FDP and SVP welcome expert report, SP and Greens reject it
Published: Thursday, Sep 5th 2024, 15:50
Updated At: Thursday, Sep 5th 2024, 16:10
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The report on the situation of the federal finances presented by a group of experts on Thursday was received differently by the parties. The FDP and SVP welcomed it, while the SP and Greens rejected it.
According to a statement from the FDP on Thursday, the report showed that "savings are possible if the federal government becomes more efficient and cuts nonsensical subsidies". The money would "easily be enough for a strong army - without any new taxes."
The SVP pointed out that it had already put forward savings proposals with a potential of CHF 5.5 billion in April. The party would offer its hand for a bourgeois savings alliance with the FDP and the center in order to balance the federal finances and "continue the successful debt brake."
For the SVP, the federal government could intensify its cost-cutting efforts - for example by reducing the "luxury salaries of the federal administration".
For SP "frontal attack on social Switzerland"
In contrast, the SP Switzerland spoke of a "frontal attack on social Switzerland". The group of experts had set the wrong priorities and ignored important facts. The austerity proposals would "set Switzerland back years" in terms of climate protection, equality and purchasing power, said SP Co-President Cédric Wermuth in a party statement.
There is plenty of scope on the revenue side to finance key socio-political issues. The debt brake must also "finally be interpreted wisely": Debt must be stabilized in relation to economic growth instead of being reduced.
The Greens, on the other hand, spoke of a "pandering report". The "haphazard and excessive increase in the army budget" and "the lack of willingness to reform the outdated debt brake" had brought the federal budget out of control.
The preferential treatment of the cantons in the OECD tax reform is now also proving to be a mistake in the financial policy of the middle classes and the Federal Council. Such "bourgeois mistakes" must be reversed.
For the GLP, the expert group's savings proposals were "going in the right direction". It is good that the group is "making a broad range of savings proposals". It was right to focus on reducing expenditure. However, the GLP also called for a review of whether the debt brake should be made more flexible.
Cantons against jumping to conclusions
According to a press release, the Conference of Cantonal Governments recognized that the federal government must do something to improve its financial budget. However, it called for the burden not to be shifted prematurely from the Confederation to the cantons.
Such burden-shifting is not a genuine cost-cutting measure; from the taxpayers' point of view, it is ultimately a "zero-sum game". They would be rejected by the cantons in principle. It would be better to first carry out work on the "Unbundling 27" project, which the Confederation and cantons launched this June. This project will increase the financial room for maneuver of both levels of government.
Criticism also from employees
The umbrella organization of employees in Switzerland, Travail Suisse, announced on Thursday that it "firmly rejects" the federal government's "radical austerity measures". Austerity measures purely on the expenditure side are "absolutely unacceptable and harmful to the entire population".
The Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SGB) also stated that "a financial policy is needed not against but for the people". Cuts to social security are out of the question; the federal government's debt brake is being implemented incorrectly.
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