Council of States also wants lower contribution to rail infrastructure fund
Published: Thursday, Dec 14th 2023, 10:50
Updated At: Thursday, Dec 14th 2023, 10:50
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On Thursday, the Council of States approved a budget for 2024 without a structural deficit. Like the National Council, it reduced the contributions to the railroad infrastructure fund - but to a much greater extent than the upper chamber. It did not want to hear about cuts to regional policy and the UN Palestinian Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
At the beginning of the week, the National Council decided to cut CHF 18 million in order to comply with the debt brake.
The cut decided by the Council of States was significantly higher at around CHF 60 million. The difference is mainly due to two decisions.
Call for an overall view
On the one hand, the larger cut was necessitated by a decision on the topic of location promotion in the regions. Unlike the National Council, the Council of States has no intention of waiving a contribution of CHF 25 million to the regional policy fund. It narrowly approved a minority motion by Beat Rieder (Center/VS) and Esther Friedli (SVP/SG) by 20 votes to 19.
This is about "domestic development aid", said Rieder. Before individual funds are cut, an overall view is needed, demanded the Councillor of States from Valais.
Peter Hegglin (center/ZG) disagreed that a lot of money had been placed in the regional policy fund. All planned measures could also be implemented without a new deposit.
Warning against a rush job
The Council of States also refused to cancel the CHF 20 million credit for contributions to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). It voted 23 to 21 in favor, with one abstention from a left-wing minority, in favour of the preliminary consultation committee and the Federal Council.
On Monday, the National Council adopted an individual motion tabled by David Zuberbühler, a member of the SVP National Council from Ausserrhoden. Zuberbühler justified his demand for a deletion in the large chamber by arguing that UNRWA employees had glorified terror against Israel and that the organization was taking a one-sided position in the Middle East conflict.
The majority of the Finance Committee of the Council of States agreed to the deletion. The work of UNRWA is not about emergency aid, emphasized committee spokesperson Johanna Gapany (FDP/FR). In principle, humanitarian aid in the Middle East was not called into question.
On the other hand, minority spokesperson Maya Graf (Greens/BL) said that a difference should be created on this point. Only in this way could the National Council's Finance Committee carry out in-depth clarifications - also with regard to the consequences of a cut.
A postulate report had exonerated UNWRA from the accusations mentioned by Zuberbühler, Graf noted. In recent weeks, the organization had been an important lifeline for the population in the Gaza Strip.
"Don't mix everything up"
Graf received support from Isabelle Chassot (center/FR). She said that facts should be relied upon and those responsible in the Department of Foreign Affairs should be heard.
"You shouldn't mix everything up. Not all Palestinians are members of Hamas," said Charles Juillard (center/JU). In view of the important role of the UN organizations in the Gaza Strip, a reduction was not appropriate.
Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter warned that the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs feared that Switzerland's reputation would be damaged if the Council of States followed the National Council.
Credit freeze off the table
On Tuesday last week, the Council of States approved a budget with a structural deficit of a good CHF 66 million - which the debt brake does not actually permit. The shortfall was mainly due to the fact that Parliament decided not to cut direct payments to farmers and to increase funding for regional passenger transport by CHF 55 million compared to the Federal Council's proposal.
In order to comply with the legal requirements, the Council of States wrote a credit freeze into the bill at the end of its first budget debate - i.e. an instruction to the Federal Council not to utilize approved credits. Following the latest decisions, such a provision is no longer necessary.
Disagreement on army spending
The Council of States maintained its differences with the National Council on several smaller budget items. It also insisted on an earlier decision with regard to the financial plan. It still wants to increase military spending to 1% of gross domestic product by 2030. The National Council and Federal Council want a slower increase until 2035.
The matter goes to the National Council. It will debate the remaining differences next Monday.
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