Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron have built a new extension to their original Tate Mode design. In a rare interview, the duo spoke to Swiss public television about their work. (SRF/RTS, swissinfo.ch)

In 2000, the Herzog & de Meuron architecture firm converted the former Bankside Power Station in London into what is now known as the Tate Mode museum. With 4.7 million visitors in 2015 it’s one of the most visited contemporary art museums in the world.

In June 2016, the extension was opened by the new mayor of London, Sadiq Khan.

The “Switch House”, as it’s known, is a ten-storey tower clad with brick in the form of a twisting pyramid, and takes the name from part of the former power station that the new wing of the Tate Mode museum occupies.

The unique façade of the new building reinterprets the power station’s brickwork through 336,000 lattice bricks that allow the light to filter in pattes during the day and makes the building glow in the dark.

Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron have built up their architecture firm to become one of the most renowned in the world, recently designing the Beijing Olympics’ Bird’s Nest, among other iconic buildings.

Banks and professional traders are lining up to take advantage of volatility created by Britain’s vote on EU membership. Amateur investors are also looking to cash in during the June 23 vote, but this has made some online platforms wary of the losses they could rack up.

Swissquote, one of Switzerland’s largest online brokers with more than 230,000 client accounts, understands better than most the risks of “armchair investors” getting in over their heads. Last year it had to write off CHF25 million ($26 million) in bad debts when account holders were caught out by the central bank’s abandonment of the franc-euro peg.

With the Brexit vote looming, Swissquote is now determined to limit the size of clients’ bets by raising margin rates on certain foreign exchange trades from 1% to 5%. This means that traders using its platform must now put up five times more capital to cover the risk of trades going sour.

Using CHF50,000 of their own money, Swissquote users can now speculate on currency exchange rates to the tune of CHF1 million – instead of the normal CHF5 million ceiling.

Other online brokers have followed suit, including Coér Bank’s platform Coér Trader, the Geneva-based IG Bank and the Swiss branches of Saxo Bank.

The June 23 referendum in Britain represents the perfect conditions for traders: a plaed event with a highly uncertain outcome (opinion polls are still divided on the result) that could bring big swings in market prices either way depending on the way votes are cast.

Volatile exchange rates

The British pound has already lost 7% of its value against the Swiss franc since January. Some analysts believe the sterling could plunge 20% against the US dollar if the Brexit “Leave” campaign wins.

On top of that, Britain leaving the European Union would almost certainly depress the trading value of the euro. The franc recently hit six-month highs against the euro.

Alteately, a “Remain” vote would likely rally the British pound and reverse much of the downward pressure it has faced in the past few weeks of uncertainty.

In addition to foreign exchange trades, the bond and derivatives markets are also bound to see wiers and losers come June 23. Professional traders, particularly in London, which is home to most of Europe’s investment bankers, are talking about Brexit as one of the most highly anticipated events in recent times.

Several media have pointed out that teams of traders in all major investment banks have been ordered to work through the night on Thursday. It is expected that results of the referendum will start drifting in at around 10pm Swiss time.

Swiss private banks have also been quietly enjoying some of the benefits of the pre-referendum uncertainty. Those investors who lack the risk appetite of investment bankers or day traders have been pulling their assets into safe havens, such as the Swiss franc.

Should Brexit become reality, Swiss private bankers expect the flow to expand into a flood of cash escaping the volatility.

“If you see major corrections, clients try to protect their assets first,” UBS head of wealth management Jürg Zeltner recently told Reuters. “A lot of clients sit on 30-plus per cent cash. So what they are going to do is just move that into what they will consider a safe haven.”

swissinfo.ch

Swiss private banks are looking to capitalise on global banks' retreat from Southeast Asia, pushing deeper into the region as they seek to extend their range beyond Singapore to tap wealthy clients in less developed markets.

Bordier & Cie is the latest wealth manager seeking partnerships with regional banks in markets including Vietnam, on the heels of a similar tie-up in Thailand between Lombard Odier and a local bank. Credit Suisse, too, is targeting rich Thais, setting up a team of relationship managers in Bangkok.

Geneva-based Bordier & Cie said it is in talks with at least three regional institutions about setting up partnerships under a strategy aimed at increasing profits in Asia without raising its fixed costs.

Many banks have struggled to make sustainable profits from the rise of Asia's super-rich in the face of rising regulatory costs, particularly in relation to preventing money laundering.

