Parliament to have a say on accession to WHO pandemic agreement
Published: Thursday, Sep 26th 2024, 12:00
Updated At: Thursday, Sep 26th 2024, 12:00
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If Switzerland joins a WHO agreement and makes it a liability, Parliament should have the final say. After the National Council, the Council of States also adopted a motion from the SVP parliamentary group on Thursday, bringing the issue of soft law back to the table.
The small chamber voted in favor of the motion by 29 votes to 8 with 4 abstentions. It was thus referred to the Federal Council.
The SVP justified the motion with the planned pandemic treaty of the World Health Organization (WHO). According to spokesperson Esther Friedli (SG), this would massively expand the WHO's influence and warned against a concentration of power at the UN organization. The WHO would be given far-reaching possibilities to censor what it considers to be misinformation or disinformation.
The WHO members are continuing negotiations on a global pandemic agreement. The plan to adopt it in the summer had failed, so they set themselves a new deadline of spring 2025.
Soft law as a point of contention
In the eyes of the SVP, there is a risk for Switzerland that this international "instrument" could develop binding legal force. In order to take account of this risk in the area of soft law, Parliament must be able to decide on an international "instrument".
Soft law in foreign policy refers to instruments that are not legally binding but have a certain normative force. A report by the parliamentary administrative audit concluded that parliamentary involvement in the area of soft law is only partially appropriate.
This was triggered by the discussion about soft law in connection with Switzerland's accession to the UN migration pact in 2018. The Federal Council actually wanted to adopt the agreement on its own, but Parliament rejected this. The discussion on the UN migration pact is currently pending in parliament. The Council of States rejects accession. The National Council must deal with the matter next.
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