Federal Court rules in favour of a minimum wage for two Zurich municipalities; Basel-City is first to have more foreigners and young people than eligible voters; and more Swiss news in our Thursday roundup.
Federal Court rules in favour of minimum wage for two Zurich municipalities
The cities of Zurich and Winterthur will, at last, be able to introduce a minimum wage.
In a ruling published on Wednesday, the Federal Court overturned the decisions of the Zurich Administrative Court, which had invalidated the two cities’ move toward minimum wage.
In June 2023, residents of both cities had accepted regulations providing for the introduction of a minimum wage. But the Chamber of Commerce and the employers’ union filed appeals against this decision. The Zurich Administrative Court accepted these arguments, ruling that these municipal decisions did not comply with cantonal legislation.
But the Federal Court said that the two Zurich cities have a “sufficiently broad autonomy to adopt such measures.”
Basel-City is the first canton with more foreigners and young people than eligible voters
Of the 211,000 people in the canton, 50.3 percent are not allowed to vote because they don’t have Swiss citizenship, are under 18, or are temporary residents.
This is a problem not only for Basel but also for other cantons experiencing the same population mis-balances, according to political scientist Eva Gschwind.
“Switzerland as a whole is only growing through immigration,” she said, adding that “at the same time the number of naturalisations is not high enough to ‘generate’ new eligible voters.
To remedy this ‘shortage’, Basel had significantly reduced naturalisation fees, hoping “for a substantial increase in the number of eligible voters.”
Switzerland named among the world’s ‘most peaceful’ nations
This is what emerges from the newly published Global Peace Index 2026, where Swizerland ranks in the third place globally – out of 163 countries assessed – just below Iceland (1) and New Zealand (2).
The reason for Switzerland’s high ranking include the country’s low crime rate, along with its long-standing policy of military neutrality, the Index found.
READ MORE: Just how safe is Switzerland as a country to live in?
Four of the five most expensive cities in Europe are in Switzerland
According to new data from the Global Property Guide, four of the five most expensive European cities are located in Switzerland, with Zurich leading the way.
Apartments there cost, on average, 16,763 francs per square metre.
In second place is Geneva, where average prices reach 15,466) francs per square metre.
In the third place is Lucerne, with a price tag of 11,095¨francs.
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