Direct democracy under influence? The votes on 8 March raise some fundamental questions
The votes on 8 March reveal a disturbing paradox: while Switzerland claims to be one of the most successful models of direct democracy in the world, some of the results show the extent to which the political wording, counter-projects and institutional semantics can shape people's perceptions. Between rejection of initiatives, massive acceptance of counter-projects [...]
EU framework agreement: Brussels' legal trap
Behind the reassuring words of «stabilisation of relations» and «modernisation of bilateral relations» lies in reality a major institutional change for Switzerland. The framework agreement with the European Union would not be a simple technical adjustment: it would introduce a mechanism of legal alignment whereby rules decided in Brussels would gradually be imposed on [...].
Switzerland-EU agreements: the irreversibility of a surrender of sovereignty
What if the issue was no longer economic, but institutional? In an interview published in the NZZ, former federal lawyer Paul Richli issues a warning that has rarely been put so clearly: the adoption of European law and the new institutional agreements with the EU could profoundly transform Switzerland's political functioning - to the point of [...].
Negative interest rates: when the SNB taxes savings to defend the euro
What if the real problem was not the strength of the franc... but the fear of taking it on? Every time the euro falters, the same thing happens: intervention, implicit threats, pressure on the national currency. Behind the technocratic vocabulary lies a simple reality - Swiss savings are about to be penalised again in order to correct [...]
Neutrality cannot be financed on credit
While missiles fly across the skies of the Middle East, hundreds of billions of Swiss reserves continue to feed the American financial heartland. Technical coincidence... or strategic contradiction? If neutrality is the pillar of our prosperity, then one question must be asked: is our national balance sheet still in line with our principles? This [...]
Switzerland-EU: when bureaucracy becomes a systemic risk
There's nothing new in Brussels - apart from the acceleration. On 3 February 2026, the German daily Die Welt revealed a study by the industry organisation Gesamtmetall: in 2025, the European Commission had introduced 1,456 legislative acts, the most since 2010. Twenty-one directives, 102 regulations, 137 delegated acts and 1,196 implementing acts. Four new texts [...]
Switzerland-EU: importing European bureaucracy to «stabilise» for a few months?
What the German press has revealed should be a wake-up call for Switzerland. While Brussels was promising to reduce bureaucracy, the production of standards reached an all-time high. If even German industry is denouncing a technocratic drift and growing legal uncertainty, why would Berne consider anchoring our law more firmly in this mechanism? Before any irreversible decisions are taken, it [...]
Switzerland-EU: not worth the risk
For months, the debate has been presented as an economic no-brainer: without the new agreements with the EU, Switzerland would be taking a major risk to its prosperity. But what do the figures and independent analyses really say? When two leading Swiss economists come to opposing conclusions, one thing becomes clear [...].
Switzerland-EU: the Swiss participatory model on borrowed time?
As the debate on the Swiss-EU integration agreements intensifies, a voice from Europe's highest industrial level is disturbing the prevailing consensus. In an interview with Die Weltwoche (15 February 2026), Wolfgang Reitzle - an experienced executive with a thorough knowledge of the economic and legal structures of the European Union - warns against a [...].
EU-Switzerland framework agreement: economic capitulation disguised as pragmatism
We are being asked to give up our legal sovereignty for... non-existent economic gain. Under the reassuring label of ’bilateral agreements«, the EU is proposing that Switzerland unilaterally align itself with its standards, even though we have an annual trade deficit of 25 billion with Brussels. In other words: we are customers - yet we are being asked to [...]