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EUROPEAN UNION

Not so ‘handy’: Switzerland left out as EU ends roaming charges

Mobile phone roaming charges within the EU were officially quashed on June 15th, leaving Swiss customers disadvantaged.

Published: 15 June 2017 10:18 CEST
Not so 'handy': Switzerland left out as EU ends roaming charges
Photo: CebotariN/Depositphotos
The new rules apply to any member of the EU and, later on, the European Economic Area (EEA) which includes Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.
 
Under the ‘roam at home’ agreement, customers with a mobile phone contract in these countries will be charged the same for texts, calls and data when abroad within the EU as they are in their home country.
 
Not being a member of either the EU or EEA, Switzerland is not a part of the new agreement.
 
Despite that, some foreign mobile phone companies are extending their roaming-free zone to Switzerland. 
 
 
British customers of O2 and Three, for example, can use their phones in Switzerland on their normal tariff with no extra charge. As can French customers of Orange and Spanish customers of Vodafone. 
 
But it doesn’t work the other way around, with customers of Swiss operators still having to fork out high prices to get a deal including roaming for their handy/natel (as a mobile phone is known in Swiss German and French).
 
Salt charges 89 francs a month for a subscription that includes unlimited roaming in the EU, versus 39 francs a month for a Switzerland-only deal. 
 
Sunrise charges 100 francs for a similar roaming deal under its ‘Freedom’ range, and offers add-on roaming bundles for pay-as-you-go travellers.
 
Swisscom offers subscriptions that include roaming in 190 countries starting from 60 francs a month for 30 days up to a whopping 180 francs a month for unlimited roaming. 
 
Outside monthly deals, pay per text/minute/megabyte prices are also high. For example a Sunrise customer roaming in France would pay 1.10 francs a minute for a local call, 1.30 francs to call Switzerland, 50 centimes to send a text and one franc per megabyte of data, as well as charges to receive calls and texts. 
 
Some in Switzerland fear that the new division between Switzerland and the rest of Europe could be detrimental to Switzerland’s tourism industry. 
 
And back in May Swiss MP Elisabeth Schneider-Schneiter said she felt the Swiss government should discuss the issue to ensure Swiss phone users are not discriminated against.
 
“If the EU can stop roaming then it must be possible for Switzerland,” she said.
 
But a spokesman for online comparison site Comparis.ch told Swiss media at the time that roaming charges were a lucrative business for Swiss companies, so they had “little interest” in joining the EU deal.
 
  
 

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EUROPEAN UNION

Why does Switzerland have to comply with European court rulings?

Europe's top rights court ruled that Switzerland was not doing enough to tackle climate change, condemning it to a hefty fee. But why does Switzerland have to abide by this decision?

Published: 10 April 2024 14:11 CEST
Why does Switzerland have to comply with European court rulings?

In a landmark ruling handed down on April 9th, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg sided with a group of Swiss pensioners who ‘sued’ the country for not doing enough to mitigate the effects of global warming. 

The ECHR ruled that Switzerland had violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which guarantees the “right to respect for private and family life,” and ordered the government to pay the complainants a fine of €80,000 (78,555 francs). 

READ ALSO: Who are Switzerland’s victorious climate ‘Elders’? 

While environmental groups and a number of political parties welcomed the verdict, questions also arose about why Switzerland, which is not a member of the EU, must comply with the decision handed down by the Council of Europe’s court.

This fact was not lost on the populist, anti-EU Swiss People’s Party (SVP).

One of its MPs, Jean-Luc Addor, questioned not only the court’s judgment, but also the fact that foreign judges have ‘meddled’ in Swiss matters.

“What is the legitimacy of the ECHR to pronounce such a ‘condemnation’?,” he asked.” Is it now going to send the European army to Switzerland?”

So why is Switzerland obligated to conform to the ECHR’s judgment? 

In 1974, the country, though neutral, signed the European Convention on Human Rights.

As the European court was established expressly to monitor the parties’ compliance with the provisions enshrined in the Convention, Switzerland must heed its judgements. (The ECHR hears only matters related to human rights. It does not handle any criminal cases).

To ensure that rulings are just and impartial, the ECHR’s judges come from the 46 countries that ratified the Convention.

Switzerland is represented by Andreas Zünd, who has served on the ECHR since January 2021.

How do Swiss cases end up in front of ECHR judges?

Switzerland has different court levels: district, cantonal, and federal.

Complainants first file their cases in the district court. If they are not happy with the verdict, they can appeal it within 30 days, at which point the case will go to the higher judicial level, that is, the cantonal court.

The next step up the judicial ladder is the Federal Supreme court, the highest judicial authority in Switzerland.

Headquartered in Lausanne, it is the final instance on all appeals against decisions of the cantonal courts.

But though this final judgment can’t be appealed in Switzerland, the case  — if it relates to rights outlined in the Convention — can be taken to the ECHR.

READ ALSO: What you should know about Switzerland’s courts 

What ‘Swiss cases’ have been judged by the European court?

The climate activists’ case is the latest of dozens of rulings involving complaints from Switzerland. 

Some of the other successful ones involved a widower whose pension benefits were denied by a Swiss court; a Romanian woman fined for beginning in Geneva; and a Sudanese man who won his appeal against deportation from Switzerland. 

You can see all the ECHR rulings for Switzerland (in German or French) for the last 45 years here.

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