Party Programme 2011–2015

Transcription

SVP –
the party for
Switzerland
Party Programme
2011 – 2015
Table of contents
4
At a glance
The Switzerland we want
4
Toni Brunner
Standing up for Switzerland 6
Switzerland – a special case
Self-determination and self-confidence
The sovereignty of the citizen
Defending freedom against threats15
Property
Protection against left-wing robbery 19
Finance, taxes, levies
More for the private sector, less for the state
23
Business and companies
«It is regulation» – says the bureaucrat
29
Foreign policy
Defend – don’t give up our interests
35
Security
A tougher line on criminals
41
Asylum policy
An end to bogus asylum seekers
47
Foreigners
Limit immigration
53
Army
National defence is the primary task
61
Agriculture Healthy farmes – healthy country
65
Education
Expect achievement, encourage achievement
69
AHV, ALV, BVG, EO, IV
Safeguard the social security system, combat abuse
75
Healthcare
Quality through competition
81
Transport policy
Transport – the pulse of our economy
87
Energy
Swiss electricity: safe and environment-friendly
93
Environment
Act, don’t complain
99
Media
Competition, not state monopoly
103
Culture
Culture is a matter of culture
109
Sport
Exercise for mind and body
113
Putting people first
Cooperation not conflict
117
Religions
The challenges to our values
121
The path of the future Personal responsibility rather than an all-powerful state
124
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At a glance
The Switzerland
we want
When people vote for the Swiss People’s Party (SVP), we want them to know exactly
what they will get. The SVP speaks with a clear voice and steers a clear and reliable
course. Your elected representatives in the federal government, cantons and municipalities have always been people you can rely on to keep their promises. They will
continue to do so, and that will be the yardstick against which you measure them.
The SVP is committed to
a secure future in freedom and prosperity,
a Switzerland that is worth living in and
of which we can be proud;
tighter control of the national budget,
with lower taxes, fees and levies for all;
the maintenance of Switzerland’s unique
system, founded on sovereignty, direct
democracy, permanent neutrality,
federalism and subsidiarity;
more market forces and less bureaucracy,
secure jobs in our companies and trades;
citizens imbued with personal responsibility, with substantial rights of co-determination rather than an all-powerful, centralised state;
an open and self-confident foreign policy
that rejects membership of the EU, EEA
or NATO;
the protection of private property and
privacy;
tougher penalties rather than feather-bedding for lawbreakers, and the deportation
of foreign criminals;
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a consistent asylum policy that prevents
abuse and offers protection only to
genuine refugees;
safe, cheap and, as far as possible, independent energy supply for households
and businesses;
an immigration policy tailored to the
needs of Switzerland instead of unlimited
mass immigration;
practical action to protect the environment rather than wealth redistribution
based on left-wing ideology that brings no
benefits for our natural surroundings;
an army that is ready for action, and
whose main task is national defence and
the protection of its own people;
a media policy based on competition
between private-sector providers rather
than the SRG’s monopoly of radio and
television;
a productive agricultural sector with
family-run farms whose freedom is not
choked by a flood of regulations;
a vibrant culture that is not dictated by
the state or promoted through corrupt
structures;
an education system that expects and
encourages performance;
supporting popular and elite sport to
promote physical and mental wellbeing;
a social welfare system safeguarded
by combating abuse from fraudulent
claimants and the workshy;
a sense of community between young and
old, men and women, families and single
people;
a leaner, fitter healthcare system with
an emphasis on personal responsibility,
reducing insurance premiums and
slimming down the benefits available;
the fundamental values of our western,
Christian culture without violence,
fanaticism and contempt for freedom
and the rule of law.
helping traffic flow more smoothly rather
than putting obstacles in its way, avoiding
conflict between private and public
transport;
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To n i B r u n n e r
Standing up for
Switzerland
The urge to protect our families and possessions, the desire for liberty, independence and personal responsibility have formed the bedrock of our Confederation
from the very beginning. They are the values that have made our country strong
and shaped it for centuries. They are the guarantee of our prosperity and security in
good times as well as bad. The shared values that underpin our Confederation are
set out in the Federal Charter of 1291: «seeing the malice of the age», our nation’s
founders swore to aid and protect each other. They undertook to defend each other
against attacks and to reject the authority of foreign judges. Switzerland, once a poor
country, is now one of the world’s most prosperous nations. The economic crises
and budget deficits so characteristic of the modern era demonstrate the superiority of Switzerland’s recipe for success. But these achievements are under threat: the
actions of the Federal Council, parliament and the administration are increasingly
challenging the fundamental values and strengths of our country.
Preserving freedom and independence
Safeguarding the social welfare system
Freedom and independence are values worth defending.
One instrument of national defence is our militia army,
which is rooted in the people and must not be allowed to
become a political football. If we give up our militia system,
we will either abandon the cause of national defence or have
to rely on an expensive professional army which would seek
work mainly abroad, and bring conflict and war into our
own country. Freedom and independence are also threatened by an ideologically motivated foreign policy. Instead
of a diplomacy of mediation, we are increasingly seeing a
diplomacy of finger-pointing. This angers other states, offends our trading partners and betrays our tried and tested
neutrality.
Politicians and trade unionists are overloading our social
welfare system, but we all have to pick up the bill. AHV
and unemployment insurance, disability and health insurance, accident insurance and social welfare – is on a solid,
long-term financial footing. More and more foreigners who
come here end up not in our labour market but in our social welfare system. The system can only be maintained if
those who pay can rest assured that they are not being taken
for a ride. For that reason, abuse of the system needs to be
systematically rooted out. The SVP wants to secure our existing social welfare system rather than continuing to expand it until it collapses under its own weight. In this way,
we will ensure social cohesion and the financial security of
our benefit schemes.
Limiting immigration
Swiss vote SVP!
People from abroad have long sought out Switzerland in the
hope of a better life and a new home. Without their contribution, many companies would never have got where they
are today. Today, however, Switzerland has serious problems
with immigration. The policies of the Federal Council and
the centre-left parties have led to uncontrolled population
growth with far-reaching consequences. Important qualities and traditions of our nation are at risk. Many Swiss
people no longer feel safe in their own country. Almost
half of the crimes committed in Switzerland are carried out
by foreigners. This situation is the consequence of uncontrolled mass immigration and lax punishment. That is why
the SVP launched its deportation initiative: foreigners who
commit murder, rape or robbery or who abuse our social
welfare system must leave our country.
The federal elections on 23 October 2011 are an opportunity to consider what kind of future we want for our nation.
Despite all the challenges we face, we should bear in mind
that our country’s roots are healthy. Let us remember the
fundamental values and strengths of Switzerland! The people are the supreme authority in our nation, and they alone
decide which direction it will go in. We, as citizens, have the
opportunity to bring about change through the ballot box.
You will be voting not so much for individual candidates
but rather on a fundamental issue: are you for or against
Switzerland? If, like us, you want to continue backing our
nation, I urge you to vote for the SVP – the party for Switzerland. There is only one way to reverse the damage being
done to our country: Swiss vote SVP!
Devaluation of the family
No to EU accession
Leading figures and parties argue the case for joining the
EU, but who will bear the cost of Europe’s vast debts? Our
children and grandchildren! Switzerland would pay two
and three times for joining the EU and yet the political class
and the «elites» are seeking to drag us into the EU by the
back door. Switzerland’s application to join the EU is still
lodged with Brussels. EU accession would mean the abolition of direct democracy, independence, neutrality and the
Swiss franc. It would also lead to lower wages, more unemployment, higher rents, even higher levies and taxes, and
force us to hand over billions to Brussels.
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The family, and parental responsibility for bringing up children, are increasingly being questioned. The state is making
ever greater incursions into the parental sphere. Children
are supposed to begin compulsory schooling at the age of
just four, and if the educational bureaucrats have their way,
they will be integrated into state care even earlier. Instead
of being able to carry out their real task of educating the
children in their charge, teachers are being overwhelmed
with paperwork and constantly changing reforms. The Federal Parliament has even decreed that tax relief for child
care should be paid only to families who entrust the task
to someone else. The SVP’s family initiative demands that
parents who look after their children themselves should be
entitled to at least the same tax benefits.
National Councillor Toni Brunner,
Chairman of the Swiss People’s Party
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Switzerland – an exception
Self-determination
and self-confidence
Our nation is a liberal state with comprehensive freedoms and citizens’ rights, a
neutral foreign policy and a federalist political order. The SVP is committed to an
independent Switzerland that is open to the world: one that maintains good political, economic and cultural relations with all nations but at the same time protects
its own sovereignty and makes its own decisions. What binds us together is a patriotism that is not tied to a single culture or language but rather to a shared history
and a commitment to a unique political system without which our multicultural
nation could not enjoy the freedoms that we cherish today. We are united by our
commitment to a system based on independence, federalism, direct democracy, permanent armed neutrality and subsidiarity.
Commitment to Switzerland’s unique system
stability, security and prosperity. If we abandon our commitment to that uniqueness and give up one or more of the
pillars on which our state is built, we risk endangering the
quality of Switzerland as a whole.
The federal state we know today was created more than 160
years ago as a democratic, federal republic surrounded by
European monarchies. Later, this unique system was extended, with the expansion of direct rights of popular codetermination, to form what is now a highly modern concept of a small state founded on direct democracy. It has no
parallel anywhere else in the world. Despite adverse external
conditions, it has brought us almost two centuries of peace,
Focusing on our strengths
Values such as dependability, modesty, punctuality, thrift
and hard work have traditionally characterised the Swiss
people. They have also helped to define Swiss products and
services, and made the concept of Swiss quality a valued asset throughout the world. We have never been good at playing catch-up or imitating others. Problems should be solved
where they are known and understood. If we are to deal
ourselves with the problems we face, we need our own legal
system in a sovereign state that is capable of action. The
belief that others can solve our problems is misguided. In
The uniqueness of the Swiss
«You Swiss are wonderful people. Even when
you are divided, you are united, and you
never forget your old friendship.»
Johann Jakob Sturm, Mayor of Strasbourg, marking the
First Peace of Kappel in 1529
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ereignty. Because we are more careful with public money
at Confederation, cantonal and municipal level than other
countries, we are now coming under considerable external
pressure. International committees draw up «black» and
«grey» lists based on arbitrary criteria. Yet the people behind them are the very same politicians who have emptied
the coffers through maladministration. We should oppose
this attempted interference in our internal affairs with all
the strength at our disposal.
any case, there are scarcely any examples to follow, since few
countries have begun tackling the difficulties that we too
face: national indebtedness, weak growth, unemployment,
a ballooning social welfare system, poor education, crime
and mass immigration.
Direct democracy: a system
without parallel
Since the creation of the federal state,
Switzerland has held more votes and elections than all the other countries in the
world combined. Swiss people have more
opportunities to vote in a single year than
the British, for example, enjoy in their entire
lifetime.
The nation state – a recipe for success
Our nation has always fared well when it has looked to its
unique status rather than imitating others or «harmonising» with international organisations. Switzerland’s recipe
for success consists in the principle of contrariety: Switzerland was a republic surrounded by monarchies, it held
the banner of democracy and freedom aloft in the midst of
dictatorships, and it continues to go its own, independent
way amidst an «integrated» European Union. By pursuing this unique path, Switzerland has developed in a short
space of time from the «poorhouse of Europe» to one of
the wealthiest countries in the world. The ability to solve
political problems is and remains tied to nation states with
the freedom to act. Only they have the necessary material,
human, financial and military resources. It is for this reason
that recent years have seen the creation of more new states
worldwide than in many decades previously – and most of
those states are small.
Federalism has a future
Our federal state – a union of minorities – would be inconceivable without extensive federal rights being granted
to the cantons and municipalities. In a nation created by
the voluntary association of different communities, federalism is the only way to secure unity. Only federalism gives
citizens the highest possible degree of democratic co-determination within a manageable framework. Centralist decisions taken over the heads of the people lead to resignation,
disillusionment with politics and, not least, maladministration. The closer to the people the decisions are taken, the
more efficient and sensible is the use made of public funds.
The smaller the political unit, the more prudently it manages its resources. For all these reasons, increasing numbers
of people in many countries are demanding more federalism and co-determination and have had enough of remote
decision making and democratic deficits.
Where we stand
The SVP
is committed to Switzerland’s unique system of a state founded on
independence, federalism, direct democracy and permanent armed
neutrality, and subsidiarity;
favours a liberal state with comprehensive freedoms and rights for its
citizens;
fights to maintain and extend the rights of the citizen and opposes
all undemocratic limitations (such as legal restrictions on popular
initiatives);
is opposed to attempts by self-serving politicians and the federal
administration to abandon Switzerland’s unique system under the
pretext of integration and harmonisation;
calls for reliable «Swiss quality» in politics, the economy and society
instead of status-consciousness, complacency and grandstanding;
demands that our public authorities remain steadfast in the face
of increasing pressure on our sovereignty from other states and
international organisations;
backs our independent currency, the Swiss franc, the expansion of
the national gold reserves and the maintenance of gold stocks in
Switzerland;
Preserving the currency, gold and tax sovereignty
believes that a federal state with the power to act remains the best
way of resolving political problems.
Without its own currency and central bank, Switzerland
would have been far less well placed to weather the global
financial crisis that began in 2008. Many foreign clients,
fearing for the future of their savings, brought their assets
to Switzerland and purchased Swiss francs. This has taught
us the wisdom of retaining our own currency and not giving up our strong franc in exchange for the weak euro. We
should be looking after our national bank’s gold stocks; instead of selling them off, we should actually be increasing
them. Tax competition between cantons and municipalities has made a substantial contribution to our prosperity.
Switzerland is also a special case when it comes to tax sov-
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Defending
freedom against
threats
The concept of the mature citizen playing a full part in shaping the nation’s fate currently faces major challenges. Globalisation and international ties mean that decisions are increasingly being taken away from the people and placed in the hands of
political committees, courts, international organisations and civil servants. Creeping internationalisation, bureaucratisation, centralisation and harmonisation are a
threat to our direct democracy. The gradual process of disenfranchisement is being
carried out under the seemingly attractive mantra of «increased efficiency». The
cantons and municipalities now have little power to take their own decisions; rather,
they primarily implement the law as laid down by the federal government. People
are expected to acquiesce meekly in orders handed down from above. They are increasingly required to justify themselves to authority and have their actions monitored and controlled.
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The public authorities as compliant agents
Creeping harmonisation with foreign law
The SVP demands that all politicians and judges act resolutely to defend our Swiss legal system. The federal government, by contrast, increasingly adopts prescriptions laid
down by international organisations, the cantons do what
the federal government tells them, and the municipalities
take their orders from the cantons. Public servants at all
levels have less and less power to influence matters, and are
downgraded to the status of mere agents. The constant increase in the number of non-party members in municipal
authorities is a worrying development. They often lack a
consistent philosophy, are accountable to no-one and accord less value to municipal autonomy than, for example,
representatives of the SVP. There is a danger that they will
become mere administrators and bureaucrats, willingly
carrying out instructions from above, to the detriment of
the citizenry.
Our Swiss legal system is increasingly being amended to
bring it closer into line with EU and international law. Yet
EU law and international law are made not by the people,
but by civil servants, experts, professors and politicians. We
adopt numerous EU regulations where there is no need to
do so. The European Convention on Human Rights, too,
goes far beyond binding international law and threatens the
liberties on which our state is founded. As a result of the
Citizens in the true sense of the word
«The small state exists to ensure that there
is one place in the world where the largest
proportion of the state’s citizens are citizens
in the true sense of the word.»
Jacob Burckhardt: Weltgeschichtliche Betrachtungen,
Berlin 1905
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UN Convention on Racial Discrimination, an offence has
been created in the penal code that restricts freedom of expression. A UN agreement essentially obliges us to provide
access to tertiary education for everyone. The European
Social Charter, to which Switzerland is a signatory, would,
if ratified, oblige us to constantly expand the welfare state.
German-speaking regions of Switzerland. Unlike parliament, the people will elect their government without selfserving, petty-minded scheming, party-political intrigues
and agreements reached in smoke-filled rooms. Moreover,
the media have less influence on the citizenry than they do
on parliamentarians. The federal councillors elected by the
people would be more inclined to represent the interests of
the people and not spend their time abroad apologising for
popular decisions. Conversely, the people would have more
responsibility for the government and could no longer simply argue that «the powers that be just do what they want.»
For all these reasons, popular elections to the Federal Council would improve Switzerland’s political situation.
Democracy: a form of state that offers alternatives
Instead of granting citizens the freedom to make their own
judgments, our public authorities increasingly act as their
moral guardians. But our state is not a moral institution,
but rather an association entered into for the sole purpose
of creating and maintaining the rule of law. The moralising opinions increasingly voiced by the Federal Council are
questionable and unacceptable. Democracy is a form of
state that offers alternatives. There must always be scope for
a yes and a no answer, without advocates of one or the other
view being shouted down or even dismissed as morally inferior. It is equally undemocratic when the Federal Council
or parliament bundles popular vote proposals together with
the express intention of frustrating the will of the people.
We must also oppose judgments of the Federal Supreme
Court that limit or even disregard the will of the people as
expressed in popular votes.
Abolish restrictions on freedom of expression
Contrary to promises made at the time, the scope of the
criminal offence of racial discrimination narrowly accepted
by the electorate in 1994 has been consistently expanded
by the decisions of the courts. Recently, opinions voiced in
private and the words of carnival verses have been brought
within the remit of the law. Academic research is impaired
when, for example, guest speakers from abroad are charged
with criminal offences based on their view of history. This
creates international enmity and lays us open to the accusation that we are anything but exemplary when it comes to
the defence of liberty. Indeed, a climate of intimidation is
spreading throughout the country, one in which the left uses
the force of law to impose its taboos on discussion of topics
such as immigration policy, abuse of the social security system and development aid. The chairman of the racism commission misuses his office to vent his loathing of the SVP and
argue in favour of EU accession. This muzzling of opinion is
unworthy of a free people and the law should be abolished.
Direct democracy: what the German
schoolbook says
Question: «Why do we not have direct
democracy?» Answers: «lack of specialist
knowledge – political apathy among
many citizens – complexity of political
processes – danger of emotionalisation –
organisational problems.»
Horst Pötzsch: Grundrechte. Published by the Federal
Agency for Civic Education, Vol. 239, Bonn 1993
Citizens, not the courts, should decide
Political decisions should be taken as close to the citizenry as
possible. The municipality is the smallest political unit and is
closest to the people. Decisions on matters of local concern
such as complementary educational offerings, nursery places,
charges for water supply and mergers of municipalities and
associations should be taken at municipal level wherever possible, because that is the proper place to do so. The courts
must not go beyond the principles of the Constitution and
curtail the rights of the citizens. The SVP cannot accept the
increasing restrictions on democratic rights or the growing
trend for the judiciary – one of three state powers with equal
rights – to place itself above the democratic process. Municipalities should therefore be allowed to take final decisions for
themselves regarding the form of naturalisation procedures.
The people’s choice for the people’s wellbeing
In every canton in Switzerland, the government is elected
directly by the people. This is an expression of the principle
of popular sovereignty that is enshrined in the Constitution.
It is only at federal level that the most important electoral
power of a sovereign people – that of the supreme national
governing body – lies with parliament. The SVP wants to
see a decisive step taken towards full democracy at federal
level, through popular elections to the Federal Council. As
is the case in most cantonal governments and municipal
councils, these elections should be conducted via a majority
voting system, guaranteeing at least two seats for the non-
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Where we stand
The SVP
is opposed to the creeping disenfranchisement of the citizenry
through globalisation, internationalisation and centralisation;
demands that elected authorities defend our legal system rather than
constantly implementing foreign law;
demands that EU law should not be automatically implemented when
this is not in Switzerland’s interest;
opposes the trend towards centralisation and the expansion of the
remit of the federal government;
supports communal authorities and municipal assemblies with the
power to influence matters rather than simply carrying out instructions from above;
wants the government and administration to keep out of popular
votes and refrain from restricting popular democracy by bundling
proposals together;
rejects mergers of municipalities, districts, offices and cantons
ordained from above;
defends the democratic rights of the citizenry and opposes the
tendency of the courts to place themselves above democracy;
believes that the Federal Council should be elected by the people;
demands the strengthening of freedom of expression by the repeal
of the criminal offence of racial discrimination and the abolition of
the federal racism commission.
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Property
Protection against
left-wing robbery
Property ownership means the right to dispose freely of material and intellectual
property legally acquired. Without a constitutional guarantee of property rights,
individual self-determination as well as a free, prosperous and contented society are
impossible. The guaranteed right of property is a precondition of every successful
economic order. Such property must be able to be freely sold at any time and also
inherited. Lack of protection for property leads to irresponsibility, arbitrariness and
mass poverty. History has repeatedly demonstrated that as soon as a state ceases to
guarantee the property of its inhabitants, or takes that property away from them,
their lives and wellbeing are at risk. Furnishing the guarantee of private property
is therefore one of the most important tasks of a free and democratic state. The
protection of property also implies respect for privacy. There have been a number
of questionable attacks on this principle in recent times (bank client confidentiality, postal secrecy, the secrecy of the ballot, etc.). Decisive steps need to be taken to
reverse this trend.
An advantage for those who own
property and those who do not (yet)
«I for my part would certainly rather live
without property in a country where many
others own something than have to live
somewhere where all property is collectively
owned and assigned to uses dictated by
state power.»
