Tag Archives: Alain Berset

Two ministers, two policies, one vote: Alain Berset (left) and Ueli Maurer. (© Keystone / Peter Klaunzer) The Swiss government has launched its campaign in favour of the upcoming national vote on a reform of the corporate tax and pension systems. Ministers for health and finance, Alain Berset and Ueli Maurer, presented their case at a press conference on Monday, urging citizens to vote ‘yes’ on May 19. Berset and...

© Edgars Sermulis | Dreamstime.com Against the wishes of the Federal Council, Switzerland’s upper house, the Council of States, rejected a plan to prevent people from withdrawing lump sums from their 2nd Pillar pensions, according to the newspaper Tribune de Genève. Last week, the Council of States voted 25 to 15 to reject the plan. The Federal Council thinks forcing people to convert their pension money into an...

A May Day rally in the centre of Basel in northwest Switzerland on May 1, 2018 (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Workers and activists have been celebrating May Day in Switzerland with rallies in numerous cities urging their government to address employment issues, such as equal pay. Around 50 rallies and events are planned across Switzerland. On Tuesday morning, 13,000 took part in a demonstration in Zurich...

Last week, State Councillor Peter Hegglin (PDC/CVP) withdrew his motion demanding Switzerland’s retirement age automatically rise with life expectancy. Retirement-Switzerland_©-Famveldman Dreamstime.com_ - Click to enlarge He argues that Switzerland urgently needs to find a way to ensure the financial health of its pension system and raising the retirement age is the main way to do this. Across most of the OECD...

This will be the fourth attempt in two decades to reform the state pension system because of a structural deficit (Keystone) - Click to enlarge The Swiss government on Friday fixed the outlines of a new state pension reform plan, including raising VAT to fund it, and raising the retirement age for women from 64 to 65. The proposed reform is to be financed by an increase in VAT of up to 1.7%. Home Affairs Minister...

All smiles: Swiss President Alain Berset, right, and US President Donald J. Trump, left, shake hands during a bilateral meeting Swiss President Alain Berset says his meeting with US President Donald Trump at the World Economic Forum in Davos was productive and frank. Trump took credit for making Switzerland “even richer”. “You have a lot of our stock in the United States so I have helped to make Switzerland even...

© Blondsteve | Dreamstime As next year’s health premium bills find their way into Swiss mail or email boxes, the reality of another round of price increases starts to bite. Earlier this week, Switzerland’s Federal Council unveiled 38 measures that will be considered as part of a plan to tackle Switzerland’s rising health costs. A final plan will be presented next spring, according to 20 Minutes. A number of measures,...

Interior Minister Alain Berset was more successful at convincing Swiss abroad of his reforms than those at home (Keystone) - Click to enlarge Unlike their compatriots in Switzerland, Swiss voters who live abroad came out massively in favour of a wide-ranging overhaul of Switzerland’s old-age pension scheme. Eleven of Switzerland’s 26 cantons count the votes of Swiss expats separately. An analysis of Sunday’s...

La baisse du taux de conversion à 6% ne serait-elle qu’un début? Avec Prévoyance 2020, vos rentes LPP pourraient bien subir un jour ou l’autre quelques réajustements supplémentaires. Il suffirait d’une nouvelle crise financière… Alors que des milliers de foyers helvétiques comptent sur les revenus de leurs capitaux LPP pour maintenir leur niveau de vie à la retraite, de telles espérances pourraient très bientôt...

The Swiss cabinet has approved an amended billing system for medical treatments aimed at creating more transparency and limiting a further increase in healthcare costs. The decision is expected to lead to annual savings of CHF470 million ($483 million) and a drop of about 1.5 percentage points in insurance fees for patients, according to Interior Minister Alain Berset. However, it falls short of initial proposals for...