Government seeks to create a law to better protect children against parental abuse

The Federal Council wants to anchor the principle of violence-free education in law, proposing a text which expressly obliges parents to educate their children without resorting to violence.

Currently, children are protected against violence by criminal legislation, but the Federal Council wants to include it in the civil code as well.

“The new content sends a clear signal to everyone: violence in education is not tolerated, whether it takes the form of corporal punishment or other degrading treatment of the child,” the Federal Council said in a press release. 

At the same time, however, the government emphasised that parents must “remain autonomous in this regard and the Federal Council does not mandate any specific educational methods.”

Consumption tax will be raised to pay for the 13th month pension

In March 2024, Swiss voters approved a move to pay an extra month’s state pension to retirees.

The government decided to finance this move by increasing the Value-Added Tax (VAT) — the flat-rate tax that is added to the cost of items consumers purchase. However, the amount of the increase was yet to be determined.

Now the Federal Council has set the increase at 0.7 percent, which will be added to the current VAT rate of 8.1 percent.

With this move, the government will collect 450 million francs to bankroll the cost of the 13th pension from 2026. 

Government will not verify authenticity of signatures for referendums

Despite reports that thousands of signatures for popular initiatives had been forged, petitions for initiatives already cleared for voting will not be suspended pending a new check, the Federal Chancellery announced. 
 
The reason cited is that “there is no conclusive evidence to suggest that popular initiatives or referendums would have been successful only thanks to falsified signatures,” the Chancellery said on Friday to explain its decision. 

Skiing will become more expensive this winter

The beginning of the ski season in Switzerland is at least two months away, but some resorts are already planning to increase prices of ski passes.

A survey carried out among ski lift companies in 25 resorts in the Swiss Alps found that  at least 12 out of 25 will be raising the cost of day passes — with more possibly announcing hikes closer to the winter season.

Ski lift operators justify the price increase by higher maintenance and energy costs, as well as higher wages.

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