Opposing left-wing robbery
Anyone who works, puts some money aside, and hopes to
enjoy the benefit of their savings later on, has every reason
to oppose left-wing policies. Every move by the left is aimed
at acquiring more money and depriving people of their
property. No-one is more materialistic and self-serving than
the leftists, who seek to solve every problem using other
people’s money. Whether it is the integration of foreigners,
early retirement, the sixth week of paid holidays, minimum
wages, childcare facilities, family allowances, day schools
or parental leave: for the left, everything is a question of
money. They have established a comfortable existence for
themselves in their apparatus of redistribution and live a
Friedrich August von Hayek, Nobel Prize winner:
Die Anmassung von Wissen, Tübingen 1996
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Property
The SP and property
«Property ownership must not simply be a
right; it must also be a responsibility. Its use
must serve the general good. Social democrats are committed to a property ownership system that takes account of differing
ecological or economic responsibilities, with
laws governing personal, private, public, corporate and cooperative use and disposal.»
life of ease at the expense of others. Their ingenuity in finding new sources of state income through taxes, levies, fees
and deductions is virtually limitless. Almost every left-wing
activity is carried on at the cost of our citizens’ property.
Less bureaucracy in planning and construction law
The right to dispose of one’s own land is one of the most
important property rights. Sensible spatial planning should
ensure the separation of urban development areas from
non-development areas. It must adhere to the principle of
ensuring the economic use of construction land while at
the same time safeguarding cultivated land, forest and recreational areas so that they can perform their utility and
protective functions. The SVP supports a system of spatial
planning and land law that provides a reliable framework
for the long term and also respects private property. The
SVP opposes bureaucratic planning and interventions that
regulate each use down to the last detail and take no account of individual needs and competitive conditions. It is
essential to enable the efficient use of the existing construction land and building stock. The SVP calls for leaner and
simpler approval and appeal procedures. This is the only
way to avoid unnecessary costs and reduce locational disadvantages.
Party programme of the SP Switzerland, second draft by
the Executive Committee, 10.9.2010
No expropriation through progressive taxation
Proportionate taxation to finance the essential tasks of the
state is entirely appropriate and compatible with property
ownership. However, there is a problem with the progressive tax system currently in force in this country, which
essentially infringes the guarantee of property. As soon as
we accept the principle that higher incomes are taxed at a
higher rate, there is no logical limit, even to the point where
all income above a certain amount is entirely swallowed up
by taxation. This tax system, which is hostile to property
ownership, is fixed by a majority that benefits from it without having to bear the main burden of taxation itself. The
SVP believes that unreasonable assaults on high levels of
wealth and income weaken property and ultimately hurt
those who are less well off.
More freedom for residential property
The acquisition of residential property is an important
property right. Yet here too, increasingly prescriptive and
restrictive state regulation poses major risks. The wellbeing
of tenants can only be secured by ensuring the wellbeing of
landlords. If investment, construction and renovation are
made worthwhile, there will also be sufficient residential
accommodation available at reasonable prices. The current
overregulation of tenancy law places severe restrictions on
the workings of the free market. The SVP therefore demands
a relaxation of the property management regulations in tenancy law and an easing of rent controls. The SVP demands
that tax incentives be provided to encourage ownership of
houses and apartments. The existing system of imputed
rental value taxation discourages property ownership. The
SVP has serious reservations concerning the construction
of housing by the state. Where the public sector intervenes
as a powerful property owner, planning conditions lead
to a feudal allocation process and unfair rental privileges.
So-called «social housing construction» is profoundly antisocial, because it privileges a few while at the same time
disadvantaging the many who do not enjoy those privileges.
Extending protection to intellectual property
In addition to protecting material property, the state must
also safeguard intellectual property. A functioning system
of patent law is essential to our economy – one in which
knowledge, research and the development and production
of high-quality goods play a key role. In our country, more
research and development is conducted outside universities and in the private sector than in almost any other nation worldwide. This can only happen if, as a result of their
efforts, producers obtain a product that belongs to them.
Here too, the principle of private property must apply. The
same applies to the rights of artists to both word and sound.
Socialism opposes intellectual property and the patents that
go with it, preferring instead to distribute everything to everybody. The result is bankruptcy, collapse and a moribund
economy.
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Where we stand
Property
The SVP
defends the right to property enshrined in the Constitution against
the attacks of socialists in all parties and organisations;
supports a freedom-based system of spatial planning and land law
that respects private property;
demands leaner and simpler approval and appeal procedures in
planning and construction law;
demands more tax incentives for house and apartment ownership;
advocates the abolition of taxation on imputed rental value, which is
inimical to property ownership, while at the same time maintaining
the tax relief on debt interest that favours investment;
is highly sceptical of housebuilding by the state and considers «social
housing construction» to be anti-social;
opposes unreasonable scales of progressive taxation;
defends intellectual property as an important foundation of
Switzerland’s status as a research and production location;
is committed to the protection of privacy.
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More for the private
sector, less for
the state
Our financial and tax policy determines all the other tasks of the state. The state
needs money to perform the tasks we entrust to it. However, people have a right to
expect that the taxes, levies and fees they pay are used efficiently and responsibly.
Regrettably, Switzerland’s financial policy situation remains unsatisfactory. Despite
all the savings and relief programmes, the state’s budget continues to grow. Across
Switzerland as a whole, since 1990 social security spending and transfer payments
have displaced other responsibilities from the public budget. The federal government has neither an effective list of financial policy priorities nor a strategic objective, let alone an effective plan for reining in unnecessary expenditure.
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No sign of savings
Switzerland is falling behind
Between 2000 and 2010, the government’s spending rose by
around 28 percent. In the same period, its income grew by
just 14 percent. The state has thus grown much faster than
the economy as a whole.1 Between 2010 and 2014, spending is set to rise by a further 12 percent, and income by 16
percent.2 Public sector headcount continues to grow, and
constitutes a burden on the taxpayer. The federal government is living beyond its means: the expansion of the state
continues to far outstrip economic growth and inflation.
Switzerland is becoming less and less able to compete with
other countries. Government spending as a proportion of
national income as well as taxation and debt levels have risen massively since 1980. The accusations of «ruinous cuts»
and «slash and burn policies» made by the etatists and the
left are entirely without foundation.
Thirty years ago, Switzerland was one of the most consistently market-oriented countries in the world. Our country’s economy is still in a healthy condition when we compare it with EU neighbours such as Germany and France.
Yet in terms of per capita income, Switzerland has fallen
steadily behind in the race with countries such as Singapore
and the US since 1980. We have missed many opportunities
to liberalise and privatise, preferring instead consistently
to expand the social welfare and redistribution system. In
short: the burden of the state has continuously increased.
The reason that Singapore and the US have overtaken us is
that in those countries, the state is small and decentralised.
For this reason, there are also good financial policy reasons
to foster direct democracy: it is closer to the needs of the
citizen, leads to lower government spending, better and
cheaper public provision and higher per capita income.
23
1
FDF: State Accounts 2000–2009
2
FDF: 2010 estimate and financial plan for 2012–2014
Alarming levels of government debt
ing majority of 84 percent. We are living on tick, allowing
ourselves more than we are entitled to now at the expense
of the future. And the left call this practice of making purchases using our children’s credit cards «social», «an expression of solidarity» and «sustainability»!
Constant pressure by the SVP to combat government debt
has begun to bear fruit. Nevertheless, in 2010 debt at federal
government level alone remains at 112 billion francs – or
58,000 francs for a family of four. 3 Politicians in Bern have
succeeded in almost tripling the debt mountain between
1990 and 2010. By 2014, debt is set to rise to 118 billion
francs. The total debt of the federal government, cantons,
municipalities and social welfare institutions amounts to
no less than 212 billion francs, or 108,000 francs for a family of four. This is despite the application of a debt brake
which the electorate approved in 2001 with an overwhelm-
Tax cuts – thanks to the SVP
Jobs and prosperity can only be preserved if citizens are
given more freedom to dispose of their money as they see
fit. Today, we spend half the year working to pay compulsory state levies (taxes, premiums, and fees). The only way
to foster more private investment, increased consumption
Changes in tax to GDP ratio 1990 –2008
Structure of federal expenditure
2011
2%
6%
8%
5%
6%
(in percentage points)
35%
9%
10%
33%
6
5.5
3.0
2
0.2
S
IR
NL
CA
USA
-1.3
-2
-4
-4.3
J
-0.9
0.8
E
1.2
F
1.7
1.7
DK OECD
2.2
2.2
D
B
A
13%
28%
3.3
CH
10%
12%
4
-6
The SVP is the party of federalism and therefore the tax sovereignty of the cantons and municipalities. This is the only
way to ensure competition and the only way to force complacent governments to design their tax policy in a way that
Structure of federal revenues
2011
3%
4%
0
Preserving tax competition
and therefore more growth, jobs and training places is to
relieve the burden by reducing taxes and levies. The SVP is
opposed to all new taxes, levies and fees and calls for further tax relief. In a number of cantons, we have succeeded in
lowering the tax rate. Questions of interpretation in taxes,
levies and fees should be resolved in favour of the tax- and
fee-paying public and companies.
I
SF GB
-0.6
-3.8 -3.6
Total: 61.9 bn francs
16%
Total: 62.5 bn francs
Value added tax
35%
Social welfare
33%
Direct federal tax
28%
Finances and taxes
16%
Consumption taxes
12%
Transport
13%
Other revenues
9%
Other expenditure
10%
Withholding tax
6%
Education and research
10%
Stamp duties
4%
National defence
8%
Transport taxes
3%
Agriculture
6%
Regalia /concessions
2%
Foreign relations
5%
-5.9
Source: OECD Revenue Statistics, December 2010
FDF: State Accounts 2009 and estimate for 2010, financial plan for 2012–2014;
SFSO: population statistics
3
24
Source: economiesuisse, dossierpolitik No. 22, 2010
Source: economiesuisse, dossierpolitik No. 22, 2010
25
Where we stand
The SVP on government economic
programmes
«There is no point in the Federal Council and
the centre-left parties enacting three economic programmes costing almost two billion francs if the populace are to be deprived
of over eight billion francs of purchasing
power through a rise in value added tax.»
favours the citizens rather than their own administrative
interests. Extortionate pressure from the European Union
on the Swiss tax system should be resisted at all costs. No
negotiations should take place and no alternative proposals should be made. Increasing interference by the Federal
Supreme Court in tax decisions taken in the cantons by the
electorate must also be rejected. The principle of taxation in
accordance with economic capacity requires different levels
of tax for different levels of income. A degressive tax rate
also takes account of this principle.
SVP Chairman Toni Brunner in the National Council,
17.9.2009
The SVP
fights for balanced budgets at all levels of the political system,
thereby ensuring that the state does not spend more than its income;
supports disclosure of the number of public sector employees at all
levels;
demands a reduction in the number of federal government employees to year 2000 levels (2009 = 33,056, 2000 = 28,221) and a massive
decrease in personnel expenses;
is committed to tax cuts to encourage consumption and rejects
ineffective economic programmes;
advocates a simplification of the tax system with more lump-sum
deductions and lower tax rates instead of a large number of
deductions for individual interests;
calls for a 1 percent reduction in value added tax and a cut in
corporation tax from 8.5 percent to 5 percent;
is opposed to value added tax reform if it is misused to increase
government income;
rejects the introduction of a standard rate for value added tax, as
this would make luxury goods cheaper and basic foodstuffs more
expensive;
demands a reduction in the taxation of business assets for sole
proprietorships and partnerships;
supports an examination of the possibility of subjecting social
welfare institutions to the debt brake.
26
27
«It is regulation» –
says the bureaucrat
Three quarters of jobs in Switzerland are in small and medium-sized companies
(SMEs) with less than 250 employees.4 SMEs are the backbone of our economy and
are responsible for training almost 70 percent of our apprentices.5 Equally, however,
we recognise the major importance of international corporations which, although
they generate only a small proportion of their value added in Switzerland, are key
customers for local suppliers and service providers. They depend on having favourable conditions in which to operate; for them, Switzerland is just one location that
must compete with others. Although Switzerland may be a small state in political
terms, its innovative companies mean it is a significant player in the global economy.
No other party represents the interests of business and commerce as consistently
and competently as the SVP. The vast majority of its popular representatives in the
National Council and cantonal parliaments are self-employed and active in the private sector.
Thinning out the jungle of regulation
650 hours of unpaid work dealing with red tape; in 1986 the
figure was 360 hours.7 That adds up to unproductive costs
of 7 billion francs a year for business. Government regulations covering social insurance, employment law, health
and safety at work and food hygiene alone generate costs
of 4 billion francs.8 The SVP supports more freedom and
less regulation, lower taxes, no double taxation of company
profits, relief from direct federal tax for companies, low in-
Companies and trades have to battle their way through
a jungle of government regulations which impairs their
performance and competitiveness. All this red tape costs
SMEs some 50 billion francs.6 In surveys, the most frequently mentioned weakness of Switzerland is excessive
state bureaucracy. The growing deluge of laws, ordinances
and complicated tax invoicing procedures puts jobs at risk.
Regulations governing construction, spatial planning, the
environment, energy, business management, social security,
supply and waste disposal are becoming ever more stringent, and the burden is borne mainly by small businesses.
Every one of Switzerland’s 300,000 SMEs now has to spend
28
29
4
SFSO: business census 2008
5
SFSO: The Changing SME Landscape (2008), business census 2005 and 2008
6
Report of the Federal Council: simplification of everyday business life 2006
7
Swiss Trades Association: Reducing the administrative burden on SMEs (2005)
8
KPMG: Assessment of Regulation Costs for Swiss SMEs (2010)
Increase in fees levied by federal, cantonal and municipal
government
(revenues in billion francs)
10
5
12.848985
25.016843
20.984777
15
18.520014
20
23.349249
25
27.093739
30
Switzerland owes a substantial proportion of its prosperity to the health of its financial centres. These generate 12
percent of value added and between 12 and 15 percent of
the country’s tax income; 5.8 of the workforce are employed
in the big banks, private banks and insurance companies. 10
There are also many knowledge-intensive providers such
as asset managers, lawyers, fiduciaries, auditors, recruitment firms and so on. This strength of our economy must
be protected against all attempts to bring pressure to bear
by the EU, OECD and competing foreign financial centres.
Clients of our financial sector, be they from Switzerland or
abroad, must continue to receive a guarantee of personal
freedom, discretion and privacy. The SVP therefore opposes
all further attempts to water down our traditional bank client confidentiality. Stamp duties, which prevent many attractive transactions from coming to Switzerland, must be
abolished. Appropriate structural regulations must be put
in place to reduce the threat to the economy from large financial service providers which, because they are «too big
to fail», would endanger the entire economy if they collapsed. In banks which would have to be bailed out by the
federal government in a crisis, variable salary components
(bonuses) should be paid into a blocked account. The money would only be paid out after a few years, and then only if
the institution has not requested government aid.
More freedom for business
«There needs to be a renewed emphasis on
entrepreneurial freedom and individual responsibility, and the state should limit itself
to its core tasks. Only a lean state guarantees
sufficient entrepreneurial freedom.»
SVP National Councillor Bruno Zuppiger, Chairman
of the Swiss Trades Association, Swiss Trade News,
21.5.2010
Job creation is the really social act
2007
2005
2003
2000
1995
0
1990
Financial centres drive the economy
in the activities of these «rip-off merchants». They and
those who profit with them are making a good living out of
their relationship, creaming off billions of taxpayers’ money
for themselves and their clientele. The attack on the property rights of companies that invest in research through
so-called parallel imports is unacceptable. Esoteric attacks
on our globally active pharmaceutical industry as well as
companies in the flourishing biotechnology and life sciences sectors should also be resisted. It would be disastrous
if we were to jeopardise the jobs and value added in those
sectors by giving way to the fanatical enemies of technology
or self-appointed animal welfare activists.
Source: FDF, Switzerland’s public finances
terest rates and cheap energy. For years now, the party has
been arguing for the abolition of the right of appeal for associations, an anti-business measure that enables a few professional objectors to sabotage necessary investments in the
future and therefore growth and prosperity. The SVP seeks
a revision of stock corporation law to prevent excessively
high salaries and to protect private property against managerial excesses.
economic life. Markets and competition are being replaced
by government regulation and interventionism. Unnecessary monopolies such as the post office, the Suva accident
insurance fund or the SRG make services more expensive
and prevent genuine competition. Outside experts, consultants and opinion formers closely linked to the federal government rake in almost a billion francs every year.9 Mandates are often granted on the basis of connections rather
than by public tender. The service delivered is whatever the
administration expects, because what matters is personal
and political backscratching. The left does nothing to rein
Markets not sleaze
Although socialist economic systems have failed disastrously around the world, increasing attempts continue to be
made to foist the ideas of the planned economy upon our
9
30
A veritable programme of leftist re-education has resulted
in freedom, individual responsibility and entrepreneurial
effort now being regarded almost with suspicion. The duty
of employers and businesspeople to make a profit is considered morally questionable. Yet hard-working entrepreneurs,
tradesmen and craftsmen are the real «social workers» in
our country. It is not those who hand out other people’s
money or convert their moralism into a well-paid profession who are social and moral. The really socially minded
people are those who earn money, make profits, invest them
and create jobs. The really socially minded are those who
take responsibility for themselves and their own. Left-wing
policies lead to lower growth and more unemployment.
They weaken commerce and the business location, and especially the many SMEs that offer the bulk of the jobs and
training places. By contrast, public sector jobs, which have
grown particularly fast once again in recent times, are a
burden on the economy. More civil servants means more
bureaucracy and actionism, and that in turn has to be paid
for by businesses and other taxpayers.
Switzerland’s locational advantages
«Switzerland’s classic locational advantages
still apply. Employees are well trained and
loyal. They are also ready to work hard. The
dual training system is another advantage.
It is vital that we look after it.»
SVP National Councillor Peter Spuhler, owner of the
Stadler Rail Group, NZZ online, 16.9.2010
Control committee of the Council of States: Scope, Competitive Orientation and
Control of the Use of Experts in the Federal Administration (2006)
10
31
SBA: The Swiss Financial Centre and its Importance (2009)
Where we stand
The SVP
supports the large, medium-sized and small enterprises that are the
foundation of our prosperity;
fights for more freedom and less expensive red tape for our
companies;
demands the consistent enforcement of the existing legal system
instead of new prohibitions;
demands that the state refrain from competing with or hindering
business;
supports the abolition of the right of appeal for associations;
calls for a simplification of value added tax and a reduction in the
profits tax on companies in the direct federal tax;
supports the removal of the statistics-gathering burden on smaller
companies;
is opposed to the cosy coterie of left-wing pseudo-companies
working hand in hand with the state;
Regulations also impair tourism
Maintaining competitiveness
«If we are to remain competitive in the face
of aggressive rivalry from other countries,
it is vital that we reduce the burden of taxes
and fees.»
Large numbers of people, from both Switzerland and
abroad, support our tourist industry as they enjoy our
natural environment, sport, wellness and cultural and culinary offerings. Tourism supports large numbers of jobs
and is an important part of the Swiss economy. Yet access
to the unique natural beauty of our country is made more
difficult by factors such as the strong franc, high costs and
outdated structures. As an exceptional measure to assist the
tourist industry in continuing to provide new and innovative offerings, the SVP supports the maintenance of the reduced value added tax rate for the hotel sector, which promotes exports. Bureaucratic and regulatory requirements,
by contrast, weaken competitiveness and make products
and services more expensive.
SVP National Councillor and entrepreneur Jean-François
Rime, Freiburger Nachrichten, 20.9.2007
backs the Swiss financial centre and Swiss bank client confidentiality;
calls for an effective stock corporation law to protect property
against managerial excesses;
advocates a special value added tax rate for the hotel and catering
industry.
32
33
Foreign policy
Defend – don’t give up
our interests
The goal of Swiss foreign policy is set down in Article 2 of the Federal Constitution:
«The Swiss Confederation shall protect the liberty and rights of the people and safeguard the independence and security of the country.» The people are sovereign and
determine the fate and future of Switzerland in freedom and independence. Their
freedom of action is limited only by binding international law. The Swiss people
and their elected representatives oversee the exercise of foreign policy by the Federal
Council. The Federal Council and federal parliamentarians undertake, by their oath
or vow, to uphold the Constitution and the law. This Constitution charges the Federal Council and parliament with taking «measures to safeguard the external security, independence and neutrality of Switzerland.» The constant, creeping surrender
of sovereignty, citizens’ rights and neutrality over the last two decades conflicts with
the remit of our foreign policy as set out in the Constitution. The same applies to
treaties that impose unreasonable disadvantages on Switzerland. The Swiss Penal
Code states: «any person who, as the authorised representative of the Confederation, conducts negotiations with a foreign government which are intended to be
detrimental to the Confederation shall be liable to a custodial sentence of not less
than one year.»
Preserving neutrality
of all to guarantee the independence of our citizens’ judgment. The moralising opinions increasingly voiced by the
Federal Council on every conceivable international problem are questionable and unacceptable. For centuries, the
Swiss people have required their government and administration to stand quietly by and not to judge or condemn
in the name of the populace – so as to avoid dragging the
population into conflicts, and even wars, for which they are
then expected to take responsibility. The SVP is firmly committed to the successful model of neutrality, which is deeply
Our perpetual armed neutrality is not an end in itself or a
simple matter of habit; rather, it ensures the independence
of Switzerland and its citizens. That includes not just political freedom, but also – and especially – the intellectual
and moral freedom of independent judgment. Our state is
an association entered into for a specific purpose and not
the moral guardian either of the citizens or of the community of nations. The purpose of our neutrality is not least
34
35
Foreign policy
Foreign policy
the Security Council a veto, thus putting strength ahead of
justice. This Security Council takes sides, imposes boycotts
and conducts wars – though because it has no armed forces
of its own it is forced to obtain these from NATO and the
US. The supposed collective security of the UN and the simultaneous leadership of an individual state are mutually
incompatible. For these reasons it does not make sense for
neutral Switzerland to play an active part in the UN Security Council.