In the past two years, both Barclays and Société Générale have sold their Asian private banking operations to regional banks. In April, JPMorgan cut 20% of its Asia private bank relationship managers as it refocused on a smaller pool of richer clients.

Under its proposed partnerships, Bordier & Cie will train regional banks and help them set up wealth management units. The Swiss group will charge for the service, which would include sharing specialist knowledge and training in Singapore and Switzerland, and hopes in tu to be introduced to clients who wish to bank in Singapore.

Evrard Bordier, managing partner at Bordier & Cie in Singapore, said: "We do not have the strength to be in every country."

The aim is to boost profits without shouldering increased costs of office rental, IT and staffing in the region, Bordier said. "We don't try to step on their toes and set up a business in the same country," he said. "You forge alliances."

Bordier & Cie, which opened a Singapore operation in 2011 and now has 35 staff in the city-state, is one of a number of Swiss banks of varying sizes targeting the region. It had CHF10.5 billion ($10.9 billion) in assets under management last year.

Lombard Odier, a mid-sized Swiss bank with CHF160 billion in assets under management, has also sought to extend its reach in Asia, linking up with local banks in Thailand, Japan, Australia and South Korea.

Part of Lombard Odier's deal with Thailand's Kasikobank includes referring wealthy Thai clients to the Swiss company, which provides training for the Thai bank's relationship managers.

Credit Suisse is adding a team of six relationship managers in Bangkok and aims to doubling that number by the end of the year, while Julius Baer said in April it is hiring at least 50 more relationship managers in Asia.

But expansion in Asia can also pose reputational risk relating to the sources of some client wealth. Swiss bank BSI, which grew rapidly in Singapore over the past seven years, is facing criminal proceedings after an investigation by Switzerland's financial supervisor Finma found it was "in serious breach" of money laundering regulations coected to the scandal surrounding Malaysian state investment fund 1MDB.

BSI has said it is cooperating with authorities in Switzerland and Singapore and has taken steps to improve management and compliance.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2016

Three years after the migrant boat tragedy in Lampedusa, in which 366 people drowned, relatives are still trying to identify dead bodies to conduct a dignified burial. It’s a difficult but important process which is being supported by the Swiss Red Cross.

“We told them several times that they shouldn’t set out, but they didn’t listen. One day they got into a boat heading for Europe. We haven’t heard from them since,” says Bila Bila Barre from Somalia, recounting the story of her two nephews Hussene (20) und Maxamud (19). They wanted to travel to Italy via Libya.

Barre is certain that the young men perished with other migrants in the terrible shipwreck off the coast of Lampedusa on October 3, 2015, in which at least 366 people died. Ironically, it was one of the few refugee tragedies in which most of the dead were recovered.

“The dates coincide, even if none of the 155 survivors can confirm they saw the two on board. But as long as we haven’t seen any bodies there’s still doubt. Are they being held somewhere? Were they killed by criminal gangs specialising in the trafficking of human organs? You hear so many stories,” says Barre, who arrived in Switzerland as a refugee in the 1990s and now holds Swiss citizenship.

At the request of her sister, she contacted the Swiss Red Cross to try to find the two young men, or at least their remains. The Swiss Red Cross receives requests on a daily basis from families who have been separated by conflict or exile. It helped convince other Red Cross Societies to register migrants missing at sea.

It’s a first step towards identifying people who have died in the Mediterranean. According to the UN refugee agency (known as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR), that number has risen to more than 10,000 since 2014.

Italy took a further important step following the 2015 Lampedusa tragedies, but without European Union support. At the Labanof laboratory in the Institute of Forensic Medicine at the University of Milan, the victims' post-mortem data, such as DNA samples, is analysed. In addition, so-called “Ante-mortem data” are collected – everything from personal belonging and photographs to scars or tattoos.

Such information can help with the identification of victims, explains Vittorio Piscitelli, who has been the Italian govement’s Special Commissioner for Missing Persons since December 2013.

Searching for a name

With the support of the Swiss Red Cross, last autumn Barre travelled to Milan hoping to identify her nephews. Other family members who live in Switzerland came as well to search for information about three additional migrants who went missing at sea.

“At the Labanof lab, they showed me an album with photos of the bodies which they had found in the sea. I had taken a recent photo of my nephews and I tried to look for similarities with the bodies which had been deformed by the water. But it was so difficult . . .”

