Controversy over army spending in National Council budget debate
Published: Thursday, Dec 7th 2023, 11:10
العودة إلى البث المباشر
The budget debate in the National Council revealed very different priorities. While the left wing of the Council criticized the increasing expenditure on the army, the centre-right warned against softening the debt brake.
In the general debate on the budget on Tuesday morning, SP parliamentary group spokesperson Sarah Wyss (BS) blamed the additional expenditure on the army decided by Parliament for the Confederation's difficult budgetary situation. It was a "one-sided ad hoc increase".
It was only after this decision that the Federal Council made a cross-sectional cut across all areas with the exception of the army, according to Wyss. The Finance Committee of the National Council then realized that such a cut would hurt - and reversed it for agriculture in order to save on refugees and regional policy instead: "That is not our financial policy!"
"We must be ashamed"
The Greens expressed a similar view: the instrument of the debt brake should be reconsidered, said Felix Wettstein (SO). In international comparison, Switzerland has an extremely low level of debt.
The National Council committee had even worsened the Federal Council's proposal, criticized Wettstein "Arming the army, feeding agriculture, cutting social welfare: what kind of signal is that? What kind of country is this? I think we should be ashamed of ourselves."
SVP parliamentary group spokesman Lars Guggisberg, on the other hand, accused the other parties of pursuing an "unrestrained and irresponsible" spending policy.
"In terms of financial policy, we are in a constant downpour," said the Bernese National Councillor. Parliament has been spending more and more on social welfare and development policy. In contrast, agriculture and national defense have been neglected.
Debt brake "non-negotiable"
Guggisberg called for experiments to circumvent the debt brake to be avoided. FDP parliamentary group spokesperson Alex Farinelli also said that the debt brake was non-negotiable for his party.
According to the Ticino National Councillor, Swiss financial policy must return to a "certain normality". The last few years of high extraordinary expenditure had made us forget the constitutional limits of financial policy. It was clear that things could not go on like this.
On Tuesday, the Council of States voted to significantly increase spending on agriculture, regional transport and regional policy compared to the Federal Council's proposal. All in all, the decisions resulted in a structural deficit of a good CHF 66 million - which the debt brake does not actually permit.
Criticism of the Council of States
As far as the decisions of the small chamber are concerned, different attitudes became apparent in the debate. The Council of States is often referred to as a chambre de réflexion, commented Peter Schilliger (FDP/LU): "The chambre has remained, but I miss the réflexion."
The center set a slightly different tone. It also called for spending discipline. "During the coronavirus penny-pinching was the order of the day, there was a nonchalance," said Markus Ritter (SG) on behalf of the center group. However, Philipp Matthias Bregy (VS) defended the decisions of the small chamber as the second parliamentary group spokesperson.
Bregy spoke of corrections made by the Council of States. Looking at the Federal Council's proposal, one cannot shake off the impression that agriculture, regional transport and regional policy are to be cut back lightly or that increases are to be dispensed with. However, these are all issues that are important for the cohesion of the country.
Call for clear priorities
GLP parliamentary group spokesman Martin Bäumle (ZH) called for clear priorities in financial policy. This was not primarily about cuts, but about curbing expenditure growth more strongly.
At the same time, the National Councillor from Zurich emphasized that the federal finances are currently still in balance. Bäumle cited areas in which investment would be necessary in the future, including tackling climate change, reconciling work and family life and the reconstruction of Ukraine.
©كيستون/إسدا
Arabic 
English 
German 
French 
Spanish