The Federal Palace in Bern, where the autumn session of the Federal Assembly is taking place from September 14 to October 2.
Keystone / Keystone / Peter Schneider
Parts of the new package of agreements between Switzerland and the European Union are coming before parliament for the first time. With dual citizenship and referendum proposals, the autumn session also features other topics of interest to the Swiss Abroad. A preview.
The Senate will begin deliberations on the EU treaty package over three days during the autumn session. Key topics in the debates will be the dynamic adoption of EU law, wage protection and a safeguard clause in the event of excessive immigration into Switzerland.
From September 28, discussions will also focus on whether the EU treaties should be subject only to an optional referendum. This raises the question of whether a simple popular majority should suffice or whether, as several senators are demanding, a mandatory referendum – and thus the more difficult-to-achieve majority of the cantons – is required.
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Cantonal majority: an obstacle that could scupper the Swiss-EU deal
The Foreign Affairs Committee, as the lead committee, has clearly endorsed the package of agreements between Switzerland and the EU. The Economic Affairs Committee was more sceptical, and some members of the Senate appear to be determined to torpedo the new agreements with the EU anyway: a pinprick here, a hidden attack there, a deliberately placed insurmountable obstacle elsewhere.
For the Swiss Abroad, the new package of agreements with the EU is of considerable importance. A large proportion of them live within the EU and benefit directly from the free movement of people and the general legal certainty arising from the bilateral agreements between Bern and Brussels.
Supplementary benefits
Otherwise, the autumn session has few issues on the agenda that directly affect the Swiss Abroad.
A small number of emigrants, however, could be affected by another demand from the right-wing Swiss People’s Party that is due to be debated during the autumn session. It concerns the misuse of supplementary benefitsExternal link transferred abroad.
Such benefits are paid only to people resident in Switzerland. However, “it happens time and again that people stay abroad for longer than the permitted three months without good reason and without notifying the authorities”, says parliamentarian Thomas de Courten, who initiated the proposal.
Although the proposal targets foreign nationals rather than Swiss citizens, the Swiss Abroad who have retained an official residence in Switzerland in order to receive supplementary benefits would also be affected.
Dual citizenship in the spotlight
Another proposal from the People’s Party targets dual citizenship. Here too, the People’s Party explicitly targets only naturalised foreigners in Switzerland. “The Swiss Abroad who acquire another citizenship are not affected,” the motion states. However, the arguments put forward should also give the 840,000 Swiss Abroad cause for concern – at least the 630,000 among them who hold dual citizenship. For them, even the slightest changes in this area are significant.
Specifically, a parliamentary initiative by the People’s Party calls for foreign nationals to renounce their other citizenship upon naturalisation in Switzerland. The explanatory memorandum states: “The right to vote in two or more countries undermines the time-honoured democratic principle of ‘one person, one vote’. This creates the impression of a double right to participate in decision-making, which is unfair to those with single citizenship.”
Moves against dual citizenship crop up time and again in the federal parliament. So far, parliament has never seriously addressed the issue of dual citizenship for the Swiss Abroad, and even now the relevant committee is recommending rejection.
Farmers demand compensation for Mercosur deal
Domestically, the tug-of-war over the free trade agreement with the Mercosur states in South America is set to attract attention. The House of Representatives had surprisingly rejected the agreement negotiated by Switzerland, following opposition from an alliance of left-wing politicians and representatives of the agricultural sector. The matter now moves to the Senate, where the prospects for this free trade agreement are better.
The Mercosur debate in the House of Representatives in June: farmers and left-wing parliamentarians ensured that the motion was rejected.
Keystone / Anthony Anex
If the powerful farmers’ lobby succeeds in its demand for compensation, it will drop its opposition. The relevant Senate committee is proposing accompanying measures for the agricultural sector worth CHF500 million ($612.5 million). If this agreement is approved, the House of Representatives would also have to reconsider the matter.
Army funding: Where will the money come from?
Finally, security policy is also set to spark heated debates. The Swiss Army is barely capable of defending the country and is in urgent need of funding. There is broad consensus on this. However, there is disagreement over how it should be financed.
The regular army budget, totalling CHF3.4 billion, is now before the House of Representatives. Also up for discussion is a special funding scheme devised by the government in August: surpluses from tax revenue are to be channelled not into debt reduction, as is customary, but into arms purchases. Finally, there is controversy over a planned defence fund intended to ensure the army’s long-term defence capability. Some CHF24 billion is to be set aside for this purpose.
Two proposals from the House of Representatives’ Security Policy Committee demonstrate that parliament is taking the heightened geopolitical situation seriously. On the one hand, it aims to prepare Switzerland for the possibility that, in the event of an armed conflict, railway stations, tunnels and underground car parksExternal link could be converted into shelters. On the other hand, it seeks to regulate the scenario in which hospitals, care homes and prisonsExternal link would need to be evacuated for security reasons – in other words, a state of war on Swiss soil.
Popular initiatives in both chambers
The Swiss Abroad who still vote in Switzerland are likely to be interested in the initiatives being prepared for votes during the autumn session. Below is an overview.
The democracy initiative calls for simplified naturalisation procedures and is due to be debated in the Senate. It proposes extending simplified naturalisation to second-generation foreign nationals and to those who have resided in Switzerland for decades. The relevant committee recommends a no vote.
The inclusion initiative aims to ensure that people with disabilities face fewer barriers in future. It is due to be debated in the House of Representatives. A counter-proposal is already on the table: the Inclusion Act. The relevant committee is now recommending that the House of Representatives further extend the scope of this Act. It is, however, recommending that the initiative itself be rejected.
The popular initiative ‘Yes to Security of Medical Supply’ addresses recurring shortages of medicines. As a direct counter-proposal, the government aims to ensure that Switzerland can take measures to tackle shortages. The matter is coming before the House of Representatives.
The force-fed liver initiative seeks to ban the import of products from force-fed animals, such as foie gras. The House of Representatives opposed the initiative and supported an indirect counter-proposal providing for a labelling requirement. The Senate will now consider the matter.
The fur initiative calls for a ban on the import and trade of fur produced through cruelty to animals and is also due to be debated in the Senate. The relevant committee supports amendments to the Animal Welfare Act as a counter-proposal. The committee is recommending that the initiative itself be rejected.
Edited by Pauline Turuban. Adapted into English by Patrick Julian Huwyler/ts