Using photos is often the only option for identifying the bodies. For DNA tests to be reliable, there needs to be a direct family link, between parents and children or between brothers and sisters, for example. But sometimes victims’ families still live in conflict-ridden countries like Syria or Eritrea, and caot request help from their govements or even leave the country.

Thus, despite huge efforts from various organisations helping migrants as well as the Italian authorities, many victims who drowned at Lampedusa have been buried in Sicily. A simple ID number is placed on their coffin. More than eight months after her trip to Milan, Barre is still awaiting a reply from the laboratory.

Proper mouing

Nicole Windlin is responsible for the Swiss Red Cross tracing service. She is convinced of the importance of identifying victims of shipwrecks. The aim is not just to give dignity back to the dead but also to those still living.

“To mou properly, it’s essential that people can be sure that the person has actually died,” she explains. “Finding a body makes it possible to have a proper burial, according to the rites of each culture.”

There is also a legal and administrative aspect, she adds: “For widows, orphans and parents, when there is no document confirming the death, many questions caot be answered. For example, a partner caot remarry or inherit the assets of the missing person.”

According to Nicole Windlin, even 20 years after the conflict in the former Yugoslavia around 100 people in Switzerland are still hoping to find the bodies of their loved ones.

However, the case of people who drown in the Mediterranean is much more complex, she adds: “In Bosnia some families were able to remember what their relatives were wearing on the day they disappeared. Migrants, however, are often on the road for months, even years, and the only information we get are photos published on social media, posed pictures. That’s why it’s harder to recognise people.” In addition, there is no European database that catalogues migrants who have disappeared at sea.

A big challenge

With the arrival of spring, the number of boats packed with people leaving Libya for Italy has increased – as well as the number of boats sinking. According to UNHCR, from the begiing of 2016 on average 15.8 people have died every day crossing the Mediterranean. Most bodies are recovered months later.

Another boat tragedy that occurred on April 18, 2015, is a good example of the challenges. An estimated 700 refugees are thought to have died on that ship. Until now, the Italian navy has only managed to find 169 bodies located near the shipwreck. It is estimated that 200-400 skeletons are still trapped in the sunken hull, says Piscitelli. Attempts to raise the wreckage started recently – more than a year after the accident.

Piscitelli is frank. “The EU is afraid of the management of the migration phenomenon and of the bodies fished from the sea. It has left Italy with the responsibility of financing and managing the identification programme. It has tued its back on us.”

A flood tide of refugees

The total number of refugees and inteally displaced people worldwide rose to a record 65.3 million at the end of 2015, UNHCR said Monday. On average, 34,000 people a day were displaced last year, marking a 50% increase just since the Syria war began in 2011. More than one million people fled to Europe last year, wreaking political havoc in the European Union.

You can contact the author on Twitter at @stesummi

What should be done to prevent these tragedies in the Mediterranean? Give us your view in the Idea below.

Translated by Simon Bradley

Here are the stories we’re following the week of June 20:

Monday

Almost three years after a shipwreck off the coast of Italy that killed 366 people fleeing conflict for better lives in Europe, the victims' families are still trying to identify the bodies so that they can hold a dignified burial. Here, swissinfo.ch looks at the difficult process the families are going through with help from the Swiss Red Cross.

Wednesday

One town is marking the time a century ago when Switzerland welcomed tens of thousands of prisoners of the First World War. In videotaped testimony, descendants told swissinfo.ch how emotional it is to visit Châteux d’Oex in southweste Switzerland, a main centre for inteed British soldiers.

Wednesday

In Zurich, the non-profit Switzerland Global Enterprise is holding discussions of booming Asian markets, and what a global shift of purchasing power to the new middle class holds in store for developing economies.

Thursday

Bruno Kaufma, a frequent contributor to swissinfo.ch and an expert on direct democracy, offers his views on the meaning of separatism – seceding from larger groups by drawing lines of culture, ethnicity, religion, race or gender – in light of the looming Brexit vote.

Friday

Results from Britain’s vote on whether or not to remain in the European Union, with swissinfo.ch examining the multiple underlying issues and possible consequences for Switzerland.

What you may have missed last week:

A strange creature called “Steinbockovich” has been spotted around Switzerland. His mission? Exploring the biology of the Alpine ibex, and the animal’s place in Swiss culture.

