by Guy Mettan,* member of the initiative committee, Geneva
(3 May 2021) On February 25, 2020, the Federal Gazette published the text of the Swiss federal popular initiative entitled “Micro-tax on cashless Monetary Transactions", paving the way for the collection of signatures.
by Max Hugelshofer, Swiss Mountain Aid
(25 April 2021) What do you do when the village shop closes because the turnover figures are too low and the personnel costs are too high? Then, a step into the future is a necessary dare. In the village of Cerniat, the “Val-Marché” is now open 24 hours a day – with self-service and access via QR code.
by Luca Beti
(15 March 2021) Switzerland has been supporting the «ProJoven» vocational training project in Honduras since 2013 to help integrate underprivileged young people in the workforce. The project continues to forge ahead, Covid-19 notwithstanding, and has proved surprisingly adaptable.
“Abort the exercise”: This is what more and more politicians, trade unionists and even new business committees are calling for
by Niklaus Ramseyer
(24 January 2021) “Swiss Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, Department of Foreign Affairs, must now find the reset button he wanted to press at the beginning of his term of office as soon as possible.” That's what the new president of the Swiss People’s Party (SVP) and Ticino national councillor Marco Chiesa said early this year in the Swiss daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung about the draft institutional agreement between Switzerland and the EU. Chiesa's demand is only logical – and not new: His party was and is fundamentally opposed to the agreement.
A plea for our individual freedom
by Thomas Scherr
(30 January 2021) «Who is afraid of William Tell? Old-fashioned reflections on democracy».* This is the title of Oliver Zimmer's book published in November 2020. The author teaches modern European history in Oxford. He has been living in England for twenty years, but his roots lie on the shores of Lake Zurich. We recommend any democrat who has preserved his spirit of freedom to read his book.
The Swiss federal administration does not give up
(30 January 2021) ts. The best way to lose the trust of others is to try to pressure or rehearse the same bad ideas over and over again. Why is the Swiss federal government so eager to introduce e-voting in Switzerland?