Unemployment rates by country October 2010
(In Percent)
25
20.7
19.4
20
18.4
15
12.2
11 10.9
9.9 9.8 9.7 9.6 9.6
10
8.6 8.5
8.1 8.0
7.8 7.8 7.6
7.1 6.9
6.7
5
5
4.8 4.4
3.6 3.5
Switzerland
Norway*
Netherlands
Austria
Luxembourg
Germany
Czech Republic
Romania*
Slovenia
UK*
Denmark
Finland
Sweden
Belgium
Italy
USA
EU (27)
Poland
France
Bulgaria
Hungary
Portugal
Greece*
Ireland
Lithuania
0
Latvia
Annual salary in francs for an employee aged 35 with two children
(gross salary in francs)
Zurich BerlinParis
Primary school teacher
95’847
62’61240’653
Call centre agent
45’995
35’60928’784
Skilled industrial worker
87’093
42’87938’131
106’233
67’21265’134
The EU: a flawed intellectual construction
14.1
Spain
Wage comparison Switzerland–EU
* Q2 2010
Source: Eurostat (November 2010), SFSO (November 2010)
The UN: might not right
entrenched in the people and enjoys widespread support. It
opposes the flawed concept of «active neutrality», which is
a contradiction in terms. We need a diplomacy that is less
about finger-pointing and more about setting an example.
A foreign policy based on fine words, hypocrisy and the
scapegoat mentality makes us enemies and angers our trading partners.
In 2002, following an extremely close referendum result,
Switzerland joined the United Nations despite the opposition of the SVP. Already active in the humanitarian field,
it now thus became part of a political institution, the UN.
The UN is anything but an association of exemplarily democratic, free and humane nations. In many of its member
states, human rights are trampled on, political dissidents
are tortured and imprisoned, women are oppressed and
children exploited, while nepotism, corruption and waste
are rampant. Yet now Switzerland finds itself being regularly criticised by the so-called Human Rights Council. The
UN is an organisation based not on right but on might. It
grants special treatment to the powerful: since it was established in 1945, it has granted five permanent members of
The SP wants to abolish neutrality
Ambassador Anton Thalmann from the
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs
states: «Neutrality is no longer required and
should be quietly put to sleep.» The SP has
adopted this proposal in its new party
programme. «Neutrality» is no longer
mentioned.
36
The SVP’s emphatic warnings during the EEA referendum
in 1992 can now be seen to be correct: the European Union
is a flawed intellectual construction. The attempt to impose
a common legal and currency system on countries with
completely different mentalities, histories, social systems,
debt levels and economic performance has failed. The euro
was created as a political currency that failed to take account of differing economic realities, and its value is steadily declining. The hard-working finance the idle, and that
leads to discontent, tension and conflict. An already highly
indebted EU has been forced to put together emergency
packages costing hundreds of billions of euros that no-one
has. Due to our membership of the International Monetary
Fund, which the SVP opposed at the time, Switzerland is
also obliged to contribute to so-called «emergency parachutes». The remoteness and democratic deficits of the
Brussels bureaucracy are the subject of constant criticism.
Switzerland, by contrast, trumps the EU in all the rankings: attractiveness as a location, prosperity, social welfare
system, debt, even the contentedness of its population. If
Switzerland is not a member of the EU today, it is thanks
not to the elites in politics, business, society and the media,
but to the unique feature of direct democracy – the people’s
right to have their say. And it is also due to the SVP, which
has fought on the side of the people against EU accession
for two decades.
Engineer
Source: UBS, Prices and Earnings, 2009
and are therefore also prepared to adopt its «dynamic legal
development» and thus voluntarily subject themselves to a
colonial treaty. Yet Switzerland is the EU’s second-largest
trading partner behind the US, and could afford to act with
far more self-assurance. The Federal Council and business associations, with their constant talk of the «bilateral
path», are talking merely about the way but not about the
goal. That goal is set out in our Federal Constitution, with
its guarantee to protect the liberty and rights of the people
and the independence and security of the country. For that
reason, the application to join the EU must finally be withdrawn. If the Federal Council and the parties of the centre
refuse to do this, it is because despite all their assertions to
the contrary they want to join the EU. The SVP supports
agreements with the EU only if these safeguard the interests of Switzerland and do not include the adoption of future law. Instead of being constantly fixated on the EU, we
should be focusing instead on openness to the world. The
promising growth markets of the future are now developing
mainly outside the EU.
Withdraw the EU accession application
Christoph Blocher on the intentions
of the Federal Council
«Why doesn’t the Federal Council finally
withdraw this application to join the EU?
Because the Federal Council is tacitly pushing us into the EU. Don’t listen to what they
say; take note of what they think and look at
what they do or don’t do.»
Since 1992, an application to join the EU has been on the
table in Brussels. In that year, the Federal Council declared
EU accession to be a «strategic objective». Since then, the
SVP has fought to secure the withdrawal of this disastrous
application. It is impossible to take a tough stand on negotiating bilateral agreements when our negotiating partner, the EU, assumes that Switzerland wants to join the EU
anyway. Today, however, the goal of official policy on the
EU is unclear – or is being deliberately concealed. The Federal Council and the administration want to join the EU
Former Federal Councillor Christoph Blocher in his
speech «Wird die Schweiz an die EU verraten?», 4.9.2010
37
Foreign policy
Deploy good offices and humanitarian
aid effectively
Grants of development aid need to be linked to repatriation
agreements for asylum seekers. Instead of increasing expenditure on development aid to 0.7 percent of gross domestic
product, tax incentives should be introduced to encourage
private donations. Payments to major multilateral projects
run by international organisations should be reduced in favour of national, preferably private development initiatives.
The Committee on International Development Cooperation is entirely one-sided politically and must be abolished.
It is not the role of a small state like Switzerland to take part
in the games of the powerful or to intervene as an arbitrator
handing down judgments on «good» or «evil». The role in
which it can be successful is as a medical assistant standing
on the touchline, offering first aid quickly, impartially and
efficiently, looking after the injured – and not even presenting a bill for doing so. Our tried and tested «good offices»
are still the most effective way of doing this. Provided the
parties involved demonstrate some desire to find a solution,
discreet diplomatic efforts to achieve peace and reconciliation should be preferred to loud declarations made during
an exercise in conference tourism. Our nation must therefore continue to serve as the diplomatic representative of
other states in their dealings with third countries. As the
depositary state of the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC), Switzerland is known around the world for
its humanitarian work, carried out voluntarily without regard to nationality, origin or conviction, and independent
of state influence. The Swiss Humanitarian Aid Unit (SHA),
with at least 700 people ready to swing into action, is suited
to direct intervention and supporting international organisations by providing specialists in disaster areas.11 In humanitarian aid too, priorities must be set and efficiency
measured. When allocating federal funds, it should be given
precedence over the increasingly interfering, ivory tower
peace bureaucrats in Geneva or Bern.
From poor to rich?
«Development aid is an excellent method for
transferring money from poor people in rich
countries to rich people in poor countries.»
Peter Thomas Bauer, 1915–2002, British development
economist
Where we stand
Foreign policy
The SVP
demands as the supreme goals of our foreign policy the preservation
of liberty, citizens’ rights, the independence and neutrality of Switzerland;
is opposed to any weakening of our permanent armed neutrality;
is opposed to all efforts to join the UN Security Council;
calls for the withdrawal of the application to join the EU lodged in
Brussels and the dismantling of the integration office;
wants no further treaties that restrict our freedom of action;
advocates the compulsory placing of important international treaties
before the people for their approval;
is opposed to all external pressure on our tax autonomy;
supports the tried and tested provision of good offices by our
diplomats, the ICRC and the Humanitarian Aid Unit;
Rethinking development aid
demands that development aid be linked to repatriation agreements
for asylum seekers and integrated into an expedient objective and
overall strategy by the Federal Council, with an annual review by
parliament;
The history of development aid and debt cancellations is
a litany of disappointments. Despite decades during which
the western industrialised nations have handed over vast
sums of money, areas such as the continent of Africa are
worse off now than they were in colonial times. Often,
public money is not only squandered, but used to shore
up dictatorial and corrupt regimes. In Africa especially, the
critical voices are growing louder. Economic growth depends not on romantic left-wing ideas about building wells,
which merely feed a vast bureaucratic apparatus and cause
third-world countries to languish in a state of dependent
supplicancy. What is needed instead is the creation of market economies, guaranteed property rights, legal certainty,
individual responsibility, political freedom and just taxation. The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation
(SDC) commands a vast annual budget of almost 1.5 billion francs.12 These cash flows need to be made completely
transparent; their efficiency needs to be monitored, and
priorities established as to how they are to be deployed.
demands that countries whose citizens cause high costs in the areas
of asylum and justice should bear part of the cost by having their
development aid cut;
advocates a reduction in payments of development aid to
non-transparent multinational bureaucracies.
38
11
www.skh.ch
12
State Accounts 2009
39
Security
A tougher line
on criminals
Not a day goes by without shocking reports of beatings, stabbings, rapes and murders. Theft, burglary and threatening behaviour are also constantly increasing, endangering the safety of the population at large. The poorest in our society are especially powerless in the face of rising violence and ruthlessness towards others.
Many women and older people are afraid to go out in the evenings and at night.
Young people are all too often exposed to acts of violence when they go out, during
their leisure time, even in the school yard. Moreover, the proportion of crimes that
are actually solved is lamentably low, because many are not even reported. The risk
of prosecution is constantly decreasing. We are witnessing a worrying upsurge in
violence, and the high levels of crime committed by foreigners and rising levels of
youth crime are particularly shocking.
Strengthening the criminal law
crimes were not sent to prison. Not only are they not put
behind bars: after their probation period has elapsed their
sentences are removed from the criminal register. Under the
previous penal code, substantially more sex criminals were
locked up than they are today.
For decades, the attitudes of the left-wing generation of
1968 have dominated our criminal justice system. According to them, criminals are primarily the victims of social
injustice; almost all have been seen as capable of responding to therapy and being reintegrated into society. They
were offered comprehensive care, while the victims and
their families were mostly left to fend for themselves. Our
legal system is currently beset by twin evils: first, our existing penal code provides for pseudo-punishments that are
not really a punishment at all. Second, all too many judges
fail to apply the sanctions that are available to them. Too
many excessively lenient sentences mean that the penalties
imposed by the courts fail to have the necessary deterrent
effect. Child abusers are often forced to pay a fine, rapists
receive a suspended sentence because it is their first offence.
In 2008, for example, 70 percent of those convicted of sex
40
Protect the victims not the criminals!
«There is an urgent need for action. But why
is nothing being done? Because politicians
are unwilling to act. The majority in parliament does nothing. And the Federal Council
consistently rejects moves to strengthen the
criminal law and impose tougher penalties
on criminals.»
SVP National Councillor Natalie Rickli, Der Zürcher Bote,
27.4.2009
41
Security
Security
The excuse of «international law»
Over 70 percent of the inmates of our prisons have foreign
passports. 15 No less than 14 percent of those convicted are
crime tourists. The Schengen Accord with the EU has led
to the removal of border controls and a rise in crime, with
the border regions among the chief victims. Another problem, particularly in the cities, is that of organised gangs of
beggars. They too profit from open borders, committing
crimes with some frequency and even using children to
further their aims.
In addition, the courts increasingly use international conventions on «human rights» as a pretext to avoid imposing appropriate penalties. Excuses including «international
law» are increasingly used to undermine the will of the
people expressed through the ballot box, or even declare
its decisions invalid. Both the «detention initiative» and the
«removal of the statute of limitations on paedophile criminals initiative» were subsequently watered down in Bern.
At the same time, a professor in Fribourg advocates in all
seriousness the introduction of Sharia courts for Muslims
in Switzerland. Here, it seems, the oft-quoted human rights
and equality for women are to be quietly disregarded. And
we have disability insurance for thieves who have had their
hand cut off! Our criminal law must return to the idea of
systematically punishing criminal acts. Wrongdoers must
know that they will have to pay for their crimes. Otherwise,
confidence in our courts and the rule of law will collapse.
The SVP demands a drastic toughening up of our criminal
law and corresponding revisions to the penal code. The emphasis must be on protecting the victims and not primarily
the perpetrators.
Deport foreign criminals
Things cannot go on like this. In the past, judges were allowed to order the deportation of criminals. Today, this is
impossible without going through a complicated procedure
with multiple opportunities for appeals and objections. It
is high time that we reimposed the rules of our country. It
was in response to this problem that the SVP launched its
deportation initiative: foreigners who commit serious and
deliberate offences against our laws must leave our country.
Foreigners who are found guilty of murder, manslaughter,
rape or robbery or who abuse our social security system
should be systematically deported. Youth violence as well is
all too often synonymous with crime committed by foreigners. Although there are no comprehensive federal statistics
on youth crime, and many young lawbreakers now have
Swiss passports, experts estimate that 75 percent of juvenile
criminals have an immigrant background.
More and more foreign criminals
Crimes of violence are at an all-time high. Over the last nine
years, the number of cases of violence against the person has
risen from around 5,500 to over 10,000. 13 There have also
been huge rises in the numbers of homicides, rapes, robberies, assaults, sexual offences, unlawful detentions and
abductions. When it comes to violence and threats against
government employees, the federal government speaks of
the «highest level since records began.» And it is not only
the number of crimes that is constantly increasing, but also
the proportion carried out by foreigners. Almost half of
all violations of the law are committed by foreigners. That
compares with a figure of 22 percent for the number of foreigners in the population as a whole. The percentage of foreigners is shockingly high when it comes to serious offences,
such as
Trends in criminal offences
2000 – 2009
12’000
10’000
8’000
6’000
4’000
2’000
SVP National Councillor and police officer Andrea
Geissbühler, meeting of delegates of the Swiss police
officers’ association, 20.6.2010
grievous bodily harm 54%
unlawful detention and abduction 56%
homicide 59%
Swiss Federal Statistical Office/Federal Office of Police: police crime statistics
13
Swiss Federal Statistical Office: persons accused of criminal offences recorded
by the police 2009. Narcotics Act: criminal offences and persons accused of criminal
offences 2009
narcotics dealing 59%
14 rape 62% 14
15
42
Swiss Federal Statistical Office: proportion of male, foreign convicts in Swiss prisons, 2009
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
0
2000
A view from the front line
«The fact that we were able to set up a parliamentary group on police and safety issues
is a very important step. We now want to
raise awareness among politicians and the
media about the police and the problems
they face. Most people have no idea what is
happening out there on the streets.»
Source: police crime statistics 2009
Young, violent, unscrupulous
carry out random attacks on people they do not know. The
vast majority of criminal youths are foreigners or young
people with an immigrant background. The lax judgments
handed down by the generation of 1968 are not a solution
to the problem. They aim to educate young criminals, to offer them therapy and the chance to re-enter society. There
is a desire to believe in the good in people, to give them
a chance rather than destroying their future. All too often,
youth courts fail to impose the penalties at their disposal.
But young people need to be held accountable when they
first start to commit offences. Nowadays, criminals are
often not held accountable before the youth courts until
The SVP calls for a tightening of the laws governing juvenile crime. The trend in youth crime and brutality is a
matter of deep concern. Increasingly, the perpetrators are
only 13 or 14 years old – an age at which they are not even
subject to laws on youth crime. Here too, the incidence of
robbery, sexual offences, physical injury and even homicide
is increasing. For a youth of 14 involved in a knife attack, a
maximum of ten days carrying out a «personal work order»,
in somewhere like an old people’s home is an easy punishment. Young criminals band together to rob passers-by or
43
Security
they have a number of offences against their name. Bashkim Berisha, the Dübendorf car park murderer, began his
criminal career when he was just 14 years old! Many youths
initially receive a written caution as a «punishment», but
this has absolutely no deterrent effect. The brutal attack by
three 16-year-old trade school students from Küsnacht on
a number of passers-by in Munich gave rise to justifiable
indignation. A businessman was beaten half to death. In
particularly serious cases such as these, the courts should
be able to apply the adult criminal law from the age of 16
rather than 18.
needs to be matched by tougher laws for criminals who
are Swiss. There have been plenty of striking examples in
recent years of how the majority of the population want
tougher sanctions and have had enough of soft justice: with
politicians and legal theorists unwilling to act, courageous
citizens have seized the initiative, with successful demands
relating to the imprisonment of those who do not respond
to therapy and the abolition of the statute of limitations for
those guilty of crimes involving pornography. Every year,
more than 600 murderers, rapists and paedophiles are convicted in Switzerland. 16 The vast majority of them are released, and some go on to commit further offences. Action
needs to be taken as a matter of urgency! Yet the Federal
Council and the majority in parliament block any attempt
at change and refuse to listen to the will of the people. The
SVP is therefore examining the possibility of launching a
popular initiative to tighten up the criminal law – so that
punishment really does mean punishment once again.
Dangerous criminals will be required to report to the authorities once they are released. Those guilty of sex crimes
and crimes of violence, as well as paedophiles, must not be
allowed to roam free once again.
Law enforcement mollycoddles offenders
Inevitably, there will always be first offenders. But politicians and judges are responsible for the actions of habitual
criminals. Community sentences and generous holiday
lead to fatal misjudgements for which no-one is prepared
to accept ultimate responsibility – politicians least of all.
Offenders commit new crimes of violence or sex crimes
after they have been released from imprisonment. Child
abusers who do not respond to therapy are released from
prison, move to new locations and continue to pursue their
nefarious activities. But recidivist murderers, rapists and
paedophiles deserve to be behind bars. The protection of
society is more important than the possibility of curing the
criminal. A register should be set up so that people know
where potential repeat offenders are living. This protects
the population against the actions of recidivist serious
criminals, facilitates prevention and assists the work of the
criminal prosecution authorities. The police should know
where released paedophiles, sexual offenders and criminals guilty of serious crimes of violence are living, so that
they can check up on them at any time. But the news has
spread amongst criminals from this country and abroad:
Switzerland is a soft touch. If you are caught, our lax justice
system means you will receive a mild penalty with plenty
of opportunities for appeal and comparatively luxurious
prisons. Football pitches and tennis courts, fitness studios
and indoor swimming pools are often standard equipment.
What’s more, candle-making, silver casting, music therapy,
TV and a generous selection of food options (for Muslims,
for vegetarians...) several times a day are also on offer. Is it
any wonder that the penal system costs taxpayers several
billion francs a year?
Where we stand
Security
The SVP
calls for the reintroduction of suspended and non-suspended sentences even
for periods of less than six months;
demands the abolition of suspended fines and so-called reparations and the
reintroduction of fines for misdemeanours and crimes;
advocates the unconditional imposition of community service, even without
the perpetrator’s consent;
advocates the abolition of partial suspension of punishments for offences
for which a sentence of more than two years has been imposed;
demands the raising of the minimum sentence for rape to three years, and
for child rape to seven years;
demands that the detention initiative is finally implemented as it was
intended;
calls for a register of paedophiles, sex offenders and violent criminals;
wants dual nationality and immigration background to be recorded in the
federal crime statistics;
supports measures in the penal code for young people, but believes they
should be toughened up, with «personal work orders» being imposed for up
to three months regardless of age and the minimum age of imprisonment of
up to four years being lowered to 14;
demands the compulsory confinement of juvenile criminals and repeat
criminals in appropriate closed institutions;
wants judges to be able to apply the penal law for adults from the age of
16 for serious crimes such as rape, grievous bodily harm or murder;
demands that young offenders be automatically reported to their teachers
and instructors, with details of the offence they have committed;
proposes examining the idea of detention of young offenders guilty of sex
crimes and crimes of violence beyond the age of 22;
aims to secure withdrawal from the Schengen area, given the negative
consequences of entry;
Tightening up the criminal law for Swiss citizens too
If you are a victim of crime, it makes no difference whether
the perpetrator is foreign or Swiss. For that reason the deportation initiative, which acts against foreign criminals,
SFSO 2007: convictions for crimes and misdemeanours by selected
criminal acts
wants to forbid organised begging by groups by imposing
national bans on begging on public property.
16
44
45
Asylum policy
An end to bogus
asylum seekers
Anyone whose life is really in danger in a foreign country deserves to find protection
in Switzerland. That accords with our humanitarian tradition. In practice, though,
bogus asylum seekers around the world know that Switzerland has an excessively
generous asylum policy and offers lavish benefits for asylum seekers. And even if
an application fails, our system provides for many appeals, so that even people who
are not genuine asylum seekers are allowed to remain in Switzerland. Thanks to the
intervention of the then Federal Councillor Christoph Blocher, the SVP and representatives of other centre-right parties, the asylum and aliens law was passed by an
almost 70 percent popular vote in 2006. But although this event marked a change in
Swiss asylum policy, with the SVP repeatedly attempting in recent decades to implement the corresponding improvements, the fact is that since Christoph Blocher left
office, the asylum system has once again got out of control. Applications for asylum,
and the costs that go with them, have once again risen dramatically, and reception, transit and care centres are bursting at the seams. In 2008, Switzerland received
more applications for asylum per capita than any of the EU member states except
Cyprus, Malta and Sweden. 17
Back to the beathen path
however, the number of applications for asylum has risen
dramatically, even though there has been no deterioration in
the global political situation. Since 2008, the annual number
of applications has risen from 10,000 to over 16,000 18 – the
asylum system is costing us almost a billion francs a year. Numerous applications still relate to asylum seekers from Serbia
and Kosovo. Yet the situation in those countries has returned
to normal, and the Swiss foreign office has declared them free
from persecution. More and more African refugees are entering Switzerland via Italy, virtually without border controls.