The man behind this “manibex” is Boston artist Edward Monovich, who’s doing an interdisciplinary project with Zurich evolutionary biologist Lukas Keller.

What other kinds of animals would you like to hear about? Contact the producer of this podcast on Twitter @SMisicka or on WordPress.

Bruno Weber (1931-2011) left behind a legacy of the largest sculpture park of any individual artist. swissinfo.ch took a look inside with his widow, Maria Aa Weber.

The future of the Bruno Weber park outside Dietikon, near Zurich, is now secure. It’s pegged to become a listed heritage site about ten years from now.

A new board has taken a close look at the park and created a concept which charts its development, redevelopment and expansion phases in three, seven and 21-year periods.

Parallel to the industrialisation of the Limmat valley, Weber dedicated half a century to creating a work of art that reflects the relationship between people, nature and habitat. As the rapid development of the Limmat valley took shape, the oasis took on an enchanting nature – 15,000 m2 of buildings, sculptures, woodland and water gardens. In 2004 it was adopted as a certified protected site.

In this new series, swissinfo.ch picture editors choose an image highlighting a news event of the past seven days.

The cartoon of the week is a new series at swissinfo.ch. Cartoonist Marina Lutz has worked with different Swiss media as a caricaturist, including the Nebelspalter satirical magazine. Lutz has won several awards for her work, notably during the Fumetto inteational cartoon festival.

Click through to see the different images.

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Links

Brexit – yes or no? If the United Kingdom were to leave the European Union, would it work out a series of bilateral agreements, similar to the ones between the EU and Switzerland?

Some Brits believe Switzerland has benefited from the bilateral approach. The Swiss-EU treaties give Switzerland direct access to the best parts of the EU: trade, transport and science projects – plus visa-less travel around Europe.

One thing the UK has in common with Switzerland since Brexit is coming to a vote: using direct democracy to determine its working relationship with the EU. Britons will decide on June 23 on whether or not to remain an EU member.

Will canton Zurich go down the controversial one-language route for pupils in primary schools, as in canton Thurgau? If so, would it be French or English?

“We realised that for most primary school pupils leaing two foreign languages does very little good. You just have two lessons a week for each language, English and French, and that isn’t intense enough to lea a language,” former Zurich cantonal politician Hanspeter Amstutz told swissinfo.ch.

Amstutz is helping to spearhead a local people’s initiative calling for only one language to be taught in the canton’s primary schools.

It comes at a time of increased debate in German-speaking Switzerland on the issue of how many languages should be taught to young pupils. Also raising emotions: whether inteational language English should take preference over national language French, which has been traditionally taught for reasons of country cohesion.

Amstutz, himself a former teacher, says the best pupils manage two languages, but a majority struggle. There is also a burden on teachers and other subjects suffer from lack of attention, he argued.

Currently pupils lea English from age 7 and French from age 11. The initiative “more quality – one foreign language at primary school” does not dispute that two languages should be leaed during a school career, he added, just when this should be.

He and the other backers, which includes several cantonal teachers’ associations, say that if one foreign language has been carefully introduced at primary level, a second one will be leaed faster in secondary school than if two had been introduced in primary school.

The text does not, however, stipulate which language should be leaed in primary schools.

Why a people’s initiative?

But why is a people’s initiative needed? The answer is that any change to the number of foreign languages taught at primary school - normally a decision made by the cantonal education board - necessitates a change of cantonal law. A people’s initiative has the power to challenge laws.

“We simply felt that education policy was not moving any more and the whole issue of foreign languages has become a matter of prestige for education politicians including the Cantonal Directors of Education… we think it needs a political discussion and we wanted to give our opponents a ‘hosenlupf’ [trouser lift to unbalance your opponent] like you do in Swiss wrestling,” said Amstutz.

The initiative was handed in to the canton Zurich justice authorities on February 26, with 9,270 signatures. 6,000 were necessary. Validity was confirmed on March 14.

This is not the first time that citizens in canton Zurich have been called upon to vote on the issue. In November 2006, a similar initiative was rejected by 59%.

Amstutz thinks the situation is different this time because “we have 9-10 years’ experience and people are disillusioned”.

But Martin Wendelspiess, head of the canton’s Office of Elementary Education when the initiative was handed in, is convinced the current two-language solution is the correct one.

