Parliamentary decisions in brief – electricity prices in the current debate +++ the F35 is to be bought – news

The decisions of Thursday, September 15th

Electricity prices become the topic: On September 28, the National Council will hold a current debate on the increased electricity prices and the impending electricity and gas shortages in the coming winter. Specifically, he discusses six urgent interpellations submitted by the six parliamentary groups in the grand chamber. The parliamentary services provided information on the special debate on Thursday on the short message service Twitter. In the advances, the parliamentary groups put a number of questions to the Federal Council. Concrete resolutions are not to be expected in the debate.

Cassis as Swiss representative at the Queen’s state funeral: On the fringes of the current autumn session, it became known that President Ignazio Cassis, representing Switzerland, will attend the funeral of the late Queen Elizabeth II in London on Monday. There is also a meeting with the new King Charles III. planned, as reported by the foreign department EDA.

Around 2,000 guests are expected at Westminster Abbey in London for the Queen’s state funeral.

National Council wants rapid fighter jet purchase: The National Council has approved the purchase of the new F-35 combat aircraft and intends to conclude the purchase contract in March 2023. The jet purchase is part of the Army’s 2022 message. The majority of the Council was convinced that the contract for the purchase of the aircraft with the USA must be signed by the bid deadline on March 30, 2023.

The decisions of Wednesday, September 14th

Reduction of Corona debt: Contrary to the National Council, the Council of States does not want to use past surpluses from the ordinary federal budget to reduce corona debt. Citing the principles of the debt brake, he stuck to the Federal Council’s proposal by a vote of 38 to 0. The small chamber insisted that the minus of 26 billion francs from extraordinary corona measures in the so-called amortization account would be offset by 2035.

Federal Councilor and Finance Minister Ueli Maurer pointed to the difficult economic times that were ahead – and spoke of the importance of a clear financial policy and debt reduction. The Financial Budget Act goes back to the National Council.

Training for hobby gardeners: If you want to spray your plants in the garden, you will need training in the future. After the Council of States, the National Council also agreed to this. Those who use commercial pesticides already need training today. A majority decided that private users should be treated equally. The SVP, the FDP and parts of the Mitte party were against the training for hobby gardeners.

No «house of women»: There will be no separate women’s museum in Switzerland. However, the Swiss history of equality between men and women should be dealt with in existing institutions. The National Council and the Council of States have agreed on this. The federal government should contribute to the costs. Representatives of the SVP and FDP argued in vain that such an initiative would do nothing. The funds are also not available given the current financial situation.

Councils at odds on video game child protection rules: The Council of States must once again deal with the new rules for the protection of minors from depictions of sex and violence in films. The National Council has maintained several differences with the small chamber. Among other things, he insists on regulating optional additional purchases in video games and apps in the law. The aim of the bill is to protect minors from media content in films and video games that could endanger their development.

The decisions of Tuesday, September 13th

Transparency about the origin of electricity: Parliament wants consumers to be better informed about where the electricity they consume comes from. The primary purpose of this is to show that electricity produced with renewable energy sources is ecologically more valuable in winter. Instead of once a year, information about the origin of the electricity should be provided quarterly or monthly. In the longer term, it should also be possible to label electricity daily and ultimately hourly.

Bailout for electricity companies: The Federal Council is helping the electricity companies with a maximum of CHF 10 billion. He has already activated the rescue package because the electricity company Axpo had asked for it. The National Council has now also approved the bill in principle, as the Council of States did before it. The federal government must act, was the tenor of the majority.

The issue is whether the Federal Council’s emergency ordinance will be replaced by an urgent law. However, there are still differences between the two chambers of Parliament. These are to be cleaned up in the third week of the autumn session.

Training offensive for nursing professions should start quickly: The Council of States approved a corresponding revision of the law. The background is the first stage of the implementation of the care initiative, which the Swiss voters accepted in November 2021. One of the plans is for the cantons to contribute financially to the costs of training in the health facilities. Next, the National Council deals with the business.

Legend:

According to Federal Councilor Alain Berset, the need for nurses in Switzerland continues to increase and many nurses would leave the profession. A third of the nursing staff in Switzerland already come from abroad.