The vast majority of those who seek asylum in Switzerland
are not genuine refugees but rather people seeking better living and working conditions. Many of them place a burden
on the social services, while many are involved in criminal
acts such as drug dealing, burglary or people trafficking.
This damages the security of our country. When Christoph
Blocher was a federal councillor, the number of asylum applications continually fell. For this we have to thank more
effective measures against misuse of the asylum system, accelerated proceedings and the halt to social security payments
for those whose applications had been rejected. Since then,
46
47
17
Statistics from the UNHCR/Federal Office of Migration, 2009
18
Swiss Federal Office of Migration: asylum statistics 2009
Asylum policy
Asylum policy
Annual asylum applications 2000 – 2009
Federal Councillor
Ruth Metzler
30’000
Federal Councillor
Christoph Blocher
Federal
Councillor
Eveline
WidmerSchlumpf
25’000
20’000
15’000
How the courts and hardship committees
hold things up
cannot be processed if the person concerned refuses to reveal his or her identity. In order to prevent the concealment
or destruction of identification documents, those documents should be presented within two days, or credible reasons given for their absence. The aim of these measures is to
help further reduce the numbers of asylum seekers and the
resulting costs, and to prevent misuse of the asylum system
as far as possible.
10’000
5’000
An additional obstacle to an effective asylum system comes
in the form of those who benefit from it: social workers,
relief organisations and asylum lawyers. They have little
enthusiasm for tackling the problem more efficiently; in
fact, they are themselves part of the problem. In addition,
the courts deliberately circumvent the provisions of the law
and even the will of the people. They allow urgent cases
to drag out for years and also hand down premature decisions on asylum, deliberately preventing the deportation of
suspected criminals. At the end of 2005 the asylum appeal
commission (since replaced by the Federal Administrative
Court) ruled that Switzerland cannot send conscientious
objectors from Eritrea back home. Since then, large numbers of young men have come to Switzerland claiming to be
conscientious objectors from Eritrea. Deportations need to
be prepared carefully, so as to avoid pointless and expensive
flights. So-called hardship committees in some of the cantons create nothing but confusion and should be abolished.
Excessively lengthy procedures
0
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
Source: FOM
Criminal asylum seekers from Nigeria
«Our first priority is to solve the problem of
the Nigerians. They filed the largest number
of applications for asylum last year – almost
1,800, of which 99.5 percent have not the
remotest chance of remaining in Switzerland. They come here not as refugees, but
rather to engage in illegal business.»
Ineffective enforcement
The new asylum law would enable more effective action to
be taken against the much-lamented problems of enforcement. Yet the federal government is refusing to enforce it, as
are some of the cantons. The victims are the municipalities,
who have the problems simply thrust upon them. Many
failed asylum seekers or illegal immigrants do not leave
Switzerland, but instead remain as so-called «temporarily
accepted persons.» Some of them begin abusing our hospitality as soon as they arrive in the country, refusing to disclose to the authorities their name, origin or the route they
have travelled. Yet the asylum law states that applications
Alard du Bois-Reymond, Director of the Federal Office for
Migration, NZZ am Sonntag, 11.4.2010
48
Processing of asylum applications still takes too long. The
numerous opportunities for appeal and reconsideration, in
particular, mean that failed asylum seekers can drag things
out for years, and in the end there is little prospect of their
being deported. In the interests of legal certainty – not least
for asylum seekers themselves – there are good reasons to
shorten the time taken for asylum and appeal procedures.
The SVP therefore demands that the ability to send appeals
to the Federal Administrative Court should be limited to
the initial asylum application lodged with the Federal Office of Migration. Once the initial process and the appeal
procedure have been completed, no asylum seeker should
be permitted to submit a second application for asylum or
reconsideration or other legal recourse before they leave
Switzerland.
49
Asylum policy
Asylum applications: Switzerland and Europe 2009
Country
Asylum applications
per 1.000 inhabitants
Where we stand
Asylum policy
The SVP
calls for the consistent and uniform application of asylum law,
including in the cantons;
Spain
3’0000.1
Poland
10’5900.3
Germany
27’6500.3
UK
29’8400.5
Italy
17’6000.6
France
41’9800.7
Netherlands
14’9100.9
Greece
15’9301.4
Belgium
17’1901.6
Austria
15’8301.9
calls for urgent federal decrees to halt the flow of refugees from
Africa;
Sweden
24’1902.6
Norway
17’2303.6
demands that decisions with the right of appeal be limited to the
first instance, instead of the complicated asylum procedures we know
today;
demands that asylum seekers from countries where there is no risk of
persecution be sent back immediately – if necessary by compulsory
deportation;
considers it unacceptable that municipalities should be forced to pick
up the bill for sloppy asylum procedures at federal level;
believes it is untenable for social security payments to be made to
people whose removal has been declared legally enforceable;
wants checks at the Italian border to be stepped up in order to regain
control of the Lampedusa route;
Switzerland
opposes court decisions that circumvent the asylum law accepted
by the electorate.
Source: UNHCR, FOM
The career of a criminal asylum seeker
Ramadan N., a failed asylum seeker, was
caught committing burglary four times
and arrested, yet on each occasion he was
released. He should have been returned to
Kosovo long ago, but in 2007 the asylum
appeal commission (now the Federal Administrative Court) imposed so many conditions
on the deportation of Roma that Ramadan
M, together with a woman whom he is not
married to and their four children, is permitted to remain here.
Die Weltwoche, 7.10.2010
50
51
Foreigners
Limit
immigration
The Swiss economy has long depended on foreign workers. Our country has therefore always offered a generous but controlled welcome to immigrants. They have
contributed to our growth and, in return, enjoyed a life of relative prosperity here.
But the population of Switzerland is currently exploding. Between 70,000 and
100,000 people come here every year, regardless of whether the economic situation
is good or bad. If we include those without identification documents, cross-border
commuters and asylum seekers, there are now over two million foreigners in Switzerland – 27.2 percent of the total population. If we exclude the mass naturalisations
of the last 25 years, the figure would be no less than 34.3 percent.110
Everyone wants to come to «isolated» Switzerland
their cue from them and hundreds of thousands more will
follow. The pressure of immigration creates huge problems:
with jobs, social welfare, integration, security, education
and healthcare, infrastructure, transport, spatial planning
and the environment.
Surveys have demonstrated that many millions of people
would like to settle in Switzerland. Yet this is a country that
opponents of the SVP and advocates of EU membership
constantly describe as a remote and isolated island. How curious it is that almost everyone wants to join us in this isolation: the poor seeking a better life, the rich who do not want
to lose everything, job seekers, beneficiaries of freedom of
movement, refugees, asylum seekers, criminal tourists. And
clearly, thousands of people from places as far away as Africa seem to have no problem finding supposedly remote
and isolated Switzerland. We seem powerless to resist the
«sans papiers» – people who remain in Switzerland illegally
and deliberately destroy their identification documents in
order to complicate or frustrate their removal. Their situation should not be legalised, because if it is, others will take
52
Immigration pays
Switzerland is one of the world’s most attractive countries.
There are good economic, political and social reasons for
people to come here. No other country pays such high salaries; nowhere else is there a comparably extensive system of
old-age, social insurance, healthcare and education provision. Almost no other country scores higher than Switzerland in terms of quality of life in its cities. The dependabil110
53
Calculations based on statistics from the Federal Office of Migration / SFSO
Foreigners
Foreigners
promised that the benefits would outweigh the disadvantages, and that quotas could be imposed as a safety valve if
things got out of hand. We were also assured that freedom
of movement would be limited to those who had jobs or
were capable of supporting themselves. Anyone who did
not fulfil those criteria would be required to leave the country. Immigrants who became unemployed would also go
elsewhere. In fact, none of these bold promises have come
true. Jobless foreigners often find that the welfare benefits
on offer here are more attractive than working back home.
Many Swiss people are unable to find work or are forced to
take unpopular jobs. Our infrastructure is creaking under
the strain: congested roads, overcrowded public transport
and school classes made up primarily of foreign children
are the result. Building land is becoming scarce and drastically more expensive; in some places, Swiss people find it
almost impossible to secure an affordable home. The prob-
ity of our political system, and legal certainty in general,
are exemplary. The rights of co-determination accorded to
the citizenry have ensured that the state has been prevented from growing at the expense of the populace as it has
abroad. As a result we have lower taxes, and fees and a more
efficient administration. In short, it is worthwhile for foreigners to come to Switzerland. But the Swiss people suffer
if this immigration is neither checked nor limited.
Integration is possible
«Foreigners who adjust and live here in
accordance with our rules are welcome. But
many break our laws, engage in violence or
other crimes. These «rotten apples» damage
not just Switzerland but also other foreigners who are prepared to adapt. They have no
place in our country.»
SVP National Councillor Yvette Estermann, a doctor
originally from Slovakia and a founder of the group
«Switzerland – Our New Home», Zentralschweiz am
Sonntag, 22.11.2009
Is Swiss prosperity the result of
immigration?
«Bear in mind: the overall economy is growing, but the situation of individuals is not improving. Their per capita income remains the
same. So when certain federal offices hail
‘economic growth thanks to immigration’,
they are misleading us. The figures are never
calculated per capita.»
Renegotiating freedom of movement
If it imposed quotas, Switzerland could obtain all the workers it needs from around the world, without surrendering
control of immigration. Regrettably, a majority of the electorate voted to extend freedom of movement to 500 million EU citizens. But they only did this because they were
Implementing the deportation and
minaret initiatives
lem is particularly acute in border regions. It is therefore
vital that Switzerland cancels and renegotiates the agreements on freedom of movement. Control and monitoring
mechanisms are essential if we are to protect the interests of
the indigenous population.
The Swiss people coexist entirely peacefully with what by
international standards is a very large number of foreign
residents. Equally, the vast majority of foreigners have no
problem adhering to our laws. Our country must insist that
immigrants take it upon themselves to integrate as far as
possible; it is not the state’s job to integrate them. It is very
New immigrants since the introduction of
freedom of movement in 2002
170’000
150’000
130’000
Prof. Dr. Reiner Eichenberger, Tages-Anzeiger online,
24.11.2009
110’000
90’000
70’000
Source: SFSO
54
55
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
50’000
Foreigners
Foreigners
much in their interest for us to take a tough line against
foreign criminals. Anyone who abuses our hospitality must
leave our country. Foreigners who do not obey the law and
do not wish to integrate should go elsewhere. The same applies to foreigners who fraudulently claim social security
benefits. The SVP’s deportation initiative should be implemented in its entirety, with no ifs or buts. We cannot be
expected to tolerate intolerance. By voting for the minaret
initiative, the Swiss people have clearly expressed their wish
that the laws and customs of our country should be respected. Minarets are seen as a symbol of power and are unacceptable. Here too, our laws and the democratic decision of
the people should be enforced. If the European Convention
on Human Rights prevents this, we should withdraw from
the convention and insist on an appropriate proviso before
signing up to it again.
Percentage of foreigners in the population since 1950
25
19.3
20
20.3
21.7
Swiss nationality is highly prized around the world. Our
passport offers protection and many advantages. Citizenship confers unique rights and liberties. The Swiss people
have the power to elect municipal, cantonal and federal authorities and to vote at all levels on proposals, launch initiatives and call for a referendum – powers that the citizens
of no other country possess. Those wishing to obtain Swiss
nationality are therefore expected to demonstrate a high
degree of integrity, personal responsibility, understanding
of the nature of citizenship and knowledge of at least one of
Switzerland’s official languages. For that reason, naturalisation can never be anything but the final step on the path
of integration. Citizenship is not a fundamental right but
a political right. The SVP therefore believes that there is no
entitlement to the grant of citizenship, either by a munici-
20
SFSO 2009 Swiss citizenship by method of acquisition 1981–2009 (PETRA)
21
SFSO 2009 Swiss citizenship by previous nationality (PETRA)
Number of naturalisations per year
40’000
35’000
14.1
15
pal assembly or by a commission. Yet these days citizenship
is being distributed like confetti: since 1991 the number of
naturalisations per year has risen more than fivefold to almost 45,000. 20 40 percent of those granted Swiss citizenship are from the former Yugoslavia and Turkey. 21 The authorities have been doing their best to solve the problem
of foreigners by naturalising them. The SVP is opposed to
the automatic granting of citizenship and the entitlement
to appeal to the courts. Measures should be taken to ensure
that naturalisations remain at a reasonable level and in accordance with the Swiss mentality and culture. Above all,
acquiring Swiss citizenship should come at a price.
45’000
16.4
15.9
A halt to mass naturalisations
30’000
9.3
10
25’000
20’000
5.9
5
15’000
10’000
0
Source: FOM
2009
2005
2000
1990
1980
1970
1960
1950
5’000
1989
1993
1997
2001
Source: FOM
56
57
2005
2009
Where we stand
Foreigners
Foreigners
The SVP
demands withdrawal from and renegotiation of the agreement with
the EU on free movement of persons;
believes that citizenship should be withdrawn from persons with
dual nationality who are guilty of serious offences;
calls for the reintroduction of quotas for immigration and for
parliament to be given the power to decide on their application;
is opposed to granting any voting rights to foreigners;
favours limiting residence permits for unemployed EU nationals
to a period of one year;
demands that foreigners who wish to settle in Switzerland provide
evidence of the ability to speak the official language of their place
of residence. If they cannot demonstrate this ability, they should be
obliged to attend a language course at their own expense;
demands strict and consistent application of the laws on foreigners in
connection with those who are here illegally or have no identification
papers;
does not accept the legalisation of those who are here illegally and
without papers;
calls for a strengthening of the border police to prevent illegal
immigrants from entering the country.
opposes any further easing of the requirements for naturalisation
and demands that those wishing to acquire Swiss citizenship pay an
appropriate amount in order to do so;
advocates probationary naturalisation, so that citizenship can be
withdrawn from those who commit crimes;
opposes the naturalisation of applicants who do not have a residence
permit, have a criminal background or lack the ability to speak, read
and write an official language;
opposes the naturalisation of those receiving social security or
disability benefits where their dependence on the state is not due
to hardship for which they are not responsible;
demands that those seeking Swiss citizenship make a formal
declaration of loyalty to the Swiss Constitution and our laws;
58
59
Army
National defence
is the primary task
Switzerland’s militia army protects our small, open and independent state against all
violent threats from outside. Permanent, armed neutrality has brought our country
centuries of independence, peace and liberty. The army protects the life and wellbeing of our citizens, their property, their homes and also their rights as the supreme
authority through the exercise of direct democracy. A country that is unwilling
or unable to ensure its own security is no longer sovereign. States whose security
is guaranteed by others are either colonies or protectorates. The army is the final
recourse when it comes to defending our freedom. For that reason it must never
fail. The SVP wants to see a well-trained, defensive army with modern equipment
that attacks no-one but protects our independence and ensures that Switzerland is
viewed as a reliable state that contributes to peace. Yet nowadays the army is continually being downsized, deprived of funding and oriented towards internationalism
and professional soldiery. The Federal Council, parliament and the administration
are neglecting their own country, and with it the security of their own people.
Wars are a regrettable inevitability
small state of Switzerland, it is vital to ensure our own security if we are to maintain our sovereignty. We must adopt
a serious security policy based on a realistic view of the
world that paints an accurate picture of the threats we face.
Being realistic involves taking account of the possibility of
strategic surprises and imponderables. In the context of the
competition for resources and transport routes, our transit
axes are a key strategic interest. Switzerland, the «reservoir»
in the centre of Europe, could be a potential point of conflict. Religiously motivated violence – as we have seen with
radical Islam – occupies not only space but also (through
the Internet) people’s minds. There is an increased threat of
terrorism from non-state sources or possible cyber-attacks.
Our government closes its eyes to the dangers of uncon-
We are currently experiencing a period of profound strategic change in the struggle for global power and influence.
This is accompanied by a trend towards the creation of new
nation states and the breakup of existing ones. There is no
sign of an outbreak of everlasting peace between the peoples of the world. On the contrary: tensions and hostilities
are increasing at the edges of the world’s prosperity zone.
Violence and war remain the weapons of choice in the global battle for power, raw materials or religious influence. The
altruistic and selfless «global community» enforcing high
moral principles worldwide is an illusion. National interests
also dictate the actions of the great powers. For us in our
60
61
Army
Blueprint for disaster
trolled immigration and careless mass naturalisation. Financial and economic crises awaken demands and desires
– when the coffers are empty, states become thieves. Even
among «friends», pressure is applied to more prosperous
nations, leading to blackmail and even violent plunder. Although Switzerland is unlikely to become the main target
of any foreseeable aggression, hostile acts are possible at any
time. Switzerland still has much to defend.
When Ueli Maurer took over as head of the Department of
Defence in 2009, he found a situation that was nothing short
of disastrous. It had been glossed over for years by his predecessor, centre-left politicians and the media alike. The department lacked both proper threat analyses and realistic objectives. Instead of being guided by the successful models of
neutrality, independence and national defence, the army was
being rebuilt along NATO lines and moved towards the common EU defence policy. The separation of training and command proved to be a catastrophe, management and logistics
were chaotic, the militia was frustrated and unwilling to get
involved. There were shortcomings in weapons and command systems that cast doubt on their fitness for use. Wrong
decisions on IT procurement had cost billions and there was
even the threat of criminal proceedings. High numbers of unsuitable recruits were undermining the constitutional principle of general military service. There was a lack of materiel
and vehicles for everyday training activities. Weapons procurement was geared not solely to the needs of the army but
also to those of the Confederation’s own arms manufacturers.
Pressure from the left and the media had resulted in weapons
previously kept in service personnel’s homes being recalled.
Guarantor of independence
«When I walk past the bust of General Henri
Guisan in the entrance hall to the Federal
Parliament building in Bern after a long day
at work, I am glad to have met at least one
person who I can be absolutely sure is committed to the independence of our country.»
Federal Councillor Ueli Maurer speaking to the assembly
of members of AUNS, the Campaign for an Independent
and Neutral Switzerland, 10.4.2010
Army reforms are unfit for purpose
Where we stand
Army
The SVP
backs a well-armed and well-trained militia army with well-equipped
ground and air forces to protect an independent, free and neutral
Switzerland;
calls on the Federal Council to draft a remit for the army that contains
specific tasks, chief among them the defence of the nation;
opposes international cooperation and the trend towards armed,
professional intervention forces for deployment abroad;
favours instead a standby army ready to act in the nation’s defence
in a modern way and in line with the threat faced;
calls for a high level of readiness of all or part of the army, graded
to match the threat faced, and a corresponding mobilisation
organisation;
Where does the army go from here?
For the SVP, the security of our country is of central importance. The party therefore favours a strong and healthy
army with a specific remit, binding objectives and a realistic
strategy. Unfortunately these goals are still far from being
achieved. The damage that has been done by misguided
politicians over many years cannot be repaired overnight.
Today, it is the very politicians and parties whose flawed
ideas have driven the army to the brink of destruction who
are criticising the Department of Defence. Since the 1990s,
unworkable reforms such as «Army 95», «Army XXI» and
«Development Step 8/11» have reduced our military to a
lamentable condition and one in which it is far from being
able to act. For too long, wishful thinking revolved around
shallow fantasies of collective security through multinational committees, humanitarian interventions and «securing peace». At the same time, the task of defence and the
concept of the militia were increasingly sidelined. We have
seen a senseless militarisation of foreign policy – with plans
for deployments in Afghanistan, hunting pirates in the high
seas off Somalia or the use of force to free hostages in Libya.
This kind of militarisation helps no-one: neither our army,
which depends for popular support on being viewed as a
defensive force, nor people in war-torn regions, who need
neutral helpers not further intervention squads.
The security policy report approved by the Federal Council
and the army report based on it do not provide a suitable basis for action. They brim over with the spirit of international
cooperation and armed interventionism, but fail to set out
the specific tasks of the army. The army must immediately be
charged with returning to the job of defending Switzerland’s
sovereignty. Moves towards reducing the army further, converting it into a professional force or integrating it into NATO
structures must be halted. The detailed list of shortcomings
identified in the Department of Defence must be rectified
swiftly. The ability to act independently must replace cooperation, because cooperation creates ties and leads to the dictatorship of the stronger. Command structures and inflated
staffs must be slimmed down further. The active force must
not be allowed to fall below 120,000 soldiers. Careful and responsible storage of the soldier’s personal weapon is one of
the goals of military training. The confusion concerning electronic command systems must be remedied; they can serve as
aids but are not a substitute for real command. There should
be a special professional unit to combat the threat of cyber
warfare. Sufficient means must be made available to maintain
the best army in the world, with the goal of defending the independent and neutral small state of Switzerland. The Federal
Council must submit a series of options for achieving this.
62
demands a return to the graded assessment of suitability for service
in the interests of real, general and compulsory military service;
backs the immediate reversal of the illegal separation of responsibility
for training and deployment;
calls for the creation of emergency formations to protect targets that
are at particular risk;
supports tried and tested structures linking the Confederation and
cantons together in a Swiss security union.
