If the Confederation’s savings plan is adopted as is or in an equivalent manner, the Greens will launch a referendum, warns their chairwoman Lisa Mazzone. “With its ideological policy, the Federal Council is heading straight for a brick wall,” she adds.
“This program to dismantle the Federal Council does not take into account the decisions of the people and is a huge step backwards,” said Lisa Mazzone in an interview broadcast by Le Matin Dimanche.
The Federal Council presented a comprehensive expenditure reduction programme on Friday, which should enable savings of 3.6 billion francs per year from 2027 and even 4.6 billion francs from 2030. All sectors, from daycare centres to administration, roads, education, culture and international cooperation, will have to save, except the army.
Social cohesion
With its savings programme, the Federal Council is directly attacking social cohesion, believes the Green Party leader. She sees two major challenges facing Switzerland over the next twenty years: climate change and the ageing of society, with the resulting shortage of labour. However, a quarter of the savings programme, or 900 million francs, concerns climate policy, she notes.
“The task of the state would be to propose appropriate solutions. But the Federal Council prefers to tell citizens: ‘You can sort it out yourselves’.” By removing tax privileges for air traffic, “the Confederation could collect an additional 1.5 billion francs,” she says.
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