“We are convinced that most children benefit from it. That a few individuals are overburdened by it, well, you can say this for any subject. Some are overburdened by sports lessons but we don’t cancel them,” he said in an interview shortly before his retirement at the end of May.

“We are convinced that that if the cantons can’t come to an agreement then it will come to a centralised solution from the govement.”

French or English or both?

This is a key issue. Discussions about whether one or two languages should be taught in primary schools and which one first have been raging in other German-speaking cantons, such as Thurgau, Lucee and Graubünden.

Thurgau has gone it alone and in April decided to teach English only in primary schools from mid 2018, with French in secondary school. This caused much uproar from French-speaking cantons which have accused it of damaging Swiss cohesion by prioritising inteational English over a Swiss national language. For many years, French was automatically taught first in German-speaking schools. German is still taught first in French-speaking Switzerland.

Around the cantons

There are moves towards one language at primary school in other cantons. In Lucee, a similar initiative to the Zurich one has been declared invalid by the cantonal govement but valid by parliament, Graubünden’s initiative backers challenged the cantonal parliament’s decision that their text was invalid in the cantonal administrative court in May and won. What happens next is still unclear. The issue is or has been under discussion in cantons Aargau, Basel Country, Schaffhausen and St Gallen. But in canton Nidwalden, in central Switzerland, an initiative for one language at primary school was roundly defeated at the ballot box in 2015.

A study mandated by the Conference of Central Swiss Education Directors found that primary pupils leaed English well but there were deficits in French by the age 14 (end of eighth grade). But education bosses decided they would still like to keep early French lessons and improvements are being plaed

Currently there is a “typical Swiss compromise” as Wendelspiess puts it. “Central and easte cantons start with English and begin French later on and the cantons which border French-speaking cantons start with French and take on English later.”

The federal constitution states that primary school is the responsibility of cantons and that the cantons have to harmonise their school systems. If this doesn’t happen, the federal govement can step in and implement a federal solution, he explained.

Interior Minister Alain Berset has already indicated that he would be prepared to intervene should French be struck out of the primary curriculum.

The controversial nature of which language first is why the Zurich initiative has left this decision to the Zurich cantonal education board. Amstutz would prefer French, only because with music and computers children have a greater exposure to English later, which makes leaing it easier.

Wendelspiess says English is by far the more popular choice in the canton for parents and children.

In any case, the text first has to go through the cantonal govement, which can recommend whether to support or reject it, before it goes to parliament. It may not come to vote for two years, Wendelspiess said.

For now, the debate in Zurich - and in other cantons - continues.

Can two second languages be taught effectively at primary school? Give us your view.

swissinfo.ch

With a week to go before Britain votes whether or not to remain in the European Union, swissinfo.ch rounds up the arguments for and against and the multiple underlying issues surrounding the vote on June 23.

The opinion polls are still showing that voters’ intentions are neck and neck. Bookmakers, who stand to make a pile of money for getting their forecasts right, have for weeks had the Remain camp as favourites, but the Leave odds have shortened in recent days.

One of the most intriguing things about the Brexit vote is that it is just as difficult to determine the possible consequences of a Brexit as the result itself. A report by the British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce in March found that half of the 185 companies surveyed thought they would be worse off if Britain left the EU. Only 13.5% of the Swiss and British firms said prospects would improve.

But a separate survey of Swiss finance chiefs in May, by Deloitte, found an overwhelming number of respondents completely underwhelmed by any thought of negative consequences for their businesses.

Companies and trade groups are also split on how things would look in Brexitland. UBS bank, which has 5,500 workers in Britain, thinks the chances of Brexit are slim and that the effect on the Swiss franc negligible even if it does occur. The Swiss Business Federation also thinks life will go on as normal even if Britain exits the EU.

However, other business lobby groups and trade organisations, such as the Switzerland Global Enterprise have waed of dire consequences for Swiss exporters.

Swiss model

Thoughts of Britain copying Switzerland’s model if it did leave the EU were pretty much quashed by a meeting of politicians, business people and joualists in Geneva in May. But the meeting was divided on what the impact would be for British nationals living in Switzerland and the Swiss resident in Britain.

Some swissinfo.ch users have expressed their anxiety at the possible consequences of Brexit. Unfortunately, it is pretty hard to nail down the exact implications as no country has ever left the EU before.

In the meantime, Switzerland is waiting somewhat impatiently in the wings for the result to be known. This is because Switzerland has its own problems with the EU and negotiations have been put on ice until the Brexit issue is resolved.

