Swiss businessman offers his own take on the immigration tax idea; biometric identity card will be introduced in November; and more news in our roundup on Tuesday.
Swiss businessman offers his own take on the immigration tax idea
Picking up on the lawmakers’ approval of a tax to be imposed on EU nationals who settle in Switzerland, Fredy Gantner, an entrepreneur from Zug, is pushing his own version of thsi measure.
But unlike the proposed fee to be paid by immigrants themselves, Gantner wants employers to contribute toward the costs associated with immigration.
Under his proposal, companies that hire EU nationals would have to pay a contribution based on the employee’s salary. Spread out over five years, the tax would generate 1.35 billion francs annually – a portion of which would be redistributed to low-income households.
READ MORE: Switzerland’s Council of States to push forward with 4,000-franc ‘immigration tax’
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The biometric identity card will be introduced in November
Swiss citizens will be able to apply for the new biometric ID card starting on November 2nd, the Federal Police (Fedpol) announced on Monday.
Like the biometric Swiss passport, the new identity card (not to be confused with the still-in-the-making e-ID cards) will feature a chip containing a facial image and two fingerprints.
It is intended to allow Swiss citizens to travel within the European Union.
READ MORE: Switzerland to introduce a new biometric ID card from November
Swiss motorists flock to Austria to buy fuel
Fuel is now cheaper in all the neighbour countries, mostly because their governments – contrary to Switzerland’s – have intervened to cut petrol prices.
As a result, in the Austrian border region of Vorarlberg, “one out of every two cars comes from Switzerland. Currently, Swiss customers generate the bulk of the revenue for stations near the border,” said Petra Girardi of the Vorarlberg Chamber of Commerce.
Though fuel prices are also lower in France, Germany, and Italy, Austria currently provides best deals for people from Switzerland – fuel there is 30 to 40 cents cheaper per litre.
Drought and pollution threaten drinking water in Switzerland
Experts who convened in Zurich on Monday, reported that water management across Europe, including in Switzerland, is facing major challenges, with climate change and pollution foremost among them.
Due to the increasing concentration of chemical pollutants in groundwater, local water supplies are coming under ever-greater pressure to remove these toxic substances, requiring significant financial resources, they said.
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