Council of States seeks compromise in dispute over UNRWA contribution
Published: Tuesday, Dec 19th 2023, 10:01
Updated At: Tuesday, Dec 19th 2023, 10:02
Volver a Live Feed
The Council of States has made a compromise proposal in the dispute over the contribution to the UN Palestinian Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). On Tuesday, it voted in favor of reducing the corresponding budget item by CHF 10 million. Where the money is to be saved is left open.
The small chamber reached its decision by 29 votes to 16. The compromise was drawn up by the Finance Committee of the Council of States. Now the National Council has to deal with it.
The National Council would like to cancel the contribution to UNRWA. To this end, it decided to cut the budget of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs for humanitarian activities by CHF 20 million. It also wants to stipulate to the Federal Council that the cut must be made to UNRWA.
The latest resolution of the Council of States, on the other hand, merely requires the national government to report regularly to the parliamentary foreign affairs committees on the Confederation's contributions to the UN organization.
In the National Council, a conservative majority justified its position by claiming that UNRWA employees had glorified terror against Israel. The opposing side considered the allegations to be insufficiently substantiated and feared damage to Switzerland's reputation.
National Council has the upper hand
Originally, the small chamber did not want any cuts at all. If the councils do not reach an agreement, the council whose decision provides for less expenditure will automatically prevail. The compromise proposal was therefore necessary, said committee spokesperson Johanna Gapany (FDP/FR). This is also because the mechanism would also have an impact on other items in the same federal decree.
Jakob Stark (SVP/TG) unsuccessfully requested that the Council of States should join the National Council. He warned against a lazy compromise. He said that the National Council was not concerned with a vote against humanitarian aid, nor with saving money. The problem was the "undisputed ideological proximity" of UNRWA to Hamas, or at least the toleration of Hamas activities.
Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said that the Federal Council could live with the compromise proposal. However, it would be problematic for Swiss foreign policy if Switzerland were unable to pay out contributions that have already been promised.
No agreement yet on regional policy
The Council of States is also proposing a compromise on the second remaining difference in the 2024 budget. It agreed to halve a contribution of CHF 25 million to the regional policy fund. The National Council wants to do without it altogether.
Last week, the councils had already agreed in principle to reduce the contributions to the rail infrastructure fund in order to be able to comply with the debt brake requirements in the budget for the coming year.
The move was necessary in particular because Parliament wants to forego a reduction in direct payments to farmers and increase funding for regional passenger transport by CHF 55 million compared to the Federal Council's proposal.
The final amount of the cut will depend on what Parliament decides on the outstanding points. The National Council's version currently amounts to CHF 36 million, while the Council of States' version is CHF 38 million.
Tug-of-war over army spending
The National Council will also have to deal with the financial plan for the years 2025 to 2027 again on Wednesday. On Tuesday, the Council of States insisted that military spending should increase to 1% of gross domestic product by 2030. Like the Federal Council, the National Council wants to extend the deadline to 2035.
©Keystone/SDA
Spanish 
English 
German 
French 
Arabic