Most notably, the Swiss govement is obliged to present its interpretation of an anti-immigration 2014 vote that calls for limits to be placed on numbers of foreign workers coming to Switzerland.

Switzerland’s entire future relationship hinges on how Be negotiates a solution with Brussels. In the meantime, students and researchers remain frozen out of the EU’s Erasmus+ student exchange programme and its Horizon 2020 science research projects.

And all this uncertainty is playing havoc with the Swiss franc, only making life more difficult for the Swiss National Bank’s efforts to stop it from appreciating too much against the euro.

For many people in both Britain and Switzerland, June 23 caot come quickly enough. At least then, people would have a clearer picture of what awaits them.

swissinfo.ch

Public debt in non-EU Switzerland corresponds to barely 33% of gross domestic product (GDP), while the EU average is more than 85%. Yet almost every year the Swiss govement comes up with new ways to cut public spending. Financial prudence or a savings mania?

“Switzerland is heading towards bankruptcy,” declared the weekly magazine Facts in 1997 after a series of deficits in the state coffers ruing into the billions. The magazine folded a few years later, while the Swiss public accounts are today in good shape.

Actually they are in excellent shape. Along with Norway – where income from oil boosts revenue – Switzerland is the only European country to have reduced its public debt since the begiing of the economic and financial crisis in 2007.

What’s more, it did this without renouncing the implementation of costly infrastructure, such as the new Gotthard Rail Tuel – the longest in the world – which was officially opened on June 1.

Having remained outside the European Union, Switzerland belongs to those very few European countries that have fulfilled, from the start, the Maastricht Treaty’s “convergence criteria”, designed in 1992 to ensure that a member state’s economy is sufficiently prepared for economic and monetary union and the adoption of a single currency, the euro. In order to adhere to monetary union, candidate countries had to strive above all to keep public debt below 60% of GDP.

Since then, Swiss public finances have been able to benefit from an unexpected economic robustness which has enabled the govement to maintain sound fiscal revenue.

The Swiss economy, which experienced a downtu only in 2009, rapidly came out of the inteational crisis: consumption has held up, exports haven’t collapsed despite weakening demand from EU markets, and the unemployment rate has remained between 3%-4%.

A real advantage for Switzerland has been the fact that the ratio of public spending to GDP has traditionally been low compared with other European countries:

However, a determining factor in guaranteeing the good health of the public coffers has been the “debt brake”, a mechanism introduced by the govement in 2003 to avoid structural imbalances in state finances and prevent debt growth, as happened in the 1990s.

The debt brake has enabled the rapid rebalancing of public finances.

The financial balancing is shared among all political forces, given that the agreed aim is not only to reduce expenses destined for paying off interest on debt but also to strengthen Switzerland’s resistance to new crises. But for some parties – and some economists – the policy of saving is now excessive: in the past decade the govement has reported surpluses even in years when the economy has slowed down.

In spite of these advantages, every year the govement presents new plans to cut public spending. According to the political left, state finances should be spent mainly on reinforcing the welfare state, supporting the economy and creating jobs in economic downtus. For those in the centre and on the right, the economy doesn’t need state support but rather further tax relief.

Despite the positive trend of the federal finances, fiscal policy has been one of the most fiercely debated issues in parliament for years. This year, within the framework of the new reforms on company taxation, the majority of those in the centre and on the right approved a series of relief measures worth billions of francs for companies. These reforms represent an attack on the state coffers, say those on the left, who intend to launch a referendum.

At the same time, Finance Minister Ueli Maurer from the conservative right Swiss People’s Party has already aounced three savings schemes for next year. These will affect in particular social security, education and foreign aid. Untouched, on the other hand, will be national defence, agriculture and road transport. These plans, too, are subject to heavy fighting between the parties.

Like the other countries in Europe, Switzerland has to tackle – and soon – two factors which threaten to weigh heavily on public spending: an ageing population and the explosion in health costs. Over the next 30 years, some CHF150 billion ($155 billion) will be needed to cover the costs coected to the changing demographics, says a new report from the finance ministry on the long-term prospects of the country’s public finances. Without savings measures or increasing tax revenue, public debt will increase to 59% of GDP by 2045.

Do you think state finances should be spent on supporting the economy and creating jobs as the political left argue, or does the economy need tax relief as the political right say?

