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JUNE

What changes in Switzerland in June?

Many changes are happening in Switzerland this month, as the country enters into its third —and final — phase of lifting lockdown restrictions.

Published: 4 June 2020 11:31 CEST
What changes in Switzerland in June?
Football will again be allowed in Switzerland in June. Photo by FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP

Cultural and some recreational venues will re-open on June 6th

On this date, cinemas, theaters, zoos, ski lifts, campsites, swimming pools, and prostitution services will reopen. 

Also on June 6th, the current limit of the gatherings of no more than five people will be lifted, with up to 30 persons allowed to get together.

In restaurants and bars as well the limit of four people per table will be lifted. Larger groups will be allowed, but one person per table will be mandated to leave their name and phone number with the restaurant staff, so that they can be notified if an outbreak of Covid-19 is subsequently detected. 

However, the distance of at least two metres between tables will still be required.

On June 8th, post-obligatory education, such as secondary schools, vocational training, and universities, will resume, following the re-opening of compulsory schools on May 11th.

Groups of up to 300 people will be allowed to gather, provided they respect distance and hygiene measures.

The border with Austria will also re-open on June 8th.

READ MORE: Austria to open border with Switzerland  

Also starting from June 8th, Switzerland will again process all applications from workers from European Union (EU) member states or the European Free Trade Association (EFTA). In addition, Swiss companies will once again be able to hire highly qualified workers from third countries when their activity is in the public interest or when their engagement meets an urgent need.

The reunification of the family of a holder of an establishment, residence or short-term authorization or of the family of a provisionally admitted person will again be possible under the usual conditions.

READ MORE: Switzerland relaxes work and residency restrictions: What does this mean for foreigners? 

On June 15th, borders with France and Germany will reopen.

But Switzerland’s border with Italy will remain closed for the time being. 

Also on June 15th, Geneva and Zurich airports will gradually increase the number of international flights.

READ MORE: Geneva Airport schedules tentative take-off for mid-June 

Swiss and EasyJet will step up their activities from that date as well. 

Wearing a mask will still be recommended at airports and on board planes.

Football will resume on June 19th

Up to 300 spectators will be allowed to gather to watch the game, but crowds of more than 300 people are banned until August 31st.

The first match on June 19th is provisionally scheduled to take place behind closed doors at the Stade de Suisse in the capital Bern between title-challengers Young Boys and visitors FC Zurich.

Up to five substitutions permitted per match to reduce the risk of player injury.

READ MORE: Coronavirus: Football in Switzerland to kick off again on June 19 

June 30th: time to file your taxes.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, some cantons have extended the tax filing deadline this year from March 15th to June 30th.

These cantons are: Aargau, Basel-Country, Fribourg, Nidwalden, Schaffhausen, Ticino, Vaud, and Zug.

 

 

 

 

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FEATURE

What changes about life in Denmark in June 2021?

Coronavirus rules, travel restrictions and car registration fees are among the areas set to see announcements, updates or rule changes in Denmark in June.

Published: 31 May 2021 13:28 CEST
What changes about life in Denmark in June 2021?
An electric-powered harbour bus operating in Copenhagen in June 2020. Photo: Claus Bech/Ritzau Scanpix

Changes to coronavirus restrictions

Denmark initially outlined a phased plan to lift its coronavirus restrictions back in March. The plan has been updated (and accelerated) on a number of occasions, with politicians meeting regularly to discuss adjustments based on the status and progression of the epidemic.

Initially, the government said it would lift the majority of restrictions by the end of May, when it expected to have vaccinated everyone over the age of 50 (apart from those who choose not to be vaccinated). Although the vaccination calendar was pushed back, restrictions are still being lifted, with the government citing progress with vaccinations and general good control of the epidemic.

In an agreement reached earlier this month, the government said rules requiring the use of face masks and corona passports will be revoked when all people over 16 in Denmark have been offered vaccination. The end-stage of the vaccination programme is currently scheduled to be reached at the end of August. But more detail on the plans for phased lifting of these rules is expected to surface in June.

READ ALSO: When will Denmark stop requiring corona passports and face masks?

A return to offices and shared workspaces, already set out to occur in three steps, will continue. In the first phase, which began on May 21st, 20 percent capacity were allowed back at physical workplaces. Remaining staff must continue to work from home where possible. This proportion will increase to 50 percent on June 14th (and 100 percent on August 1st).

Public assembly limit to be raised indoors, lifted outdoors

The current phase of reopening, which has been in place since May 21st, limits gatherings indoors to 50 people. This is scheduled to increase to 100 on June 11th.

Outdoors gatherings, currently limited to 100 people, will be completely revoked on June 11th.

August 11th will see the end of any form of assembly limit, indoors or outdoors, according to the scheduled reopening.

Unfortunately, this does not mean festivals such as Roskilde Festival – which would normally start at the end of June – can go ahead. Large scale events are still significantly restricted, meaning Roskilde and the majority of Denmark’s other summer festivals have already been cancelled.

Eased travel restrictions could be extended to non-EU countries

Earlier this month, Denmark moved into the third phase of lifting travel restrictions , meaning tourists from the EU and Schengen countries can enter the country.

The current rules mean that foreigners resident in EU and Schengen countries rated orange on the country’s traffic light classification (yellow, orange and red) for Covid-19 levels in the relevant countries, will no longer need a worthy purpose to enter Denmark, opening the way for tourists to come to Denmark from across the region.

Denmark raised the threshold for qualifying as a yellow country from 20-30 to 50-60 cases per 100,000 people over the past week.  

However, the lower threshold only applies to EU and Schengen countries, which means that, for example, the UK does not qualify as a yellow country despite falling within the incidence threshold.

READ ALSO:

But the 27 member states of the European Union recently announced they had agreed to allow fully vaccinated travellers to enter the bloc.

A Ministry of Justice text which sets out the plan for Denmark’s phased easing of travel restrictions suggests that the fourth phase, scheduled to take effect on June 26th, will see Denmark adopt the EU’s common rules on entry for persons from outside the bloc, meaning non-EU countries could qualify for the more lenient rules for yellow regions.

New car registration fees come into effect

New rules for registration fees for new vehicles, adopted in February, take effect on June 1st.

The laws, which will be applied retroactively from December 18th 2020, mean that different criteria will be used to calculate the registrations fees applied to cars based on their carbon dioxide emissions, replacing the existing rules which used fuel consumption as the main emissions criteria.

New rules will also be introduced offering more advantages for registering electric and hybrid vehicles.

You can find detailed information via the Danish Motor Vehicle Agency.

READ ALSO: Why is it so expensive to buy a car in Denmark?

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