63
Agriculture
Healthy farmers –
healthy country
A century ago, there were still some 243,000 farms in Switzerland; by 1990 that number had fallen to 108,000, and in 2010 it is just 60,000. 22 Farmers use 36 percent of
our country’s surface area. 23 If we include woodland, our farmers are responsible for
two thirds of the Swiss landscape. The population stands behind the farmers, who
are entrusted with important tasks by the Federal Constitution and the agriculture
law. By safeguarding and maintaining the basis of production, our farmers should
be enabled to at least sustain the current level of self-sufficiency, with healthy foods
produced near to where they are sold – and, where possible, increase it. These highquality products should then be available for sale at fair prices that cover the cost of
production. This is better for the environment than transporting agricultural produce from one continent to another. Yet prices are currently in free fall – especially
for milk and cheese, but also for many other products. There should therefore be a
mechanism for controlling milk production within the sector, but without placing
a burden on the taxpayer. The SVP wants to halt the decline in farming, because
without a healthy agricultural sector we cannot have a healthy Switzerland.
Agriculture – a locational factor
fall markedly and are also forced to work within excessively
narrow and expensive administrative constraints. If farmers
continue to lose not just their income but also their entrepreneurial freedom, their very existence is in jeopardy.
Switzerland is still an important country for agriculture and
a major producer of timber. The conditions for productive
agriculture and forestry are not equally favourable everywhere. Although agriculture has some particular features of
its own, it remains an important part of the overall economy in almost all parts of our country. Farming supports not
just farmers but also many workers in associated trades as
well as the wholesale and retail sectors. Although the prices
paid for food by consumers have tended to rise over recent
years, farmers and their families have seen their incomes
64
65
22
Federal Office for Agriculture: agriculture report 2010
23
SFSO: pocket statistics 2009
Agriculture
Turning back the tide of regulation
for our farmers. This poses a threat to the farming sector as
a whole. There are only four options left: enlarge, specialise,
go part-time or abandon farming altogether. The SVP calls
for a new agricultural policy that ensures the survival of
farmers, healthy, locally produced food for consumers, and
the preservation of the landscape. The SVP is resolutely opposed to free trade agreements on agriculture with the EU.
The numerous regulations, forms and checks that farmers
have to deal with make their job more difficult and undermine their sense of responsibility. Too much government
money is swallowed up by bureaucracy rather than benefiting farmers. Farmers are highly qualified specialists in food
production, and they should be allowed to decide for themselves when and what they want to produce. Productive
farmers are entrepreneurs, and have both the freedoms and
the risks that go with that status. The market, which is made
up of responsible consumers, should pay for the services
provided. But that requires sensible laws and regulations in
the legislation covering construction, spatial planning and
the environment, which avoid placing unnecessary restrictions on entrepreneurial freedom.
Free trade in agriculture will lead to
the demise of farmers
«Of course we will campaign vigorously
against the sacrificing of agriculture on the
altar of free trade for no conceivable gain.»
SVP National Councillor Hansjörg Walter, Chairman of
the Swiss Farmers’ Association, Neue Luzerner Zeitung,
19.11.2009
Decreasing self-sufficiency
«Switzerland’s self-sufficiency is falling
continuously and has already sunk as low as
59 percent. That in itself is reason enough to
support and promote domestic agriculture.»
Fostering a productive domestic agricultural sector
Multifunctional agriculture brings with it a whole range of
benefits above and beyond food production and decentralised settlement: benefits whose value cannot be measured
in francs and centimes. Our productive agricultural sector
is the cheapest and most efficient way to maintain a diverse
and well-structured cultivated landscape. No-one provides
cheaper or more expert protection for nature than a healthy
farming community. Farmers are also an important basis
for free thinking, entrepreneurial action, close cooperation
and the preservation of our rural heritage. The SVP is committed to supporting an independent agricultural policy
and a higher degree of sovereignty in food production. It
believes that farmers should be rewarded for the services
they provide to society in general. It promotes the economical use of cultivated agricultural land, and specifically the
maintenance of adequate crop rotation areas. Substitution
of forest and ecological compensation areas on cultivated
agricultural land will no longer be accepted.
SVP National Councillor Jean-Pierre Grin, media
conference on 11.8.2010
Payment for services provided
The Constitution imposes on farmers not just the task of
supplying food but also the duty to protect the natural
habitat, practise decentralised settlement and preserve the
landscape. This cannot be achieved by applying market
principles, and so farmers receive direct payments from
the state. It is far cheaper for them to carry out these tasks
than to employ government staff to do them. What we are
talking about here is payments for services provided to the
economy as a whole. They are made irrespective of whether
agriculture is the recipients’ full-time occupation or merely
part-time.
An uncertain future for farmers
By international standards, our farmers make environmentally friendly and sustainable use of the soil. But the
pressure of globalisation and open markets is making the
situation more acute. In the worst case scenario, the WTO
negotiations could result in the loss of three billion francs
of income to Switzerland. Implementation of the agricultural policy for 2011 will result in a 25 percent reduction in
gross earnings – the total of all income from agriculture –
Where we stand
Agriculture
The SVP
calls on the Federal Council to break off negotiations with the EU on
a free trade agreement in agriculture;
would oblige the Swiss negotiating team to exclude agriculture and
food from the WTO negotiations and oppose the goals of the Doha
round;
supports management of production levels by milk producers under
private law as a measure against dramatically falling prices;
demands a revision of the spatial planning law for rural areas, in
order to enable full and more flexible use to be made of the existing
building stock;
believes that the scarce resource of agricultural land should not be
sacrificed to the renaturation of watercourses or the expansion of
forested areas;
calls on the Federal Council and parliament to take measures to
promote decentralised, multifunctional businesses rather than
providing incentives for farmers to quit;
opposes new directives and regulations in animal, water and
environmental protection, which lead to higher costs and
administrative hurdles;
campaigns for the protection of investments by ensuring that
buildings and installations constructed in accordance with the latest
findings are not required to be altered for at least thirty years;
favours the promotion of livestock farming and exports and the
breeding of young livestock to strengthen grassland farms,
especially in hilly and mountainous areas.
66
67
Education
Expect achievement,
encourage
achievement
A high-quality education system is the foundation stone of our country’s development and prosperity. The key to success is to demand high standards of achievement
and quality throughout society. Willingness to perform and deliver quality should
be expected and encouraged at every level of the school system. Starry-eyed views
of society and egalitarianism are not an effective approach to the challenges we face
in the future. Namby-pamby leftist educational theory has proven a complete failure. Over recent decades, there is no other area in which left-wing ideologues have
had such an opportunity to put their ideas into practice as in schools. No country
in Europe spends more per child, yet still Switzerland is conspicuously absent from
the top ranks of international studies on pupils’ performance. The anti-authority approach to learning, which sets no clear boundaries in children’s upbringing, rejects
performance assessment and promotes a school system in which no distinction is
made between achievers and the weak, is a recipe for chaos. It leads to indiscipline,
lack of concentration, disorder, the need for a whole range of special educational
measures, and a dramatic fall in quality. The left also want the influence of parents
to be constantly reduced and that of the state steadily increased. The SVP calls for
a halt to reforms, a return to high achievement in the most important subjects, and
the reassertion of parental responsibility.
The consequences of a misguided integration policy
proportion of pupils with a foreign language as their mother tongue in a class, the lower the achievement of the pupils.
Many young people from Turkey and the Balkan countries
have no vocational training. Unemployment, dependence
on social welfare, violence and (juvenile) crime are the result. The SVP has been demanding for years that children
should learn the language of tuition before entering a normal school class.
Another reason for the decline in educational standards is
the misguided immigration policy. It has led to a situation
whereby in some school classes the proportion of children
with a foreign mother tongue is more than 50 percent and
many parents are unable to assume their responsibilities because they do not understand or wish to accept either our
language or our culture. Studies prove that the higher the
68
69
Education
Education
The consequences of indoctrination with
left-wing egalitarianism
«According to this, no-one can be stronger or weaker, smarter or dumber, faster
or slower, cheeky or well-behaved. And
because life does not equip people with the
same skills or treat everyone the same, they
misuse the structures and their own power
to inculcate defenceless children with ideas
that have nothing to do with reality and –
like everything unworldly and naive – hold
our children back as they grow up.»
Primary and secondary schools: teaching skills
rather than obsession with reform
Primary and secondary schools under the auspices of the
cantons are the bedrock of our education system. They
must teach children, wherever they come from, about
our culture and our traditions. It is they who teach basic
knowledge and skills. For this reason there should be a return to compulsory annual targets in the various subjects,
especially reading, writing, arithmetic and natural history.
In secondary schools, children with weaker cognitive skills
should be encouraged to take up a craft, thereby enhancing their future career prospects. It is completely wrong to
burden children with two foreign languages while they are
still at primary school and cram them full of information in
the kindergarten instead of providing a safe environment
in which they can learn to integrate into larger communities and thus prepare for school life. We need to go back to
the tried and tested class teacher system. Teachers should
spend their working hours teaching instead of wasting time
on «school development», meetings and administration.
Teacher training needs to be overhauled to reflect this. We
should be training class teachers not subject group teachers. In primary schools and at the less cognitively challenging levels of secondary school, they should be able to
teach almost every subject. Today, the majority of teachers
work part time and their income varies from year to year.
To make the teaching profession more attractive to men,
schools need to be organised in such a way as to provide secure, full-time jobs. Our primary and secondary schools are
supported by the people whose children are taught in them.
The SVP therefore calls for greater autonomy for school
communities in dealings with the cantons.
Silvia Blocher, former teacher, mother and grandmother,
Die Weltwoche, 22.7.2010
Expecting the best in vocational training and high
schools
The dual system of apprenticeship and attendance at a public vocational school has proved its worth and is preferable
to other models of vocational training. The SVP rejects
state-run training workshops. Companies that train apprentices should receive tax relief for doing so. The content
of training courses at vocational schools should be decided
upon in consultation with the professional associations
and tailored to reflect the qualifications that are actually
in demand in the working world. The status of vocational
training should be raised, and those who have completed
a higher level of such training or passed higher subject examinations should, if suitable, be granted access to polytechnics and, if they have outstanding qualifications, even
be allowed to transfer to universities. The requirements for
pupils at high schools should be kept high; the state should
finance attendance at high school only for cognitively gifted
young people who are prepared to work hard. High schools
should devote more attention to mathematical and natural
science subjects as well as the workings of the economy.
A professor and her integration mania
«A ‘school for all’ aims to ensure that all pupils,
irrespective of their performance, attend lessons together and that the individual steps in
their progress are monitored and assessed in
a way that reflects their abilities. Conventional
assessment systems using grades, by contrast,
are a means of selection and allocating learners to different achievement groups, and run
contrary to our efforts towards integration.»
Universities: value creation through
cutting-edge research
leave the country once they have completed their studies
and put their education to the service of another nation’s
economy. Tuition fees for foreign students should therefore
be set at a much higher level and measures taken to stem the
flow of less well qualified applicants.
Switzerland’s universities and institutes of technology must
focus on teaching theoretical skills, academic working
methods and cutting-edge research. The courses they offer should be geared more closely to the needs of the market; otherwise there will be no value creation and merely
an expansion of the social welfare system. The SVP wants
to see top-class universities not universities for the masses.
Polytechnics are the backbone of vocational and practical
training and further education. Their teaching objectives
should be established in close consultation with business
and the key market players in the individual areas. Those
who have attended polytechnics should be able to go on to
certain courses of study at university. Access to universities
should be open to all who have the necessary educational
background. But it is unacceptable that Swiss taxpayers finance the education of thousands of foreign students who
A carpenter with a university degree?
According to forecasts by the Swiss Academies of Arts and Sciences, conventional
apprenticeships will have ceased to exist by
2030. The SVP’s response: «That’s absolute
pie in the sky. Switzerland’s dual system has
proved its worth. Without it Switzerland will
have nothing but theorists.»
SVP National Councillor and high-school teacher Oskar
Freysinger, 20 Minuten, 31.8.2009
Spending per year and pupil
(in francs)
18’000
16’000
14’000
12’000
10’000
8’000
6’000
4’000
Elisabeth Moser Opitz, Professor of Special Education at the
University of Zurich, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, 30.6.2010
2’000
Sources: SFSO/OECD Education at a Glance 2010
70
71
MEX
SLO
POL
HUN
CZE
NZL
POR
ITA
OECD
GER
FIN
ESP
IRL
FRA
GBR
NED
SWE
DEN
AUT
NOR
CH
USA
0
Education
Percentage of foreign pupils at schools in Swiss cities
(2007–2008 school year)
48.5
50
45.4
40
37.4
36.3
30.7
29.5
30
39.5
27.1
25.6
28.8
23.8
23.5
20
Where we stand
Education
The SVP
is convinced that a sound general education is a vital prerequisite for a successful
economic, cultural and intellectual future for our country;
believes that bringing up children is fundamentally a matter for parents and
education is fundamentally a matter for schools;
calls for an end to the deluge of reforms, so that primary and secondary schools
can finally settle down and concentrate on tried and tested values (achievement,
order, discipline, etc.);
believes that teachers should be trained so that they can stand in front of a
school class and take responsibility for teaching it;
supports discipline and order in the classroom and on school premises as well
as effective sanctions to enable teachers and school authorities to impose them;
wants schools to focus on achievement, with compulsory learning goals in core
subjects;
takes the view that pupils who are unable to speak the official Swiss language
of their school should receive compulsory teaching in that language outside
the class;
10
says no to «integrationist teaching», but believes that children with severe
learning or behavioural difficulties should be taught in special classes by
specially trained teachers;
Freiburg
Biel
Lugano
Lucerne
St. Gallen
Winterthur
Lausanne
Bern
Basel
Geneva
Zurich
Switzerland
0
Source: SFSO
Further training and adult education are not the job
of the state
ing to maintain one’s employability should take place while
people are still in work, and not be left until they become
unemployed. There should be tax breaks to compensate for
the work and expenditure incurred during such training.
Lifelong learning and ongoing training are essential to professional success in today’s world. But these forms of adult
education are fundamentally a matter for the individual and
not the state. They supplement, deepen and update what we
learned in school during our childhood and youth. The rapid pace of change and the declining half-life of knowledge
mean that continuous training is a necessity even for those
with a good education. It is a voluntary effort which employees are normally expected to pay for themselves. The
ongoing process of taking responsibility for one’s own train-
calls for grades to be awarded from the first class at primary school;
believes that vocational apprenticeships should not be neglected in favour
of high-school education;
wants polytechnics to offer practically oriented and internationally recognised
qualifications;
believes that tuition fees for foreign students at our universities and technology
colleges should be set at a level high enough to cover costs, and that acceptance
criteria should be made stricter;
calls for research funding to be used primarily within Switzerland to support
our technology colleges, universities and institutes of technology.
72
73
A H V, A LV, B V G , E O, I V
Safeguard the
social security system,
combat abuse
The Swiss people have an exceptionally strong social conscience. They are prepared
to support their fellow citizens who are genuinely ill, frail, old or unemployed. But
if they increasingly have the feeling that the system is being abused and the lazy are
growing rich at the expense of the hard-working, they are rightly unwilling to play
along. The SVP has persistently highlighted the issue of blatant social welfare abuse,
in the teeth of opposition. Rigorous steps must be taken to prevent this misuse of
our social institutions. Because if the resources available are not allocated fairly, our
entire social welfare system is at risk.
The limits of social welfare
noticeable. But with the demographic challenges of an ageing population and uncontrolled immigration, the constant
expansion of social welfare is rendering our social insurance system unaffordable. The Federal Council estimates
that for the same level of benefits, additional financing of
14 billion francs per year will be required up to 2030. It also
calculates that if the burden of the welfare state were to be
kept at current levels, benefits would have to be reduced by
12.2 percent.26
Switzerland’s social welfare system is comfortably equipped.
But it is increasingly reaching its limits. In 1950 welfare
spending in Switzerland accounted for less than 2 billion
francs, rising to 64.5 billion by 1990; but in 2008 it topped
144 billion.24 Social welfare is costing us more than we can
afford, and it is future generations who will have to pick up
the bill. In 1950 – shortly after AHV was introduced – 7.6
percent of Switzerland’s gross domestic product was spent
on social welfare; by 1990 this had risen to 19.5 percent
and by 2005 to no less than 29.2 percent.25 Fewer and fewer
people are being expected to pay for more and more others. The future of the entire welfare state is in doubt. AHV,
unemployment insurance, occupational pension schemes,
supplementary benefits, income replacement, family allowances, medical insurance, disability insurance, maternity insurance, accident insurance and, as the ultimate safety net,
social welfare – none of these are on a firm financial footing! For as long as our economy was performing strongly,
the impact of the ballooning social welfare system was less
74
75
24
SFSO: overall accounts for social security
25
SFSO: overall accounts for social security
26
Report of the Federal Council on the Development of Social
Welfare and Stabilisation of the Share of Social Insurance
Contributions (2000)
A principle of social policy that is all too
often forgotten
«All individuals shall take responsibility for
themselves and shall, according to their
abilities, contribute to achieving the tasks of
the state and society.»
will become critical before 2018. The SVP therefore believes
it is vital to ensure the future security of our AHV pensions.
A retirement age of 65 for men and women should be introduced, and everyone agrees that certain technical corrections to the pension mechanism are necessary. However,
the SVP rejects any reduction in AHV benefits. It is not opposed to early retirement provided this is properly financed
through insurance. But granting everyone the right to retire
at 60 as the left and the unions want, will ruin our AHV.
People are living longer and longer, and we need to take
account of this development. A comprehensive revision of
AHV therefore needs to be undertaken promptly in 2012 in
order to safeguard the system for the future.
Article 6 of the Swiss Federal Constitution
Safeguarding our pension system
In ten years from now, the increasing proportion of pensioners in relation to active workers will lead to enormous
problems in the financing of old age and survivors’ insurance. Demographic change is an unavoidable fact. Unless
the current law is changed, the situation of the AHV fund
No to overregulation of the second pillar
Disability insurance: combat abuse and restructure
the system
The occupational pensions law (BVG), which was originally
designed as a framework law for an independent occupational solution for old age pensions, is the most heavily
overregulated social insurance scheme. With an investment
volume of around 600 billion francs at stake, effective rules
are undoubtedly necessary.27 But those rules should not be
so rigid that policy is constantly lagging behind the capital
market. The SVP therefore favours the removal from the
law of technical parameters such as the minimum conversion rate or minimum interest rate. The law should be
slimmed down and competition between providers of insurance solutions encouraged. Moreover, private providers
of insurance solutions should not be discriminated against
in favour of state insurance schemes through the payment
of benefits that are not financed or the implementation of
extraordinary restructuring operations.
Since 1960, the accounts of the disability insurance system
(IV) have been in chronic deficit. Although the legislators
have provided additional funding in a variety of ways since
the system was established, IV still pays out between 1.2 and
1.5 billion francs more than it receives each year. On 27 September 2009 the electorate narrowly approved a rapid 6th
revision of IV spending, to ensure that the temporary increase in value added tax does not become a permanent fixture. The reality is that all past moves to provide additional
financing have been a failure and that the problems of the
IV can never be solved in this way. This must not be allowed to happen again! The FDP, CVP, Economiesuisse and
the employers’ association, who together with the left approved the tax rise, must match their words with deeds. The
first part of the 6th IV revision must therefore be enacted
Proportion of foreigners in the Swiss social welfare system
(in percent)
27
50
45.3
43.2
45
FSIO: Social Insurance in Switzerland, pocket statistics 2010
Social security spending in Switzerland 1950–2008
(in billion francs)
160
40
34.5
35
2003: 129.6 bn CHF
120
30
25
100
21.7
20
80
15
60
1990: 64.5 bn CHF
10
40
5
20
1950: 1.6 bn CHF
Source: SFSO/seco/FOM
Source: SFSO, overall social security accounts 2010; the most recent available data are from 2008
76
77
2008
2006
2004
2002
2000
1998
1996
1994
1992
1990
1988
1986
1984
1982
1980
1978
1976
1974
1972
1970
1968
1966
1964
1962
1960
1958
0
1956
Foreign social
assistance recipients
2009
1954
Foreign IV
pensioners
2009
Foreigners
unemployed
October 2010
1952
Foreigners in the
population
2009
1950
0
2008: 143.6 bn CHF
140
Freedom of movement is a threat to unemployment
insurance
without delay, and the second part must be tackled before
the 2011 elections. As a minimum, the number of pensioners needs to be cut by 4,000 a year. In addition, risk-based
pension revisions need to be carried out, because certain
nationalities (Balkan states, Turkey) are disproportionately
dependent on IV. The pension scale needs to be refined.
Currently, someone who is 39 percent incapable of work
receives no IV at all, while someone who is 70 percent incapacitated receives a full pension. Exports of IV pensions to
countries abroad without adjustment for purchasing power
should be halted. IV pensioners should no longer receive
better treatment in terms of children’s pensions than normal employees do. Today, anyone who draws an IV pension
(or daily allowance) receives a supplement of 40 percent of
an IV pension for each child, unless there are reasons to reduce this. That means that an IV pensioner with two children receives 1.8 IV pensions. With five children, it adds up
to three complete IV pensions. So it is hardly surprising that
an IV pensioner with five children in the Balkans can afford
to support half a village at Switzerland’s expense. And as
well as children’s pensions there are also family allowances.
Finally, the effectiveness of contributions to disabled organisations needs to be reviewed.
