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THE WEEK IN SWITZERLAND

Six big news stories from Switzerland not to miss this week

Cost of emergency room visits, rent control strategies, and highest-paying jobs are among the Swiss news The Local reported this week. You can catch up on everything in this weekly roundup.

Six big news stories from Switzerland not to miss this week
Driving on Switzerland's motorways could get more expensive. Photo AFP / Fabrice COFFRINI

Swiss Government considers a 50-franc ‘fine’ for unreferred emergency room visits

The move to impose a 50-franc fee on those who seek emergency care at a Swiss hospital without a doctor’s referral is not new, but Swiss MPs have taken up this issue again.

This move is intended to stop people from seeking emergency help for mild cases.

However, children and pregnant women would be exempt from this rule, as would those who come with life-threatening conditions or those who require hospitalisation.

READ ALSO: Could going to a Swiss hospital without a referral cost you 50 francs?

Authorities want to sharply raise the price of Swiss motorway vignettes

The car sticker has cost the same — 40 francs — since 1995, but now the Swiss government wants to increase the price to 100 francs to  ensure the financing of the country’s road infrastructure.

The project was rejected in 2013 by 60.5 percent of voters, but now the Federal Council is considering this measure again, as money is needed not only for road projects in general, but also for better traffic management in the Alpine areas.

READ ALSO: Could the cost of the Swiss motorway vignette rise to 100 francs? 

Switzerland considers issuing fewer permits for non-EU workers

Swiss  justice minister Elisabeth Baume-Schneider has said she wants to reduce the number of work permits issued to people from outside the European Union and EFTA (Norway, Iceland, and Liechtenstein).

She proposed that the number of permits granted to third-country nationals be cut from 12,000 currently to 9,600 in 2024.

The Federal Council will decide in the next few weeks whether it wants to follow Baume-Schneider’s proposal to tighten the screws on the third-country immigration and, if so, when.

READ ALSO: Will Switzerland cut number of work permits for third country nationals? 

Swiss government wants to curb rent increases

Rents in Switzerland went up in October and another hike could hit the tenants in December.

This would put further pressure on the tenants already dealing will high costs amid a very tight housing market, especially in large cities.

That is why the  Federal Council wants to intervene to slow down the process, mandating the Department of Economy to develop a new ordinance on rent hikes, as the current one was created 40 years ago and is no longer relevant today.

READ ALSO: How does Swiss government plan to curb rent increases? 

Sectors where six-digit salaries are common

The ongoing shortage of skilled workers in Switzerland is pushing salaries in some in-demand fields upwards.

This is what has been happening in the areas of finance, accounting, human resources (HR), and information technology (IT).

In many cases, qualified employees in these sectors can earn upwards of 100,000 francs per year — well over the median Swiss wage of 80,000 francs.

READ ALSO: Which jobs in Switzerland offer the highest wages right now?

Switzerland to launch digital identity card

The e-ID, to be launched in 2026, “will enable users to identify themselves digitally in a secure, fast and uncomplicated way,” the Federal Council said.

Simply put, the e-ID is intended to ensure secure access to a wide variety of services — both online and off.
The government said it will be safe to use and not compromise any personal or private information.

READ ALSO: What is Switzerland’s new ‘electronic ID’ and will you need it?

And in case you missed this news, it is not too late to ‘jump in’:

A number of Christmas markets has opened in Switzerland this week; even though it is still officially autumn, the holiday spirit is definitely in the air.

READ ALSO: The Swiss Christmas markets opening in November 

And while we are on the subject of Christmas, know that the Swiss Post Office has a timetable for sending your holiday mail, so it gets to its recipients on time.

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For members

THE WEEK IN SWITZERLAND

Six big news stories from Switzerland you need to know about this week

Russia's cyberattacks on Swiss government websites and deadly explosion near Zurich are among the Swiss news The Local reported this week. You can catch up on everything in this weekly roundup.

Six big news stories from Switzerland you need to know about this week

Government will have to implement measures to cut the cost of health insurance

After Swiss voters rejected two initiatives to curb the price of obligatory health insurance premiums on June 9th, it is now up to the Federal Council and the cantons to step in with their own counter-proposals.

These measures provide for various ways to curb the cost of premiums, including earmarking a portion of public budgets for premium reductions for low-income families, as well as setting up a commission for monitoring costs and quality of health insurance. 

Switzerland’s international schools are most expensive in Europe

Ninety-four schools in 10 Swiss cities are geared specifically to students whose parents are foreign nationals and want their children to get an international education that is recognised abroad more widely than a solely Swiss schooling is — especially outside the EU.

But according to a  new survey carried out by International Schools Database, which researches and compares schools in cities across the world, the cost of tuition and other services at these schools (such as extra-curricular activities, for instance), is higher than in international institutions across Europe.
 
READ ALSO: Why are international schools in Switzerland the most expensive in Europe? 

Russia launches cyberattacks on Swiss government websites

Just as Switzerland is preparing to launch a high-level summit on peace in Ukraine, its websites had been hit by a wave of cyberattacks.

Russia is suspected to be at the origin of these actions.

The government said, however, that these attacks were expected and are presumed to be in connection with the summit. They resulted in minor outages but the operation of the affected units was not significantly affected.

READ ALSO: Swiss government hit by cyberattack ahead of Ukraine peace summit 

Deadly explosion in an underground garage
 
Two people died, and 11 were injured in a town near Zurich when powerful fireworks exploded in the underground car park of an apartment building. 

The incident happened in Nussbaumen, in canton Aargau.

But while the cause of the blast is known, investigators are looking into how exactly the incident occurred.
 
READ ALSO: Two killed after explosions in Swiss underground garage 

Buying property could become less expensive

Thanks to falling mortgage interest rates — due mostly to two key rate cuts still expected from the Swiss National Bank (SNB) — mortgages are now significantly lower than they were at this time in 2023.

Many are now below 2 percent and they are expected to drop further by the beginning of 2025.

This is already the case in the cantons of Bern, Solothurn, Aargau, Schaffhausen, and Thurgau, as well as in certain areas of Vaud, Fribourg, and Valais, where buying a home is also already cheaper than renting.

READ ALSO: Property prices in Switzerland set to become (slightly) more affordable 

And also:
 
Have you caught football fever yet?

It is not dangerous to our health but its cure is straight-forward: you must watch the EURO 2024 games.
 
Whether indoors or outside, there are many opportunities to cheer on the Swiss ‘Nati’ which, depending on the linguistic region where you live could be ‘Hopp Schwiiz,’ ‘Hop Suisse,’ or ‘Hop Svizzera.’

READ ALSO: Where you can watch Euro 2024 in Switzerland 
 
 

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