cantons know exactly how to apply it,” Berset, whose portfolio includes health matters, told…

Swiss Politics

Geneva’s green hub loses out to geopolitics

This content was published on Oct 23, 2012 Geneva’s ambitions to host the permanent secretariat of the Green Climate Fund (GCF) were dashed on October 20, when the fund’s board chose the South Korean city of Songdo as the new home for the environmental agency. Switzerland had hoped to add another illustrious jewel to Geneva’s list of UN departments and environmental agencies, but…

Swiss Politics

Political racism rears ugly head

This content was published on Oct 22, 2012 Over the past few months a number of alleged discrimination cases against foreigners and Muslims involving political figures or party members, mainly from the rightwing Swiss People’s Party, have hit the local headlines. These include a racial discrimination case opened last month with the Zurich public prosecutor’s office against People’s Party parliamentarian Alfred Heer. He…

Swiss Politics

“Towns have always been seen as a threat”

This content was published on Oct 21, 2012 According to a recent study carried out by the BAK economic think tank in Basel, towns and cities are responsible for 83 per cent of Switzerland’s Gross Domestic Product. From a political and historical point of view, they were long neglected. Indeed, cities were almost the object of hate on the part of federal authorities,…

Swiss Politics

Town-Country, Switzerland’s dividing line

This content was published on Oct 21, 2012 Philip Freimann made headlines around Europe when he did a simple thing. A 36-year-old farmer, he decided to keep on farming. Freimann “had his health,” he told journalists. Why would he give up his land? But Freimann’s farm happens to be in Zug, a pretty part of Switzerland that is pretty attractive to companies too.…

Swiss Politics

Swiss to vote on scrapping lump sum tax

This content was published on Oct 19, 2012 An alliance, including the Alternative List, the Alternative Left, the Social Democrats and trade unions, won the support of more than 103,000 citizens and submitted the signatures to the federal authorities in Bern on Friday. Three-quarters of the signatures were collected in urban regions, particularly in the German-speaking part of Switzerland, while backing in the…

Swiss Politics

Costs of Schengen-Dublin rocket

This content was published on Oct 19, 2012 In June 2005, the cabinet announced that the costs “would amount in the coming years … to an average of SFr7.4 million ($8 million) a year”. This turns out to have been a massive underestimate, according to a report on Swiss public radio. The justice ministry said that next year the SFr100 million mark would…

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