The existing unemployment insurance system is based on
a structural unemployment figure of 100,000 people. However, thanks to the freedom of movement agreements with
the European Union, far more than this are currently out of
work. Confident assurances that immigrants who lost their
jobs would return to their countries of origin have turned
out to be incorrect. For this reason, parliament and the electorate approved an increase in contributions but without a
fundamental review of benefits. In the longer term, massive immigration due to freedom of movement will place
further pressure on our unemployment insurance system.
Corrections to benefits are therefore unavoidable.
Social welfare must not become a gravy train
Freedom of movement and growing immigration into
Switzerland by poorly qualified foreigners are leading to a
steady rise in welfare costs. High benefit rates mean that in
cantons which have adopted or gone beyond the guidelines
of the Swiss Conference on Social Welfare (SCSW) the safety net has become a profitable gravy train. In municipalities
and cantons with generous social welfare provision and lax
migration authorities, there is massive growth in the number of benefit claimants. And when the authorities attempt
to cut welfare payments, their actions are increasingly being
successfully challenged in the courts. The welfare system is
reaching the limits of its capacity. The cantons must draft
their social welfare legislation in such a way that benefits
can no longer be exploited and abused. Anyone who refuses
to integrate or look for work should be refused assistance.
Work must be made to pay once again.
Pensioners’ outing
According to an accident report from the
Zurich city police, pensioner Fritz Schoch
(name changed) failed to pay attention at
a red light and drove at around 5 km/h into
the car that was stopping in front of him,
causing 500 francs-worth of damage. The
car was being driven by Hakan Fenaci (name
changed), a Turkish national born in 1955.
The other three people travelling with him
were compatriots of his. Of the four Turkish occupants of the Opel, according to the
police report three were in receipt of an IV
pension. Immediately after the accident,
Fenaci’s wife, who was in the car but not
receiving a pension, complained of neck
pains. After being treated as an outpatient
in the Waidspital she was signed off as sick
by Dr. Narsalaam Kusayi (name changed).
Fritz Schoch was charged with negligence
leading to bodily harm.
Where we stand
The SVP
is committed to safeguarding the social welfare system;
rejects the extension of welfare benefits;
calls for an integrated perspective on the various social insurance systems
in order to reduce over-insurance and misdirected incentives;
demands that AHV be safeguarded by:
- introducing a retirement age of 65 for women and men;
- refraining from using the savings made by adjusting the retirement age for women to expand benefits;
- creating a new financing mechanism that links pension levels to the amount paid in by those in each age year in order to prevent coverage shortfalls;
favours:
- reducing the number of IV pensioners by 4,000 a year by reviewing existing pensions, especially those paid to young pensioners;
- cancelling IV pensions for children and coordination with family allowances;
- risk-based pension revisions where the cause of a person’s disability is unclear (e.g. «somatoform pain disorders»);
- adjustment of pensions paid abroad to reflect local purchasing power;
- cancellation of social insurance agreements with uncooperative states;
opposes overregulation in occupational pensions and calls for the removal
of technical parameters from the BVG;
is in favour of a fundamental reform of supplementary benefits in order to
remove misdirected incentives;
opposes any further compulsory subjection of professions to Suva;
rejects any increase in salary contributions to the income replacement scheme;
calls for a restructuring of unemployment insurance spending by adjusting
benefits to the OECD level;
believes the SCSW rates should be corrected downwards and that
performance-related elements should be included;
calls for transparency in social insurance statistics concerning
the nationality of claimants;
approves the exchange of data between the authorities
so as to identify welfare abuse.
78
79
Healthcare
Quality through
competition
In late summer every year, as regular as clockwork, the health insurance companies announce their next rise in premiums. The health insurance law (KVG),
which the SVP opposed at the time, led to the establishment of compulsory,
standardised and comprehensive health insurance for everyone resident in Switzerland. Since the law came into force, premiums have more than doubled and
continue to rise.28 Implementation of compulsory state insurance with providers
in the free market has led to huge problems between those who pay the premiums, those who provide the services, and those who bear the costs. To put
it bluntly, our healthcare system is sick. Almost half the population depend on
premium reductions. The senseless mixing-up of health policy and social policy
has led to severe distortions. And it is rendering the original idea of health insurance – protection against hardship for people who are sick – a mockery:
nowadays, it is the premiums rather than the sickness that are leading to economic hardship.
Politicians are out of their depth
ed in the official list under the pretext of «social justice».
Where private patients once contributed to social balancing
through the fees they paid, this has now been made mandatory through premium reductions paid for out of taxation.
Today, we no longer have individual contracts between patients and their insurance companies. Instead, we have a
catalogue of services decided on by political decision-makers. It is not the doctor and the patient but rather the state
that decides what treatment is «effective», «expedient» and
«economic». And the politicians, who are out of their depth
in this field, can think of nothing better than to constantly
add new and appealing services to the list. The problem is
also that patients, doctors, the pharmaceutical industry and
medical technology companies all want to see their desired
services included. Services that used to be available only
to those who paid for them themselves are now includ-
80
28
81
FOPH: statistics on compulsory health insurance 2006 and current figures from
the SFSO
Healthcare
Healthcare
Increase in monthly health insurance premiums
since introduction of KVG
(adults, in Swiss francs)
400
351
350
306
300
280
313 315
323
290
269
245
250
223
200
173
188
197
204
212
2010
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
150
Source: compulsory health insurance statistics 2009
Medical progress costs money
medicine or a halt to the establishment of new practices are
preventing competition and shifting outpatient treatment
from the basic providers to expensive hospitals. The fact
that public hospitals receive only half their funding from
premiums has led to severe distortions of competition, to
the detriment of general practitioners.
Constantly improving diagnostic and therapeutic methods are helping people get better faster. Widespread access to top-flight medicine, increasing life expectancy and
improved quality of life have led to the creation of an impressive growth market and are magnificent achievements.
Inevitably, however, they also increase costs, as does the constant media preoccupation with health and sickness, which
drives the consumption of healthcare services. The chronic
underfunding of the health insurance schemes has its roots
in the failed system of the KVG. Drastic measures by the
state such as controlling the numbers entering the medical profession by limiting the number of students studying
Reinforce patients’ sense of individual responsibility
The misdirected incentives inherent in the current health
insurance law are clear for all to see. Too many of those in
the healthcare sector no longer have anything to gain from
making economical use of resources. The KVG needs urgent reform to bring it closer in line with the dictates of
82
A halt to the obsession with prevention
the market. The interests of patients should be the main
focus, and not those of insurers, hospitals, cantons and the
pharmaceutical industry. What patients want most is good
quality at reasonable prices. Our healthcare system can only
return to health if we improve it by taking the following
measures: encouraging personal responsibility, tailor-made
insurance modules with policyholders taking a real share of
the risks, additional insurance for services that are desirable
and convenient, and a clear division of responsibilities between the Confederation, cantons and municipalities. The
convoluted system of subsidies needs to be unpicked so that
money is used to support patients in need instead of shoring up unnecessary hospital capacity. Finally, everything
that is unnecessary needs to be stripped out of the service
catalogue. Abortions, therapy for heroin addicts, Caesarean
sections that are not medically necessary and sex changes
should no longer be paid for by the community as a whole.
If healthcare costs continue to rise as they have done, we
may even have to consider removing the obligation to take
out insurance in order to increase the incentive to save.
FOPH, FOS, FSIO, FEDRO, FVO, SDC, SECO, SAB, FCOS,
Fund for Road Safety, sbu, SUVA, private health insurers,
Health Promotion Switzerland, the Tobacco Control Fund,
as well as numerous cantonal and municipal bodies are
concerning themselves with the public’s welfare. There are
plans to create an additional institution in the form of a
mega-prevention body. Over 1.1 billion francs are channelled into prevention every year.29 The result: plans to impose minimum prices for alcohol and forbid it altogether at
sporting events, standard sizes for beer bottles, restrictions
on advertising, higher health insurance premiums for the
overweight (with talk of an «obesity epidemic»), vilification
of smokers and the demise of the country’s tobacco producers and pub landlords. This, despite the fact that alcohol
and tobacco consumption are on the decline. Instead of relying on mature citizens to take their own decisions, health
fanatics want to interfere in the cantons’ responsibility for
health issues.
29
83
santésuisse: position paper on health promotion and prevention (2007)
Healthcare
Healthcare
Where we stand
The Federal Office of Public Health –
an outgrowth of the bureaucracy
Here’s an idea of what the FOPH does with
our taxes (selection): advertisements depicting astronauts having sex, a ban on alcohol
sales between 9 p.m. and 7 a.m., ever more
comprehensive smoking bans, restrictions
on advertising, juggling with reserves to
conceal rises in premiums, scaremongering
about radon, playing down the dangers of
cannabis, attempts to remove the stigma
attached to unprotected sex between HIVpositive individuals under certain circumstances, discriminating against soldiers by
abolishing insurance for the military, hiring
an advertising agency as part of a campaign
against complementary medicine.
Systematically combating drug abuse
The SVP
supports competition in the healthcare sector, which guarantees high-quality
healthcare throughout the country;
calls for more transparency on quality and prices in the healthcare sector,
to strengthen patients’ right to choose and therefore their wellbeing;
demands a slimmed-down list of services provided under basic health insurance,
and a list based on positives;
is vehemently opposed to attempts to create a single insurance scheme
at national or regional level;
favours the abolition of compulsory basic health insurance in the longer term,
with the aim of reinforcing the economic incentives for service providers and, in
the short term, the abolition of compulsory contracts and the removal of the halt
to licensing of new practices;
demands the immediate abolition of the officially imposed upper limit for the
voluntary deductible in compulsory health insurance, so that those who pay the
premiums can take responsibility for deciding on the scope of their insurance
coverage and react to the trend of massive increases in premiums;
Drugs are not a recreational pleasure. They are substances
that rapidly lead to dependency and destroy peoples’ bodies and minds. The SVP’s drug policy aims to combat drug
dealing, prevent people from taking drugs in the first place,
and help addicts become drug-free. The use of drugs imposes massive costs on our economy. Even today, these add
up to billions of francs a year.30 Legalisation of so-called
«soft drugs» such as hashish and marihuana, the damaging
effects of which are repeatedly played down, is a policy to
which the SVP is vehemently opposed. The SVP also opposes the distribution of drugs to addicts by the state. Medical prescription of heroin does not heal addicts, but instead
amounts to state-sponsored prolongation of their dependency. Tough measures also need to be taken against the
sale and consumption of cocaine and so-called party drugs.
advocates a self-financing healthcare system;
believes that palliative care should be officially recognised within the health
system as a holistic care concept for people with incurable, life-threatening
or chronic illnesses;
opposes sometimes sectarian, anti-business efforts by the federal government
to encourage prevention instead of respecting the individual’s right to decide;
rejects the legalisation of drugs.
30
84
University of Neuchatel: The Cost of Illegal Drugs in Switzerland (2006)
85
Tra n s p o r t p o l i c y
Transport – the
pulse of our
economy
Well-developed and well-maintained transport systems equipped to deal with rising
traffic levels at all times are fundamental to prosperity, economic growth and full
employment. In allocating the limited funds available, priority should be given to
removing bottlenecks, expanding the main transport axes, and maintenance. The
principle that people should be free to choose their mode of transport must be upheld. Carriers should not be played off against each other. Cross-subsidisation of
individual carriers must be halted.
Transport policy: one of the losers
in the Leuenberger era
For fifteen years, SP Federal Councillor Moritz
Leuenberger held supreme responsibility for
Swiss transport policy – which lost out massively as a result. Whether it is air transport (aviation safety, air traffic agreements with Germany
and the billions squandered on Swissair), road
(transit gifts to the EU, congestion, agglomeration transport) or rail (the billion-franc hole in
the financing of the NRLA, unattractive goods
traffic, annual deficits running into billions)
– the balance sheet of the Leuenberger era
makes anything but pleasant reading.
Funding: making the best possible use of resources
The funds raised through mineral oil duty serve to finance
and maintain the national road network. They are used for
the expansion and upkeep of roads, private motor transport
and public transport that uses the road system. The SVP
opposes any misappropriation of the scarce resources at our
disposal. It rejects both rebate systems and the imposition
of new taxes and levies on the various transport users. The
Confederation, cantons and municipalities are responsible
for the maintenance and expansion of their transport networks. The SVP is opposed to arbitrary redistribution of
the burdens and advance financing. The increasing criminalisation of motorists benefits no-one, except insofar as
it is a source of tax revenue. The blatant highway robbery
involved in reducing tolerances for speeding and setting
up speed traps where they are most lucrative rather than
where they contribute most to road safety does not make
our roads less dangerous. At the same time, excessive speeding by reckless motorists should be punished systematically
and with the full force of the law.
86
Mobility: guaranteeing freedom of choice
In modern societies, mobility is secured through the free
choice of carrier, be it road, rail, water or air, and means of
transport. This is the only way to ensure that society works
and maintains prosperity. Restrictions on mobility (Road
87
Pricing, journey models, environmental zones and reductions in the number of parking spaces) or ideologically motivated schemes to privilege or disadvantage certain groups
of transport users are inimical to the competitiveness of
our business location. Taxpayers expect the federal government to guarantee a high level of mobility. Tax funding for
transport infrastructure should be used in accordance with
profitability criteria.
to signalling, traffic regulation systems, bus stops in traffic lanes, mixed traffic zones and pavement narrowing)
severely disrupt traffic flow. Only a sufficient number of
easily accessible parking spaces and a minimum number of
spaces per property guarantee that industry and commerce
can create long-term value and prevent congestion due to
drivers looking for somewhere to park. Construction of
parking spaces should be geared to demand and the upper
limit on parking space permits should be removed. Congestion and bottlenecks should be eliminated by expanding capacity. This is the only way to effectively tackle traffic jams.
Adequate bypasses should be provided to relieve through
traffic in conurbations.
Roads: keeping traffic moving
As Switzerland’s population continues to grow, keeping
traffic moving throughout the country’s road network is
becoming a crucial issue. Businesspeople, traders, employees, commuters, locals and tourists all depend on a reliable,
undisrupted road system. Reductions in road area and the
associated construction and operational measures (changes
Income from fines 1994–2009
The old-fashioned greens
«My Green colleague tells me that offroaders are an invention of the last century
and should therefore be banned. Well, the
Greens are from the last century too, and
we don’t ban them. And they must be oldfashioned too; otherwise they would know
that these days, offroaders are modern,
environment-friendly vehicles.»
Rail: consolidating capacity and costs
Public transport alone is nowhere near capable of transporting all the passengers and goods that travel around
Switzerland. Further expansion of rail infrastructure is
gradually reaching its limits. Funding of the cost of maintaining the rail network needs to be consolidated before any
further expansion takes place. Subsidies for public transport must not be further increased at the expense of the
road fund. Expansion of the east-west axis is becoming an
urgent necessity and should be accorded equal priority with
further expansion of the north-south axis. Optimisation of
the rail system for passenger and goods traffic must be undertaken in line with regional interests and take account of
profitability criteria.
SVP National Councillor and transport entrepreneur
Ueli Giezendanner speaking in the National Council,
29.9.2010
Use of income from federal
road and vehicle taxes 2009
(in million francs)
500
32%
480
460
21%
440
420
5%
400
2%
40%
380
360
340
320
Source: Vademecum 1994–2010 strasseschweiz
2009
2008
2007
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
2000
1999
1998
1997
1996
1995
1994
300
General federal treasury
40%
FinPTO/rail
21%
Roads
32%
Cantonal treasuries
Source: strasseschweiz 2010
88
89
5%
Environment/miscellaneous
2%
Where we stand
The SVP
insists that no further changes be made to the ring-fencing of revenues
from the mineral oil tax to the detriment of roads;
calls for an end to cross-subsidies for rail at the expense of the road
network;
is opposed to new or higher taxes and levies on private transport;
favours a guarantee of free choice of mode of transport;
urges speedy completion of the national road network to eliminate
bottlenecks and the building of a second road tunnel under the
Gotthard;
aims to achieve a higher level of self-financing in rail transport;
demands transparency on the consequential costs of infrastructure
projects;
supports expansion of the north and south access routes to the
Gotthard and completion of the extension to the Lötschberg tunnel
(second bore) in order to exploit the capacity created through the
billions invested in the NRLA;
Aviation: create legal certainty, reduce noise
pollution
air traffic agreement with Germany that corresponds to the
arrival and departure regime prior to May 2001 and thus
takes account of the results from the noise pollution analysis carried out jointly by the two countries. The current
routing of air traffic runs counter to principles of urban
planning, economic, safety and environmental principles
and, furthermore, the principle of legal certainty.
Switzerland’s airports are of key importance to our economy and should be given the framework they need in which
to operate. The SIL aviation infrastructure plan and the
corresponding master plan entry for Zurich airport must be
put in place as soon as possible, with a view to establishing
legal certainty. The Federal Council must negotiate a new
90
calls for legal certainty in aviation through agreements with Germany
that are acceptable to us and sensible measures at home.
91
Energy
Swiss electricity:
safe and environmentfriendly
The Swiss people need a secure and adequate supply of energy. It is wishful thinking
on the part of scientists and politicians to suppose that we can develop a method
of obtaining energy which delivers unlimited supplies of the cheapest and cleanest
power possible. Such ideas can and indeed should inspire scientific progress. But
politicians must deal with the facts on the ground. The SVP supports an energy
policy that guarantees the securest possible supply of energy at the lowest possible
cost. This is the only way to preserve our prosperity, jobs and standard of living.
Our energy needs should be secured by stepping up expansion of domestic production. The SVP opposes the idea of importing more energy from abroad rather than
expanding supply at home. Such a move would imperil our independence and lead
to higher costs.
92
Plugging the energy gap immediately
The importance of fossil energy resources
From 2020 onwards we will start to notice an energy problem and by 2030 that problem will be acute. The Beznau I
and II nuclear power stations and the nuclear power station at Mühleberg are to be decommissioned from 2020.
By 2035 Switzerland will be experiencing a shortfall of between 20 and 25 billion kilowatt hours if the agreements
with France expire and energy consumption continues to
rise as expected.31 There is no disagreement over the calculation of the energy gap. But different people are drawing
different conclusions. The SP and Greens believe they could
close this gap through energy-saving measures, improved
efficiency and renewable energies. Some think Switzerland
could do without nuclear power but only by importing
electricity, turning to far more expensive alternatives or using even more fossil fuels such as oil or gas.
Imported fossil fuels such as oil and gas remain important
to our society. Road and air transport, heating and the industrial production of goods depend on such energy sources. If we take an integrated view of the energy problem,
however, we must aim to make careful use of these limited
fossil reserves. Coal and oil are unsuitable for domestic electricity production. Moreover, since the largest reserves of
oil are in politically unstable countries, we would be well
advised to consider other ways of meeting our energy needs
in future. Independent energy supply is also a matter of national security.
31
93
Swiss Electricity Companies’ Association, Axpo, Energy Outlook 3035,
Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE)
Energy
Energy
Energy demand continues to increase
addition, a tangible rise in oil prices leads to higher demand
for electricity. In recent times, there has been a move to
replace oil-fired heating with solutions using heat pumps,
leading to a corresponding rise in electricity consumption.
Demand for electricity is constantly rising and will continue to do so despite efforts to make savings. High energy
consumption is also an indicator of prosperity and growth.
We cannot seriously aim drastically to reduce our living
standards or return to a pre-industrial age. Yet that is precisely where the misguided energy policy of the left and the
Greens is taking us. The challenge is to reconcile economic
needs, people’s expectations and the desire to protect the
environment. Savings in the energy sector are effective
when they are sensible and worthwhile for the population
at large. Private energy consumers take an economic approach. Electrical appliances have become more efficient,
but the range of applications for which power can be used is
expanding by leaps and bounds, not least in households. In
Using our natural hydroelectric power
Hydroelectric power is a huge locational advantage for
Switzerland and is unquestionably the ideal form of renewable energy. It should be developed further, in the interest
of cheap, independent and environment-friendly energy
supply. However, there are natural and political limits to its
use. Hydroelectric power stations can only deliver limited
amounts of energy. There is also political resistance. Proposals to construct new plants or dams (as in Graubünden
and the Bernese Oberland, for example) to increase capacity immediately encounter opposition. And it is the Green
organisations who are most active in blocking such projects.
Renewable energy is also being suggested as a way to meet
our electricity needs. The goal is to make up for the energy shortfall by generating some 5.4 billion extra kilowatt
hours,32 albeit with massive subsidies. The shortfall would
thus be reduced by that amount. It now needs to be filled.
Swiss power consumption
1960–2009
(in gigawatt hours/GWh)
Replacing existing nuclear power stations
65’000
The construction of combined cycle power plants and the
resulting emissions of CO2 would undermine the goals of
the climate policy. The SVP opposes all state incentive taxes
in the field of energy such as the CO2 tax or feed-in tariffs,
as well as the utopian aim of a 2000-watt society. A study
has shown that not even a commercial apprentice living in
a tiny flat who does not own a car and avoids long-distance
travel can achieve the 2000-watt target. It is unacceptable
to jeopardise the population’s energy supply or make energy so expensive that it threatens our prosperity for purely
ideological reasons. It makes much more sense to build
new nuclear power stations and underground energy stores
in Switzerland. The decisive criterion must be geological
conditions, not the strength of political opposition. If new
nuclear power plants are commissioned in good time from
2020 onwards, the energy shortfall could be remedied. It
would be absurd to abandon this tried and tested solution
after forty years of operating safe nuclear power stations
without incident.
