Details of new agreements between Switzerland and the EU are top secret; only a selected group of tenants has access to Zurich’s housing; and other news in our roundup on Friday.
Details of Switzerland’s new treaties with the EU are kept secret
Though the broad outline of the agreements reached between Bern and Brussels in December 2024 has been made public, the exact details remain under wraps, with neither side willing to reveal their content.
So far, both the Federal Council and the European Union have refused to open these documents to public scrutiny.
The reason for this secrecy, according to the European Union, is the need for each side to “legally verify the content of the agreements,” and then translate them into the 23 languages of the EU (three of which are also the official languages of Switzerland), before making these documents public — at a yet undetermined time.
Zurich housing shortage: Young high earners are ‘displacing’ poor and elderly tenants
A study carried out by the Federal Polytechnic Institute (ETH) in Zurich shows who has the best and worst access to the city’s notoriously tight housing market.
Its finding: when an apartment becomes available for rent, elderly and single people, as well as asylum seekers, have almost no chance, as landlords give preference to young, dual-income households without children, both Swiss and expats.
“The ‘victims’ of this trend are people who already have few opportunities in society,” said ETH professor David Kaufmann, who was responsible for the study.
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Swiss military is short of this essential product
No, it is not weapons, tanks, ammunition, or even the army knife..
Rather, the Defence Department is on the lookout for…canned ravioli that can feed the troops for the next two years.
A call for tenders published on the Swiss government’s procurement platform seeks a supplier to deliver more than 54,000 boxes of ready-to-eat ravioli, to be consumed between 2026 and 2027.
That is because canned ravioli is a Swiss military classic.
Last year alone, Swiss troops consumed 64 tons of ravioli, or 175 kilos per day, according to the military procurement agency, Armasuisse.
“Ravioli are an important part of the storage strategy,” Armasuisse pointed out.
Their long shelf life and ease of preparation make them an ideal food in the field, and it is nutritional as well: it contains 22 percent protein, 16 percent carbohydrates, and 9 percent fat — ingredients that “effectively contribute to the soldiers’ energy needs.”
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Lidl launches a new brand to add ‘Swissness’ to the product line
Together with the Zurich University of Applied Sciences, the German discounter is focusing on ‘Swissifying’ some of its assortment with the new ‘Qualité Suisse’ label.
To achieve this — and to attract more Swiss customers to the stores — the retailer is betting on the folkloric theme, represented by its new mascot, a St. Bernard dog.
The Qualité Suisse label, for sale from May 8th, will initially comprise 200 products, such as meat, cheese, milk, and vegetables, which have previously been sold under various names such as Milbona, Fromani, Maestade, and Bonvalle.
By the end of the year, the new line will be expanded to include around 500 products.
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