Sunday, December 3, 2023
Published: Sunday, Dec 3rd 2023, 04:40
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Nuclear power plants are running out of staff, the federal government is dispensing with protocols at important meetings and traffic jams on Swiss roads are approaching record levels: this and more can be found in the Sunday newspapers. The headlines in unverified reports:
"NZZ am Sonntag":
The operating life of Switzerland's existing nuclear power plants is set to be extended from 50 to 80 years. However, a problem is now threatening to thwart these plans. The search for skilled workers is becoming increasingly challenging, as the NZZ am Sonntag writes. There are currently over 40 vacancies at the Beznau, Gösgen and Leibstadt nuclear power plants. A team of experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency warned Switzerland back in October 2021. In a report, it came to the conclusion that the search for personnel was one of the biggest challenges for Swiss nuclear plants and for the supervisory authority itself. At the end of September this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) followed up. The organization called on the authorities and power plant operators to develop a roadmap. The aim of this roadmap should be to promote the training of qualified workers in all areas of nuclear technology.
"SonntagsBlick":
The Federal Administration is obliged by law to be transparent. But the departments and their heads have developed tricks to keep quiet about important meetings: they no longer keep minutes of meetings, as SonntagsBlick writes. "Since the introduction of the Public Records Act in 2004, certain files can become public immediately - and officials and their bosses are now afraid that recording a meeting could damage them," said Sacha Zala, President of the Swiss Historical Society. Recent examples cited in the newspaper include a meeting between media entrepreneur Roger Schawinski and Albert Rösti, of which no minutes were taken. And when Federal Councillors Karin Keller-Sutter, Guy Parmelin and Ueli Maurer, who has since stepped down, met the Qatari finance minister, nothing was recorded, according to the authorities.
"SonntagsZeitung":
Since Christoph Blocher was voted out of office, the rule has been: no more wild candidates are elected. Now Blocher himself is torpedoing this rule. He has nothing good to say about the official candidates for the Federal Council, Jon Pult and Beat Jans. On his personal TV channel Teleblocher, Blocher suggested choosing another SP candidate, for example Daniel Jositsch, as the SonntagsZeitung writes. He made it clear that he thought this was legitimate. He even put into perspective the exclusion clause that the SVP incorporated into its statutes after he was voted out of office and which has led to the other parties only voting for official candidates from their respective parties since then. Blocher's latest breach of taboo could send out a signal: Many in the SVP as well as in other parties complain that only official candidates may be elected.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
Hassan Amirshahi is a lawyer in Tehran - and until now the Swiss authorities have kept his identity a secret. Now research by the "NZZ am Sonntag" reveals what many Iranians in this country have suspected: Hassan Amirshahi is also working in the Islamic Republic on behalf of Switzerland. He collects information about Iranian asylum seekers and supplies it to the Swiss authorities. He is a so-called trusted lawyer. Lawyers who represent Iranians in Switzerland criticize his actions - and Amirshahi: he is putting these people in danger, is not working properly and the information ends up with the regime in Tehran. There is no trust in the confidential lawyer. Despite this, the Confederation has held on to the man. When asked, the State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) qualified the criticism of the Swiss lawyers, saying that they were representing the interests of the asylum seekers. Amirshahi rejects the accusations.
"SonntagsBlick":
Swiss roads are becoming increasingly congested, especially at the Gotthard tunnel, where a new congestion record is expected in 2023. This is shown by an exclusive analysis by Viasuisse on behalf of "SonntagsBlick". By the end of October, the measured hours of congestion amounted to 1463 hours in the southbound direction and 1513 hours in the opposite direction. These figures could rise to between 1500 and 1700 hours per side by the end of the year - a new record. Compared to 2012, the traffic jam hours at the Gotthard tunnel have even doubled. The traffic situation has also worsened in almost all major Swiss cities. A total of 39,900 hours of congestion were recorded on the roads in 2022 - more than double the figure for 2010.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
UBS has set itself ambitious growth targets. Iqbal Khan, Head of Global Wealth Management, told "NZZ am Sonntag": "Over the next three years, we want to invest heavily in the US and catch up with the leading providers." Clients expect UBS to form a counterpart to the oligopoly of US banks: "We have the unique opportunity to be a completely global bank based in Switzerland," said Khan. The bank has set itself the goal of acquiring 150 billion dollars in new client assets per year. In response to concerns that UBS's size could become a risk, Khan explains: "On the contrary, the global presence is an advantage because it provides more stability and makes the business more predictable."
"SonntagsZeitung" / "Le Matin Dimanche":
More and more middle-class politicians believe that the energy transition cannot be achieved with renewable energies alone. Now the government, under the leadership of the SVP environment minister and proponent of nuclear power plants, is breaking a taboo, as the SonntagsZeitung and Le Matin Dimanche write: it is supporting a motion by FDP president Thierry Burkart that addresses the lifting of the ban on nuclear power plants. According to the motion, it should be shown what is necessary so that the old nuclear power plants can be decommissioned "without risk to security of supply". The government should explicitly consider the "scenario of building new nuclear power plants". This is a breach of taboo, as it was only 6 years ago that the electorate decided by a clear majority to ban the construction of new nuclear power plants. At the time, there was great confidence that the phase-out of oil and nuclear energy would be a success thanks to solar and wind power.
"SonntagsBlick":
Thomas Greminger is one of the most experienced Swiss diplomats. He is considered to have an excellent network. He would therefore have been a top candidate for the new post of State Secretary for Security Policy. But that has now come to nothing. As the SonntagsBlick writes, the reason lies in Greminger's behavior as a superior: for example, he pushed through a controversial promotion: he is said to have provided his ex-lover with a scholarship at the Geneva Center for Security Policy so that she could follow him from his previous post in Vienna to Geneva. The Department of Foreign Affairs does not wish to comment on the allegations, Greminger himself remains silent. According to internal reports, the name of the next candidate is already being circulated within the administration, as the newspaper writes. He would start work at the beginning of January 2024.
"NZZ am Sonntag":
There was a time when vaccination was considered the most important tool in the fight against coronavirus. But there is no sign of this in the current wave, although people are falling ill all around, as a look at hospitals, doctors' surgeries and wastewater monitoring data shows, as the "NZZ am Sonntag" writes. On the contrary: "From an immunity perspective, there is a positive side to the virus circulating," said Christoph Berger, President of the Federal Vaccination Commission. "It refreshes basic immunity, so that younger, healthy people are hardly at risk of serious infections." Geneva virologist Isabella Eckerle finds the theory of a welcome wave somewhat difficult to accept. "Even in protected people, there is still a residual risk of complications occurring or the infection developing into long Covid." This could also lead to absences from work, which could lead to further stress, especially in the healthcare sector.
"SonntagsBlick":
In recent years, almost all banks have significantly increased their lending in asset management. The reason: persistently low interest rates since the 2008 financial crisis reduced their margins. "Loans were made particularly attractive to the super-rich, allowing them to invest even more money in equities and real estate," Andreas Venditti, financial analyst at Bank Vontobel, told SonntagsBlick. In its "Risk Monitor 2023", published three weeks ago, FINMA assessed the Lombard loan portfolio of Swiss banks as follows: "There is a possibility that the haircuts applied by the banks are too low." If customers no longer meet their margin calls in such cases, this could lead to "loan defaults and losses". "Concentration risks can also arise if the loans are only based on individual (single stock lending) or poorly diversified collateral," Finma continued.
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