Keystone/Gaetan Bally

Clear the way for egg donation: In Switzerland, egg cell donation should be just as permitted as sperm donation. After the National Council the Council of States also approved a corresponding motion with 22 to 20 votes – despite strong opposition from the center and the SVP.

Currently, married couples where the man is infertile can resort to sperm donation. If, on the other hand, the woman is infertile, the spouses have to travel abroad in order to fulfill their desire to have children.

No change in favor of people with dementia: In contrast to the National Council, the Council of States does not want any changes to the billing of care services for people with dementia. The Council Left argued that many of the care services needed by people with dementia did not fit the definitions in the existing regulation. For example, many relatives reduced their gainful employment in order to care for a family member. It therefore needs changes. The Federal Council and the majority of the Council were of the opinion that measures were underway – it was important to follow the usual procedures. The template is now off the table.

Promotion of crèche places until 2024: According to the will of Parliament, the federal government should extend childcare as a supplement to the family until the end of 2024 at the latest. The Council of States has spoken out in favor of extending the stimulus program to create crèche places. The National Council approved the proposal in the summer session. Without an interim solution, the existing measures would have expired in 2023.

Andrea Gmür Schönenberger (Mitte/LU) found that the stimulus program met a need. The pandemic in particular has shown the importance of crèches and that they are a remedy for a shortage of skilled workers.

No mercy for speeders: Racers should continue to go to jail. That was decided by the National Council – and thus completed a U-turn. Anyone convicted of a speeding offense should continue to be punished with imprisonment for at least one year. Unless there are good reasons for exceeding the speed limit. The National Council and the Council of States actually wanted to relax the regulations.

Speeders should no longer have to go to jail, but should be punished with fines. However, the Roadcross Foundation threatened a referendum against the easing. Parliament’s transport commissions then proposed this compromise solution. The proposal now goes to the Council of States.

The decisions of Monday, September 12th

New attempt at constitutional jurisdiction failed: The Council of States choked off a new attempt to expand constitutional jurisdiction right from the start. He has rejected two motions that would introduce constitutional jurisdiction into federal laws. The Federal Supreme Court should therefore also have to apply laws that contradict the constitution in the future.

The question has been the subject of debate in Swiss politics for years: to this day, the federal councils can enact federal laws that contradict the constitution. The Federal Constitution itself forbids the courts to intervene. The system that has been in force since the founding of the federal state is rooted in the principle of the separation of powers: the highest court should not be able to place itself above the federal legislature.

Exchange of financial data: Switzerland is to regularly exchange bank data with 12 additional countries and territories, thereby expanding the automatic exchange of information. The National Council clearly accepted a corresponding Federal Council proposal. Financial account exchanges will be introduced with Ecuador, Georgia, Jamaica, Jordan, Kenya, Morocco, Moldova, Montenegro, New Caledonia, Thailand, Uganda and Ukraine. Dissenting votes came from the SVP – not all states would meet the legal requirements for the exchange. The proposal now goes to the Council of States.

Crisis management under the magnifying glass: Which department, which federal office takes the lead during a crisis like the corona pandemic? How are human and financial resources distributed? Who forms the specialist crisis management team? According to the National Council, legal bases should regulate such questions in the future. Although the Federal Council considers the concern to be justified, it was against the assumption: Federal Chancellor Walter Thurnherr said that there had already been several reports on how the pandemic was being managed – and on what went well and what went less well. Crisis management improvements are underway.

National Council Commission approves F-35 procurement: The Security Policy Commission of the National Council (SiK-N) has spoken out in favor of the procurement of the F-35A fighter jets. With 17 votes to eight, she asked her council to get them. The National Council will decide on the business on September 15th. For the majority of the SiK-N it is clear that the technical evaluation was legally correct. The minority of the commission criticized that the evaluation procedure remained unclear on several points and that the providers were not treated equally.

Moment of silence for Judith Stamm: National Council President Irène Kälin heralds the autumn session with sad words – an obituary for the long-standing CVP National Councilor Judith Stamm, who also served as the highest Swiss woman in 1996/97. “We will remember Judith Stamm as a highly respected, courageous and lovable woman and politician. I know what part she has in the fact that I can of course politicize today and that it is no longer an exception for women to lead parliament on the box.”

The pioneer for women’s rights and national councilor for the canton of Lucerne died on July 20.