60’000
55’000
50’000
45’000
40’000
35’000
30’000
25’000
20’000
15’000
A trip to China instead
of a 2000-watt target
One example of how Green politicians fail
to practise what they preach was provided
by Zurich city councillor Ruth Genner. She
complained bitterly about aircraft noise and
demanded limits on aircraft movements and
the 2000-watt society. Yet in summer 2010
she jetted off at government expense merely
to open a pavilion at the world exhibition in
Shanghai.
The future of renewable energy
There are other renewable energy sources besides hydroelectric power that will be of substantial importance for the
future. Energy from biomass, for example, has potential because it is CO2-neutral. It is one of the few up-and-coming
sources of energy production within Switzerland. By far the
most important, though, is wood. Wood can reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. Generation of biomass also opens
up new fields of activity for our agriculture and forestry industries. Provided we create the right conditions for them,
these industries could make a key contribution to domestic
electricity and fuel production.
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2009
32
Source: Swiss electricity statistics 2009
94
Energy law, Art. 1 para. 3
95
Energy
Energy
Where we stand
The Swiss energy mix 2009
4.9%
24.2%
39.3%
31.6%
The SVP
supports an increase in the proportion of the nation’s energy mix
generated by hydroelectric power;
advocates replacing the existing nuclear power stations as soon as
possible at their current locations when they are decommissioned;
rejects new or higher taxes and levies that make energy more
expensive;
is opposed to state incentive taxes on energy;
approves the expansion of domestic electricity production;
favours the maintenance of the existing, tried-and-tested energy
mix, consisting primarily of hydroelectric and nuclear power;
Conventional thermal and other power plants
Run-of-river power plants
4.9%
Storage power plants
31.6%
24.2%
Nuclear power plants
39.3%
welcomes private research and implementation of projects involving
new renewable energy sources such as geothermal, wind and solar
power as well as biomass;
Source: Swiss electricity statistics 2009
demands that energy supply should be guided by the principles
of demand, profitability, independence, environment-friendliness
and low emissions.
96
97
Environment
Act, don’t
complain
The preservation of a healthy environment is essential to the survival of human beings, animals and plants alike. But our environment is increasingly
under threat from physical, chemical and technological incursions. Pollution
caused, for example, by chemicals, dust, radiation and microorganisms can
exceed nature’s capacity to regenerate itself. The threat extends equally to the
soil, water, landscape and the air. Yet we are not powerless in the face of these
problems. We have the capacity to take effective action – if we have the will
to do so.
The tasks of sensible environmental protection
Environmental protection cannot be abandoned
to the left
Environmental protection involves taking the measures
necessary to preserve the foundations on which our lives
depend. Human beings must act in a way that helps to
maintain, enhance and, where necessary, restore the quality
of our living space. As well as traditional protection of the
natural environment, historic monuments and the landscape, a whole raft of laws and regulations have been put
in place to protect the world around us. Measures and technologies that prevent damage occurring in the first place are
often more effective and cheaper than remedial action. For
the SVP, «sustainability» is not an empty slogan but rather
a commitment to maintaining an environment that is fully capable of performing its protective, health and utility
functions at all times.
98
The SVP was advocating green ideas long before the Greens
started concealing their red ones. Environmental protection is too important to be abandoned to the left and the
Greens. Indeed, rather than striking the iron while it is hot,
they prefer to sit around warming themselves on it: they
maintain a constant state of hysteria about forest dieback,
holes in the ozone layer, particulate matter, acid rain, climatic disasters and so on – but have never actually solved
a single problem themselves. Solutions to the challenges
our environment faces have come instead from technological and scientific progress and from business: they include
sewage treatment plants, catalytic converters, low-emission
burners, particle filters, phosphate-free detergents, diesel
and hybrid motors, and biomass. Progress in environmental protection is achieved not through higher prices, bans
or speed reductions, but rather through prosperity, growth,
research and progress.
99
Environment
The aim is to destroy the market economy
«Green politics is based not on such things
as environmental concerns, but rather on
purely ideological motives, the sole aim of
which is the ruination of the market economy in western nation states.»
Socialism: the greatest environmental catastrophe
Torsten Mann: Rote Lügen in grünem Gewand, der kommunistische Hintergrund der Öko-Bewegung, (Red Lies
in Green Clothing: the Communist Background to the
Ecology Movement), Rottenburg 2009
Greens do not live in green areas
Greens do not live in green areas. Their homes are in trendy
areas of town, where they block both the flow of traffic
and new construction projects. They have permanent jobs
in public offices, administrations or universities in urban
centres, where they work to ensure red-green majorities. If
they concern themselves with the environment at all, they
do it sitting on an office chair, writing concept papers and
complaining about alleged catastrophes. People who vote
SVP have never been full of empty words on the environment, but have been actively involved in preserving the
natural world that our lives depend on. While the Greens
live in towns and conurbations, the SVP knows just how
important it is to look after our rural areas. Family farmers
have been managing the soil for generations and therefore
have every incentive to make careful use of the land their
livelihoods depend on. By their hard work they prevent the
natural environment from becoming overgrown, barren or
desolate. It is the supporters of the SVP whose trade and
industry supports our environment, be it through waste
water treatment, disposal and management of refuse, or
environment-friendly transport. They place their faith not
in prohibition, prevention or higher prices, but in reason,
the needs of consumers, the market economy and technological innovation.
Green politicians in parliament vote for measures that are
as socialist as, or even more socialist than, those put forward by the socialists themselves. This comes as no surprise.
Many of them used to be members of socialist or communist parties. Clearly they have no idea of the environmental
conditions in the People’s Republic of China. Perhaps they
have never heard about the ecological legacy of the former
Soviet Union: poisoned soil, polluted water, contaminated
air, areas rendered uninhabitable by radiation from outdated, unfit and irresponsible energy production plants. So it
is no wonder that practical environmentalists do not vote
Green. The most enduring catastrophe the environment
has ever encountered has a name: socialism.
100
Environmental protection as a cover
for socialism
«Under the guise of environmental and
climate protection, we are threatened with
the biggest redistribution of prosperity in
human history – and a new world order that
aims to place drastic restrictions on individual liberty in accordance with the principles
of socialism.»
Where we stand
Environment
The SVP
favours sensible efforts to preserve, restore and improve the natural
foundations upon which our lives depend;
places its trust in the constant stream of innovations and
achievements of science, technology and industry to manage the
problems of the environment;
supports expedient government measures in the form of spatial
planning, waterway protection and clean air and an energy policy
that promotes hydroelectric and nuclear power;
lifts the lid on the environmental hysteria and environmental tourism
of self-serving politicians, biased pseudo-experts, parties,
organisations and international committees;
supports the practical environmentalists in agriculture, forestry
and business;
opposes the creation of subsidised «national parks» that impose
bureaucratic regulation on farmers, business and tourism;
demands that compensation be exacted for all unjustified opposition
to important infrastructure projects;
fights against socialism, the cause of the very worst environmental
pollution.
Torsten Mann: Rote Lügen in grünem Gewand, der kommunistische Hintergrund der Öko-Bewegung, (Red Lies
in Green Clothing: the Communist Background to the
Ecology Movement), Rottenburg 2009
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Media
Competition, not
state monopoly
One of the most important assets of democracy is a free, independent press and
healthy competition between media. A society made up of free citizens can function only if the media operate entirely independent of government influence.
Fundamentally, there must be free-market competition between the print media
and their electronic counterparts. The concept of «public service» must not be
misused to justify every extension of state influence over the media. Government
interference in the form of censorship must be rejected, as must monopolies, concessions, government-supported press or state propaganda. Although Article 17
of the Swiss Constitution calls for freedom of the press, the state monopoly of radio and television is being progressively expanded. This leads to rising costs and
compulsory fees – at the expense of media diversity.
Government support for the press creates a culture
of dependency
However loudly we may lament changed media habits, we
must not take responsibility out of the hands of media consumers. Much though we may regret the «demise of newspapers», new free papers and Internet offerings are springing up to replace them. Government support for the press
in the form of contributions towards distribution costs
must be rejected, since it is the job of neither a free state nor
the post office. Ultimately, it merely leads to a proliferation
of newspapers that offer equally mediocre editorial content
covering essentially the same information. Independent
journalism can flourish only where there are no interdependencies between the state and the media. The media has
suffered a loss of credibility because most journalists laud
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the state and demonise the private sector. Instead of keeping government on its toes, the press all too often parrots
the government line. The reprehensible practice of comprehensive spoon-feeding of the media by hundreds of media
officers within the federal administration is enough to ensure that.
The state’s fee terror
In order to ensure that all the language regions receive equal
attention, our Constitution lays down a specific remit for
our radio and television. Politicians readily refer to the oftused but extremely vague concept of «public service». This
service is provided by the Swiss radio and television company SRG, which receives almost 1.2 billion francs a year
in reception (licence) fees and will also be allowed to run
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Media
Media
at an annual loss of 54 million francs in the years ahead.33
Switzerland has the highest charges for radio and TV reception anywhere in Europe: from 280 francs a year in 1990
these have now risen to 462 francs.34 Under the «splitting»
model, private broadcasters receive around 4 percent of the
pot, so that they too are on the government leash. They are
kept small at regional level and given a mandate to inform
by the government, thus ensuring that they cannot offer any
genuine competition. Billag, a wholly-owned subsidiary of
Swisscom, receives 57 million francs each year35 for collecting the mandatory fees, and makes a profit of several million
for doing so. Its greed for money appears insatiable. Over
the last year Billag has been terrorising small and mediumsized companies, even though their employees already pay
the fees at home. The same extortion is applied to users of
mobile phones and computers, and is to be extended to all
households, even those that have no equipment for receiving SRG broadcasts and never actually consume them. The
«household fee», as it is termed, will be a de facto media tax.
To ensure that the interests of consumers are better represented, the Federal Assembly rather than the Federal Council (which is beholden to SRG) should decide on the level of
the fee in future.
A botched radio and television law
The failed radio and television law (LRTV) as well as the
associated ordinance and the partial revision have not created more competition but instead put private broadcasters at a disadvantage compared with SRG, which in any
case dominates the market. People are forced to pay ever
increasing fees for public programming, while SRG helps
itself shamelessly to a slice of the advertising cake. Those
close to SRG are even fighting against what remains of the
advertising market for domestic and foreign private broadcasters, even though these also safeguard numerous jobs in
Switzerland. It is unacceptable that SRG pays out millions
for feature films, serials and sitcoms that people can just
as easily watch on private channels. Over recent years, SRG
has steadily expanded its programming and now operates
18 radio stations and 8 TV stations.36 This makes it impossible for a genuine market to develop in the electronic me-
33
Federal government estimate for the years 2011–2014
34
Federal Office of Communication (OFCOM),
Reception Fees: Development 1987–2009
35
Federal Office of Communication (OFCOM),
Television Reception Fees: Allocation 1998–2009
36
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dia. SRG must limit itself to providing high-quality publicservice broadcasting with information on politics, culture
and sport, covering all parts of the country and national
languages. SRG radio stations must continue to be prevented from engaging in advertising and prohibited from
involvement in sponsorship. The SRG television channels
should be limited to a first channel for the three language
regions. Romansh content should continue to be broadcast
on the Swiss-German and Ticino channel. A review needs
to be carried out into the usefulness of the second channels
(with sport and entertainment). The third channel, SF Info
in German-speaking Switzerland, should be closed down.
The Billag system
SRG’s agency for the collection of compulsory fees is called Billag. It is wholly owned by
Swisscom and headed by Werner Marti (SP).
Billag is permitted to draw 57 million francs
from the SRG fee pot for invoicing radio and
TV users. According to the commercial register, Billag’s mandate is to «submit invoices
and receive payments». A truly social-democrat business model!
Internet offerings are not part of the public service remit;
SRG must not be allowed to engage in online advertising
and must restrict its websites to news and schedule information.
State power thanks to a monopoly
Today, the Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) has sole and
binding power to decide on the granting of licences to private radio and television companies. Innovative broadcasters that are popular with the public and provide numerous jobs come to grief thanks to the intransigence of this
government authority, while others are given the go-ahead
as a reward for their compliant approach to government
and federal councillors. Yet even they have nothing to crow
about: in return for a measly share of the reception fee
revenues they have subjected themselves to a government
mandate. That creates a situation of dependence which is
anathema to freedom of expression and the media. The task
of granting licences must therefore be transferred to an independent commission or at least the Federal Council as
a whole. In any case, the future of the media lies not with
state monopolies and compulsory fees, but with the private
media and new technologies.
SRG company structure
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Media
The leftists pull the strings at SRG
In theory, public broadcasters should exist to serve everyone and provide balanced reporting. Yet SRG has been
firmly in the hands of a left-wing and «left-liberal» oldboys’ network for many years. Lack of competition means
that professionalism and political impartiality fall by the
wayside. From 2011, the organisation will be headed by
EU fanatic and self-proclaimed SVP-hater Roger de Weck.
When it comes to political bias, radio is even worse than
television. The dominance of left-wing voices in the information programme «Echo der Zeit» has reached absurd
proportions. And when the SVP was invited to speak on
the Swiss television programme «Arena», this was immediately followed by censure from the then SP media minister
Moritz Leuenberger. The SVP has little or no representation on SRG committees. SRG opinion polls on elections
and referendums were entrusted to the company of an SP
political analyst, fell victim to his wishful thinking and, in
the case of the minaret initiative for example, misread the
result by a huge margin.
A cosy band of socialists
Balance, fairness and impartiality are often
alien concepts at SRG. After the deportation initiative was approved by 53 percent
of Swiss voters, only one SVP representative
was invited to appear on the TV programme
«Club» on 30 November 2010 in order to
represent those 53 percent. He was faced
by five opponents of the initiative who were
permitted to represent the losing minority.
Where we stand
Media
The SVP
rejects direct and indirect state promotion of the press;
opposes monopolies and cartels that damage media diversity;
is committed to a liberal revision of the failed radio and television law (LRTV)
and the dual system (reception fees for public-service broadcasters, advertising
for private companies);
demands a drastic reduction in the SRG programme offering within ten years, and
strict limitation to «public-service» broadcasting and a single radio and TV station
for each language region, accompanied by appropriate cuts in reception fees;
opposes any expansion of advertising time for SRG and the sanctioning of
online advertising by SRG;
wants language exchange on radio to be on DAB rather than VHF;
calls, in the longer term, for a 50:50 allocation of VHF frequencies between
private and state media;
demands that SRG surrender frequencies and radio stations that are not part
of the «public service» remit (e.g. speciality stations) to private operators;
advocates the abolition of the English-language World Radio Switzerland
and for savings of 25 percent at Swissinfo;
wants licences for private broadcasters to be granted by an independent
commission or the Federal Council as a whole rather than by DETEC alone;
calls for a 20-percent cut in reception fees, a move away from the splitting
model, and fees to be set by the Federal Assembly;
opposes the imposition of Billag’s planned household reception fee on
companies and private individuals;
wants to see transparency and disclosure of SRG and Billag’s accounts;
believes that efficiency savings at Billag should be channelled back to fee
payers rather than being added to the fee pot;
calls for a ban on SRG opinion polls on elections and referendums.
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107
Culture
Culture is a
matter of culture
When we talk about culture, we mean in very broad terms what people create by
their actions. Culture requires care and encouragement if it is to be maintained. One
of the goals of a free and federal state is to foster an intellectual climate in which
culture can flourish in all its many and varied forms. It must never be dictated or ordained as «state culture», but the state can facilitate access to cultural institutions for
its citizens. Where culture is concerned censorship, meddling and exclusion are to
be avoided; yet it must also be possible to voice open criticism of the cultural community. Cultural policy is based on the assumption that culture can be promoted by
the public, for example through state support for creative artists or the preservation
and transmission of culture by state institutions or the private sector (foundations,
sponsors and patrons).
No to state culture
The SVP believes that fundamentally, culture is not a matter for federal government, cantons or municipalities. Culture is for the cultural world. Culture supported through
public funds runs the constant risk of pandering to shortterm fashions rather than creating more durable values
that retain their worth beyond the everyday. State cultural
policy can, therefore, have at most a supplementary function. Offering public support to some projects invariably
means discriminating against those that do not receive
backing. Private patronage and sponsorship are a more appropriate way of facilitating diverse development. Targeted
support and tax concessions should therefore be offered to
private cultural foundations and donations. Cultural policy
conducted by the state often results in political decisionmakers focusing support on the kind of culture that most
closely corresponds to their own political views. Conversely,
108
many in the cultural world who lack the necessary expertise
lend their backing to the political campaigns, statements
and election committees of left-wing parties. This leads to
cronyism and the suggestion of corruption. Left-wing politicians support left-wing cultural causes – and vice versa.
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The Swiss Music Island Rheinau Foundation
One example of individual cultural responsibility as opposed to state culture is the
«Music Island Rheinau», established as a
foundation in 2009 by former SVP Federal
Councillor Christoph Blocher. Thanks to the
endowment of 20 million francs of private
capital, from 2013 the former monastery
building will be home to a music centre for
Switzerland that will promote the musical
work of young people and adults.
Culture
More market and more folk culture
The market economy and the laws of supply and demand
also apply to the world of culture. Competition between
ideas should also play its part in culture. Productions that
are out of touch with their audience make no sense. Commercial success should be the reward for culture that audiences like. Those who want to enjoy kitsch or shallow entertainment are just as entitled to do so as those who like
performances that go beyond «good taste». But the public
should not be expected to finance both. Our folk culture
receives almost no encouragement from the state. It lives
from the voluntary and enthusiastic activities of individuals and associations. Amateur dramatic and choral societies, musical ensembles, yodelling clubs and costume groups,
bands of carnival musicians: all of them are less interested
in perfection and the plaudits of art critics than they are in
what constitutes the essence of culture, namely the need to
create something that one can enjoy oneself and gives pleasure to audiences. The more state culture grows, the more
this living folk culture is lost.
Pampered state artists
Pipolotti Rist, a state artist much beloved of
the culture bureaucrats, receives a constant
stream of funding from the Swiss cultural
foundation Pro Helvetia, which also supported Christoph Büchel’s pornographic installation «space for sex culture» in Vienna. Filmmaker Mike Eschmann received 565,000
francs from the film council for his misogynistic, violence-glorifying work «Breakout».
The primacy of the cantons
Under the Swiss Constitution, competence in cultural matters lies with the cantons. The electorate rejected the incorporation into the Constitution of an article on culture promotion at federal level in 1986 and again in 1994, but it was
smuggled in when the Constitution was being «updated» in
1999. By this questionable means, the federal government
gave itself the right to intervene more and more in cultural
life. In fact, Switzerland’s cultural policy should reflect the
federal and decentralised structures of our country. It is primarily the cantons, and in some instances the municipalities,
that are responsible for culture promotion – not the Confederation. A mountainous canton such as Graubünden, where
three languages are spoken, has priorities quite different from
the cantons of Basel City or Geneva. Cultural policy should
aim to promote diversity, not uniformity. It must not subject
itself to the cultural dirigisme of the EU, but must instead
serve the cohesion of Switzerland’s language regions and
protect minorities. The state must play only a secondary role
behind individual initiative and private support.
Too many players in cultural policy
Too many people are involved in cultural policy at federal level
nowadays. The Federal Office of Culture formulates cultural
policy, prepares legislation, and coordinates and finances the
institutional promotion of film, books, art and heritage protection, cultural education and so on. The Pro Helvetia foundation, with an annual budget of almost 34 million francs, is
entirely supported by the federal government. To streamline
structures and reduce duplication, Pro Helvetia should be integrated into the Swiss national promotion organisation. It
is also essential that funding be massively reduced and the
organisation’s activities limited to a few areas. The centre of
competence for cultural foreign policy was established in its
current form in 2004 and, with a budget of 1.5 million and a
staff of around 10, it is supposed to support cultural projects
that promote peace and the spread of human rights. Presence
Switzerland, created in 2000, is charged with fostering international understanding and appreciation of our country and
highlighting its diversity and attractiveness. It currently has a
budget of around 11.5 million francs.37 Separate budgets are
also available for staging world exhibitions. The Swiss Agency
for Development and Cooperation (SDC) uses part of its
budget for promoting local culture in its areas of activity as a
means of development and the dissemination of «culture of
the South» in Switzerland.
Streamlining the organisation
With so many bodies and institutions involved, duplication
and demarcation disputes in relation to cultural issues are
inevitable. In theory, however, sole responsibility for federal
cultural policy lies with the Federal Office of Culture. The
bodies involved in shaping cultural policy, and the tasks they
perform, must therefore be systematically slimmed down.
Federal cultural policy should be focused on a single administrative unit with a clearly defined remit. In the area of film
promotion, which currently receives 47 million francs, sleaze
and nepotism are all too often the order of the day. Demonstrable quality rather than personal relationships should be
what counts. Language promotion must be limited strictly to
its constitutional mandate: our national languages should be
allowed to live and not be administered. Further duplication
also needs to be removed in libraries and museums.
37
110
Where we stand
Culture
The SVP
calls for strict adherence to the principle of subsidiarity in cultural
policy. The federal government should supplement the work of the
cantons, and not seek to supplant it;
believes that cultural policy at federal level should limit itself strictly
to its core tasks;
advocates a systematic slimming down of cultural policy bodies
and tasks at federal level, and their concentration in a single
administrative unit;
demands targeted encouragement and massive tax concessions
and exemptions for private cultural foundations and donations,
as well as an easing of the law on the establishment of foundations;
calls for a misdirected cultural bureaucracy that is spread across
a number of departments to be slimmed down in accordance with
its constitutional mandate, and for massive reductions in funding;
demands a successor to Pro Helvetia and Presence Switzerland that
acts in the interests of our country and is integrated into the national
promotion organisation;
believes that the protection of our own cultural heritage should
be given precedence over the payment of billions to the EU’s eastern
members;
rejects the mixing of cultural policy with other aims and projects
such as «securing peace», «human rights» or «integration»;
condemns state support for projects that show contempt
for human life, are pornographic or glorify violence.
