Autumn Session 2020

On September 25, the autumn session 2020 was concluded. The session, which was somewhat special due to the current situation, could be held without great difficulty. The most important decisions can be found in the following paragraph.

Independence of the Federal Judges

After Federal Judge Yves Donzallaz (SVP) made rulings that did not suit the SVP, his own party did not recommend him for re-election. This met with resistance, on the grounds that it could affect the independence of judges. Yves Donzallaz was confirmed with 177 votes, thus the SVP’s attack failed.

Swiss participation in the Schengen database SIS

The Schengen database SIS enables Schengen states to share and process data on criminals across borders. The National Council has rejected participation in this database.

Federal financial support for unemployment insurance

Due to the corona crisis, there was a large increase in short-time work in Switzerland. As a result, the costs for short-time work compensation have also risen enormously. Since the costs for the short-time work compensation are borne by the unemployment insurance fund, the unemployment insurance fund is additionally burdened by the corona crisis. The two Councils have now unanimously approved 14.2 billion francs to cover the costs of unemployment insurance. This sum will be borne by the Confederation and is intended to prevent the equalization fund from reaching its debt ceiling.

Financial aid for public transport

Due to the measures taken by the Federal Council to contain the corona pandemic, public transport has also suffered losses. SBB alone suffered a loss of CHF 480 million in the first half of the year. The Federal Council has drawn up an aid package in this regard, but this does not take local traffic into account. Parliament does not share this opinion and accepted the proposal for financial support, which also includes local traffic.