Councillors discuss CO2 law, rail expansion and tobacco advertising
Published: Monday, Feb 26th 2024, 04:50
Updated At: Monday, Feb 26th 2024, 04:51
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Expansion of rail infrastructure, revision of the CO2 Act, aid in Ukraine and a ban on tobacco advertising: Parliament is discussing weighty bills in the spring session starting today, Monday.
The revision of the CO2 Act for the period from 2025 will enter its second round at the end of February. The bill is intended to help Switzerland achieve the 2050 net-zero target. The Council of States will once again deal with the proposals, and its committee wants to go less far with the measures than the National Council. The bill could be amended during the current session.
In the first week of the session, the National Council will tackle the Tobacco Products Act. In future, children and young people will no longer be allowed to see advertising for tobacco products. This was written into the constitution by voters with the initiative to ban tobacco advertising. The extent to which tobacco advertising should be banned from newspapers and magazines for adults is a contentious issue between the Councils.
Voting age 16
Once again on the agenda of the National Council is the question of whether 16 and 17-year-olds should be allowed to vote. Its preliminary committee has wanted to write off the proposal for some time, but has so far been overruled by the Council. A further debate on whether to write it off is therefore planned for the first week.
The CHF 2.6 billion for the expansion of the rail infrastructure is relatively uncontroversial. The money is to be taken from the railroad infrastructure fund. At the heart of the program is a nine-kilometre tunnel on the SBB Geneva-Lausanne line and the continuous double-track expansion of the Lötschberg base tunnel.
The Council of States has slightly extended the list of projects in consideration of the regions and increased the amounts of money accordingly. The majority of the National Council's preliminary consultation committee wants to follow suit. However, a minority wants to cut CHF 100 million for French-speaking Switzerland.
Ukraine initiatives
Motions calling for the creation of a fund for reconstruction in war-ravaged Ukraine are on the agenda in both councils. No specific amount of money is mentioned. However, they are calling for the amount required for the aid to be booked as an extraordinary item so that it is not covered by the debt brake.
The Council of States also has to decide on five motions from the National Council calling for a basis in international law for reparations payments from Russian state assets to Ukraine. The Federal Council agrees with the request.
Controversial customs law
The totally revised Customs Act, which the National Council will discuss in detail in the middle week of the session, is a weighty bill in terms of paperwork alone. It has already approved the bill, against the wishes of its preliminary committee. A minority of the SVP, SP and FDP thus prevailed.
The banner on which the Commission's proposals and minority proposals are listed comprises no fewer than 490 pages. The new customs law is intended to simplify procedures and tariffs and regulate the organization of customs and its future powers. The merging of customs and border guards is likely to be a talking point.
The spring session begins on February 26 and lasts until March 15. The National Council has reserved around 77 hours for its debates, the Council of States 57. No night sessions are planned for the National Council, while the Council of States will hold an evening session on the Monday of the second week. Further afternoon sessions have not yet been scheduled in the Council of States.
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