Federal Office of Culture, film promotion 2010
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Sport
Exercise for mind
and body
The word «sport» originally comes from «disport», meaning pastime or entertainment. We use it to describe physical activities that go beyond the accomplishment
of our everyday tasks, that we specifically train for, and that lead to performance
which can be measured in the context of sporting competition. Sporting activities
should be a source of pleasure, well-being and challenge. At the same time, sport is
also an important way of maintaining our physical and mental health. The SVP is
the party of sport, and advocates it as an activity for both the masses and elite athletes. The two depend on each other: top athletes began their careers as especially
talented juniors in a local sports club. Popular sport, meanwhile, benefits from the
role models that outstanding sporting idols provide.
Clubs: the basis for mass sport
Popular sport in Switzerland revolves around sports clubs.
Thousands of clubs with millions of members make a remarkable contribution to the wellbeing of society. They are
essential for transmitting values such as achieving goals in
a spirit of fairness. While left-wing politicians and social
workers mostly limit themselves to talking about integration, tolerance and making sensible use of leisure time,
many thousands of trainers and committee members make
a thoroughly practical contribution to achieving them. They
do it voluntarily and mostly unpaid. Some sports clubs run
their organisations without any help from the state, and
some can make sensible use of school infrastructure. Sport
overcomes all social obstacles, because talent and achievement have nothing to do with origins. Many sports clubs
make a contribution to healthcare and rehabilitation, offering training to mitigate health problems and reaching out
to people with disabilities.
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113
Sport as a means of exercise, relaxation
and enjoying nature
«I have to exercise, otherwise I become restless and grumpy. Sport is also very important for me. I need to get out into the great
outdoors. When I am there, I can relax and
recuperate. I like going for bike rides on my
own or cross-country skiing. For me, sport
means exercise, nature, peace and relaxation.»
Ueli Maurer, SVP Federal Councillor and «sport minister»,
Coopzeitung, 27.4.2010
Sport
The importance of school sport
Fair play instead of doping and violence
The aim of proper sports lessons conducted by qualified
teachers is to awaken pupils’ enjoyment of, and interest in,
perseverance, exercise and games. Sports lessons in school
are hugely important, and are an indispensable part of children and young people’s education. They should take up at
least three hours at primary and secondary school. School
sport reaches all children, encourages them to engage in
different types of physical activity and helps to balance out
the sedentary element of classroom lessons. Sports lessons
teach pupils to develop an appetite for peaceful competition, individual performance and achieving goals together.
Physical forces and feelings of aggression can be relieved,
and interest in sporting activity outside school awakened.
Violence at major sporting events and doping scandals are
therefore extremely regrettable phenomena that damage the
reputation of sport. Sports stars are important role models
and therefore have a responsibility towards their fans. The
SVP favours rigorous action to eliminate violence in and
around stadiums. Within the stadiums themselves, this task
is primarily the responsibility of the organisers. Unfortunately, top-level sport is not always about fairness and honest competition; selfish tricks and making a fast buck also
play a part. Misguided top athletes use banned substances
to defeat their rivals, distorting competition and disillusioning spectators. The SVP favours tough action against
doping, to keep sport clean and ensure that top athletes can
continue to be role models.
Encouraging high-performance sport
Switzerland is a remarkably successful sporting nation. The
performance of the nation’s individual athletes and teams
is on a par with their international competitors. Overall,
our top-level sport system is well organised. Sporting talent should be encouraged by providing both school and vocational training as well as professional sports tuition. The
organisation of major sporting events helps to bring the
country together and foster motivation. This is even more
true when our sporting stars achieve success in international competitions and championships. Such high-level sport
represents the country as a whole and reinforces the feeling
of national cohesion.
Competitive sport creates role models
«Competitive and high-performance sport
are an important way of creating role
models for popular sport. Our athletes train
long and hard, with the aim of achieving top
results in competition. To do this, they need
the support of sports clubs, private donors
and sponsors from the world of business.
In a free society, competitive and highperformance sport must not be a matter for
the state.»
SVP Vice Chairman and National Councillor Adrian Amstutz, Executive Councillor of Swiss Olympic, 10.10.2010
Where we stand
Sport
The SVP
supports both popular and elite sport, with an emphasis on voluntary
work and private commitment and state support performing only a
secondary function;
is in favour of sports tuition in schools and for training and vocational
education that fosters sporting talent;
believes that top-level sport and major sporting events are of great
importance to society and the economy;
rejects the mixing of sports policy with other aims and projects such
as «securing peace», «human rights» or «integration»;
approves of the revised federal law on the promotion of gymnastics
and sport only if sport is not allowed to become a tool of left-wing
social policy, for example by mixing it up with ideas such as
combating racism, ethics, prevention of violence, equality, etc.;
demands that the additional costs generated by the law on
gymnastics and sport be compensated for in the federal prevention
programmes;
calls for uncompromising action against hooligans, and for
doping-free sport.
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115
Kapitel
Titel
Titel
With, not against,
each other
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The various generations that make up our society continue to depend on each other.
Cooperation rather than conflict between the generations will remain an important
factor in future. A sustainable future in a stable society can be achieved only if young
and old realise that they complement each other. Cohesion between young and old
is key to the stability of our society. Separation and isolation often make people
unhappy and cause suffering or even illness. It is in the company of other people,
families and other communities, friends and associations that people find a sense of
security, wellbeing and happiness. The SVP supports each person’s striving towards
individual happiness through various forms of coexistence. But people must assume
responsibility for the decisions they make; the state cannot be expected to pick up
the pieces if someone’s life plan goes wrong.
Strengthening the family
Titel
Titel
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dolupti nturestios por sit veris que dipicto ditatet, occum
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The family remains the foundation of our community. Parents and children deserve special protection and recognition from the state and society. Parents – be they couples or
single people – bear responsibility for the upbringing and
development of their children, and for giving them a sense
of security and being loved. In this environment, children
learn to help and show consideration for others and to deal
with conflicts. Yet the state is increasingly intervening in
the education of children, even where it is working perfectly well already. It offers contributions towards the cost of
nursery care to parents who are well-off enough not to need
them. The SVP is firmly opposed to the «professionalisation» of childcare and child minding, which is tantamount
to taking responsibility away from parents. The SVP’s fam-
ily initiative demands that parents who look after their own
children should receive at least the same tax relief as those
who entrust this task to others.
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State approval for child care?
In its draft for the childcare ordinance,
the Federal Council wanted to introduce
compulsory licensing for people undertaking childcare. Under this proposal, parents
would have been required to obtain a
permit if a child repeatedly went on holiday
with their godparents or spent weekends
with an aunt. Only the outcry that greeted
the proposal in the consultation procedure
halted this monstrous state intrusion into
the upbringing of children.
No discrimination against single people
An active life for senior citizens
Almost half of our households are made up of single people. Whether this is the result of free choice or fate, the SVP
believes that single people should not be discriminated
against by society, nor must they be financially disadvantaged. Single people and single-person households also
make a contribution to society, because they co-finance the
infrastructure for families, children and education without
directly benefiting from it themselves. Often they are also
good consumers, and as such play an important part in our
economy. The SVP opposes all attempts to place further
strain on the existing solidarity with single people.
In Switzerland today, 1.9 million people receive an AHV
pension.38 After a long working life, our older people are
entitled to an appropriate standard of living, medical services and, where required, adequate care. The older generation should continue to play their part in society and live
independently for as long as their mental and physical powers permit. Age limits should therefore be as flexible as possible. The SVP believes elderly people should receive all the
benefits to which they are entitled and that health insurers
should provide adequate financial support to home care as
well. Centres for the elderly should be constructed in such
a way that our senior citizens have life around them and
the opportunity to meet other people. People should be allowed to grow old and die with dignity.
Men and women as partners
Men and women are partners of equal value and with equal
rights. They should strive to achieve a form of existence and
a division of labour that corresponds to their situation and
desires and in which neither – and especially not the children – is disadvantaged. Men and women should work with
each other and not against each other. Decisions on who
takes what job should be based solely on suitability and not
on gender. The SVP is firmly committed to equal rights and
equal pay for equal work, for both men and women. However, this goal is not served by government-appointed gender equality offices or other bureaucratic regulations, and
certainly not by a «battle of the sexes». The SVP therefore
opposes levelling down but places its trust in personal responsibility and partnership between men and women in
the family, society, at work and in politics.
Where we stand
The SVP
is opposed to increased nationalisation of families and children;
demands an end to tax discrimination against families that bring
up their children themselves;
opposes the continuation of unconstitutional federal government
financial incentives for childcare outside the family;
recognises that men and women are equal partners at work and
in politics;
calls for the abolition of superfluous equality offices and other
bodies that aim to enforce state regulation of private life;
believes that bringing up children is primarily the responsibility
of parents;
wants daycare structures only where there is a need for them and
they are primarily privately funded;
supports education and training opportunities for young people
and the youth work carried out by clubs and associations;
Our young people are our future
Small children need at least one person they can rely on in
order to safeguard their future psychological stability. State
institutions such as day nurseries and lunchtime groups
cannot and must not replace parental love and care. From
the moment children are born until they become adults,
their upbringing is the responsibility of parents and cannot
simply be delegated to the state. Our young people need not
only support and recognition but also good opportunities
to develop, train and educate themselves. The family is the
ideal basis for this. The SVP supports clubs and youth associations and recognises their importance in helping people
organise their lives and leisure time sensibly.
believes that people should be allowed to grow old with dignity
and receive the care to which they are entitled.
38
118
SFSO AHV indicators December 2009
119
Kapitel
Religions
Titel
Titel
The challenges
to our values
Hictorporibus et fugit estis nia atis et, simporem ut eatendant, si volorestior miliqui
diciatem exeriatiae exerumenda quibuscil moditia ndisciis erro quisquae re sus, occum commod qui conseque sae dolorum quundem dolendita sum aliquia dolorepre
volorecae et, etur? Magnat volorerunt optat quiae venis repuda voluptati invenissin
none lam, sin estem autatur? Uptatus ciendip itaeris voloreri dollore henietum aute
am dolut resequi aute cust, que velit erspicimil estotat isciis aut quatur sus, quia sum
eium nulpa num fugiaec turibus.
Alibus porrum qui cum rest, et omnihilla volestia conserem sedi dendi volor ad quae
ea comnimet alique necat pos dolores es vent perum autatem faccabore res accabor
estrum fuga. Nestemporrum quia dolorum aut quam que di aut maiorersperi ut pro
etur? Am dolor rerionectur magnim voluptatur aute dolectur? Mos eicipsuntur aut
quam facerehendae volutem adi ad evenihiliqui officie ndebit, corporerspis magnatur sam dolor repro everum qui dolor audam demporescia que non con conecta
Titel
Titel
aliciet quam que occab inum expliquat et eum nis eossequid
qui blaccus cienda inim quibuscit, occullu ptatecum commolu ptatus veliqui dia si consequo dolupta doloreceaque
venis non cor sinullessus, quidebitis idenden debistiae dolo
totas eum repudam illab iditibus et aut quae nonsed quidis
sapicae natemporum aliqui occab idus a doloreh endignati
rest harumqui conseque volorporite nonsequas voluptature
pe vellaut ecaborrovit iliquia dolupti del int veni volor aut
fugit adi ut quam fugiandae nobis sequodi abo. Dundipit
rehenis eum quatem. Itati quibus iunt ventemp erspicianis
reicita tionse voluptat vollanto volorei
The SVP is committed to upholding Switzerland’s western, Christian culture. It forms
the basis for our identity and our coexistence. It is no accident that our country’s national emblem contains a cross. The task of the churches is to offer people support
and genuine assistance in their lives, by spreading the word and providing pastoral
care. Politicians should not preach from the pulpit, and neither should preachers use
it to engage in politics. The SVP is opposed to biased pronouncements by church
functionaries based on left-wing ideology, because they divide our national churches.
It is also opposed to egalitarian, socialist interpretations of the Christian message,
which accords great importance to the free development of the individual.
Human freedom and its limits
«Since man always remains free and since
his freedom is always fragile, the kingdom of
good will never be definitively established in
this world.»
Pope Benedict XVI, Encyclical Letter «Spe Salvi»,
30.11.2007
Guaranteeing freedom of worship and conscience
aliciet quam que occab inum expliquat et eum nis eossequid qui blaccus cienda inim quibuscit, occullu ptatecum
comres id quid quistia sitiur magnim estor si odit que
doloreritat explici conseque eliquas sumqui omnis core de
nus res modi voles veliciae. Lescienient quodignihil magnis non con rehenit quas nonse namet eate ea voluptasitis
adigenimus nem verum dolo ventionseque dolector antia
dolorro coremporepra sincita voluptae. Ollatis re sinvel
modit volore pa velecupta eos nos essecaborate quos nobit
quostibusci aliquatius ma autatescid molo te plitemo quos
dolupti nturestios por sit veris que dipicto ditatet, occum
120
Neither a party nor the state may dictate to others in matters of faith or prescribe the «right» faith for them. Our
freedom of worship and of conscience accords everyone in
our country liberty of thought, writing, speech and religion.
Under our Constitution, churches and religious communities therefore enjoy freedom to promulgate their beliefs and
carry on their religious activities. But the boundaries of this
tolerance lie at the point where religious communities hold
it in contempt or even openly oppose it.
Problems with Islamism
It is estimated that over 400,000 adherents of the Muslim
faith live in Switzerland. Their numbers are growing rapidly, due to the arrival of new immigrants and family members joining existing ones, as well as forced marriages and
high birth rates. Clearly, only a small minority sympathise
with Islamist ideas. But Muslim immigrants often come
from countries where democracy is unknown. They bring
with them ideas of law and order that are incompatible with
our legal system and democratic rules.
121
Religions
Tolerating intolerance?
«If we extend unlimited tolerance even to
those who are intolerant, if we are not prepared to defend a tolerant society against
the onslaught of the intolerant, then the
tolerant will be destroyed and tolerance
with them.»
things as dispensations from swimming lessons, cancelling
Christmas songs in kindergarten or special funeral arrangements are therefore unacceptable. Anyone who fails to support our free and democratic principles without reservation
must not be granted Swiss citizenship. The construction of
minarets is an expression of a desire for religious and political power and must therefore be rejected, as the electorate
have decided.
Nobel Prize winner Karl Popper: The Open Society
and its Enemies, 1945
Growth of the Islamic
community in Switzerland
Our rules apply here...
Just as we adapt to the rules of Islamic states when we are
guests there, we must systematically insist on reciprocity
here. Parallel societies with their own legal systems cannot
be tolerated. Our legal order based on freedom must on no
account give way to Sharia law; our courts must not accept
an Islamic «cultural background» as a reason for imposing
a milder sentence. Toleration and even encouragement of
practices such as forced marriages, «honour killings», blood
feuds, female circumcision, marriages involving minors
or polygamy are totally unacceptable in our country. The
craven and cowardly attitude of certain politicians, journalists and representatives of the church is a matter of concern. The left, feminists and even equality offices generally
choose to remain silent.
400’000
350’000
250’000
Judgment of the asylum appeals commission, 7.3.2006
The SVP
is committed to upholding the western, Christian foundations
of our state, culture and legal system;
demands that crosses and crucifixes be respected and tolerated
everywhere, including public spaces, as symbols of our western,
Christian culture and our religion;
calls on the churches to devote themselves to providing pastoral care
and spreading the Christian message instead of involving themselves
in politics;
rejects all forms of special religious law that conflict with our legal
system;
calls for a ban on the wearing of full-body veils by those working
in the public services, such as the healthcare system, the police,
at public counters and in the teaching professions;
300’000
The asylum appeals commission
and our legal system
Our asylum appeals commission recognised
the marriage of an Egyptian living in Switzerland with a minor, which was concluded
by telephone and in the absence of the
bridegroom, citing the following reason:
«Swiss law cannot assert any superiority
over other legal systems, however it may
manifest itself.»
Where we stand
Religions
rejects any claim to special burial rules in public cemeteries;
200’000
is opposed to special holiday arrangements for religious communities
that are not officially recognised;
150’000
wants all schoolchildren to attend compulsory lessons, specifically
including sport and swimming;
100’000
demands that the ban on minarets approved by the people be
implemented unconditionally.
... and they apply to everyone!
50’000
Our law on foreigners must contain suitable measures to
ensure that the issue of Islam does not become more acute
and exceed our capacity for integration. It must be made
clear that our rules apply here and that anyone who wishes
to live in this country must adapt to them. Equality before
the law takes precedence over «religious freedom». Such
0
1980
1990
2000
2009 (estimate)
Source: SFSO
122
123
The path of the future
Personal responsibility
rather than an
all-powerful state
Switzerland still has a populace that is ready to act and take responsibility rather than
running to the state at the slightest difficulty or inconvenience. However, creeping socialism has taken hold in our country, somewhat later than elsewhere but all the more
fundamentally. The 1990s were the era in which the dam burst; it was a truly «socialdemocratic decade», with burgeoning government expenditure, debt mountains, tax
takes, fees and premiums. A left-wing redistributive elite skilfully and successfully
took hold of the key levers of politics, society, the media and culture, and is channelling public money into its own pockets and those of its clientele. In short, Switzerland
has fewer and fewer people baking bread but more and more wanting to distribute it.
«Hand over your money!»
No to EU accession
«Give us your money!» that brief and unambiguous demand sums up every left-wing party programme. «Hand
over your money!» is a succinct summary of every political
demand from the left. Needless to say it is always morally
justified with concepts such as «solidarity» and «social justice», and appeals unashamedly to people’s basest instincts
such as envy and resentment. «Hand over your money!» for
maternity insurance, childcare centres, day schools, early
retirement, premium reductions, equality programmes,
cultural promotion, integration, development aid, education, compulsory television, public transport, environmental levies, health prevention, combating racism, alternative
energy sources. The egotistical, peremptory demand of the
left is always the same: «Give us your money!» And they
duly rake it in, through a system of compulsion and a perfect redistributive state that is pushing public spending up
towards fifty percent of GDP.
This is exactly the way things work in the European Union,
and that is why the left are so determined to join it. A fullblown programme of redistribution ensures that the hardworking pay for everything while the idle enjoy a comfortable
life on tick and live beyond their means. There are no incentives to work hard. On the contrary: the recipient nations are
confident that the donor nations will continue to pay in order
to prevent the entire ramshackle structure from collapsing
around their ears. Guarantees involving hundreds of billions
that do not exist are provided to prevent states from going
bankrupt. The result is that more and more EU countries are
hurtling towards the financial abyss. The blame lies not with
business, the financial markets or evil speculators; it lies fairly
and squarely with the politicians and bureaucrats who built
the monstrous construction in the first place and make a fine
living from it. The EU would welcome Switzerland as another
contributor to pay for this madness. Count us out! The SVP is
the only party that is opposed to EU accession without reservation or qualification.
124
Returning to a successful model
Switzerland’s success is founded on independence instead
of EU diktat, federalism rather than EU centralism, direct
democracy instead of remote EU institutions, a moderate
and thrifty state rather than EU redistribution. There is no
rational reason to abandon this model. Unfortunately, we
have been untrue to ourselves in recent years. Switzerland
adopts more and more EU law and continues its march
toward socialism – protected by a predominantly leftcontrolled media. There is no other country in the world
in which the power of public authorities, state intervention
and government regulation have expanded more strongly
in recent years than Switzerland. Government spending as
a proportion of our economy has grown faster than in every country in Africa and South America. It has expanded
more rapidly than in Kazakhstan. But instead of following
the misguided socialist path towards unemployment, debt
and poverty, we should overcome socialism and focus once
more on our heritage of liberty: on hard work and individual responsibility, competition and open markets, free prices
and stable monetary policy, private property rather than redistribution, more liberty and less government.
125
The SVP – making things happen!
Stand up for
Switzerland
with the SVP!
I wish to join the SVP. Please send me a membership form from the canton I live in.
I am a Swiss living abroad and would like to join the SVP International.
(www.svp-international.ch)
Please send me further information about the SVP.
Please send me more information about:
I want to help the SVP stand up for Switzerland and would like to transfer
to account no. PC 30-8828-5. Please send me a paying-in slip.
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Address:
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Street
Support the policies of the SVP by sending your donation to
PC 30-8828-5
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Thank you!
Please return this form to:
SVP Schweiz
Generalsekretariat
Postfach 8252
3001 Bern
Tel. 031 300 58 58
Fax 031 300 58 59
[email protected]
126
www.svp.ch
127
Swiss
vote
SVP
Publication data
Party Programme of the Swiss People’s Party
2011 – 2015
No. of copies: 125’000
Picture sources:
Belmundo AG, Compagnia Rossini, Dreamstime, Ex-Press AG, Fotolia LLC,
Goal AG, ImagePoint AG, iStockphoto, KEYSTONE AG, Marcus Gyger,
Markus Hutter, REDOG, Remo Nägeli, Stadler Rail AG, VSMR
SVP Schweiz
Generalsekretariat
Postfach 8252, 3001 Bern, Switzerland
[email protected], www.svp.ch
128
SVP Schweiz
Generalsekretariat
Postfach 8252
3001 Bern
www.svp.ch

Party Programme 2011–2015

Transcription

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