Translated from Italian by Thomas Stephens, swissinfo.ch

Europe’s premiere art fair for contemporary and mode works has been getting underway in Basel this week against the backdrop of an uncertain economic climate.

Collectors at Art Basel, with an estimated CHF3.25 billion ($3.4 billion) of work on view, have been snatching up high-priced canvases despite an inteational slowdown in art sales. Major auctions in London and New York recently saw their sales levels fall sharply from previous years.

Some of the world’s biggest galleries nonetheless shipped dozens of art works to Art Basel that are valued into the tens of millions, such as Jackson Pollock’s drip painting Number 21, 1949 (1949), listed at $25 million, and Gerhard Richter’s abstract canvas Prag 1883, offered for $20 million.

Dealers often save some of their best works for the fair, which emphasises sales and marketing. Representatives from some 300 public and private museums confirmed their attendance.

The overcrowded fair attracts billionaires, socialites and curious onlookers from around the world. Last year’s drew 98,000 visitors.

Art Basel’s 47^th edition is open to the public from Thursday, June 16 through Sunday, June 19.

(Text: John Heilprin, swissinfo.ch)

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Links

Stereotypes of India as a backward country are still prevalent, according to Prateek Khare whose job involves promoting the country as a destination for Swiss startups. In this article he explains what India has to offer to entrepreneurs.

During my business trips to Switzerland and the UK, I had the opportunity to meet and work with people from nearly 35 nationalities, many of whom were highly qualified and well-travelled. A friendly disposition combined with the instincts of an Indian upbringing prompted me to invite many of my new friends to India. Some of them iocently asked me if there are cows, snakes and elephants on India’s roads. It is not the individuals who are to blame for this image of India, but traditional media (Indian and inteational) that often highlights stories of all that is not good in and with India.

In the early 2000s, India attained inteational renown for being an outsourcing hub for business processes, knowledge processes and software development. While India has gained expertise and excellence in several other domains such as design thinking, social impact, medical technology, space research, hyperlocal deliveries, digital wallets and so on, and many Indians have gone on to become CEOs of Fortune 100 companies, a large majority of the world still thinks of India as an outsourcing hub. It’s time we looked beyond these clichés.

Growth and opportunities

Yes, India has its fair share of problems and chaos, as is the case with every developing country. But India and its people know how to manage the chaos and function effectively. Many experts from the west have arrived in India with the intention of teaching weste efficiency to Indians. But many of them have retued much wiser, having leat lessons of patience, managing uncertainty, giving up control, building and managing relationship and trust with business partners and employees, etc. that one automatically leas from everyday life in India.

With the advent of technology, there are no inteational borders in the virtual world. Access to information is no longer a competitive advantage and Generation Z is always coected. The education and social structure in India imparts at least one core skill in every Indian student - ‘competitiveness’. This is reflected in India’s recently reported GDP growth hitting 7.3% in 2015, which is predicted to rise as high as 7.6% in 2016, making India the fastest growing economy in the world.

Among its 1.2+ billion people, India arguably has supreme intellectual capital in its young workforce and world’s second largest English speaking talent that is flexible and trainable. Most of the Fortune 500 companies have CXOs (Chief X Officers such as CEOs/COOs/CTOs, etc.) of Indian origin and this is now becoming a normal global norm. India has unsaturated market opportunities in high-tech and social entrepreneurship. The country also has the world's third-largest number of billionaires and a 250 million strong middle class with good purchasing power, inteational exposure, tastes and experiences.

Conducting business and living in India is cost effective compared to the West. The current govement’s focus on ‘Startup India’ and grassroots iovation, has created an upbeat mood in the nation with respect to trade and commerce. As a result, India’s and specifically the southe Indian city of Bangalore’s rank in the global startup ecosystem moves up a few notches every year (currently 15th). In response, big companies, education and R&D, support organisation, service providers, investors, iovators are slowly but steadily improving infrastructure - India has arrived!

Khare’s “India for begiers”

- Come with an open mind: Don’t let general opinion and preconceived notions about India crowd your thoughts.

- Get info online: If you can, try not to refer to the old travel guide books. Go local, and go digital. Ask your questions in advance directly to real people at question-and-answer websites like Quora.

- Understand scale and diversity: Diversity is a core part of India. For ease, you could compare the size and scale of India with that of entire Europe. India witnesses all four seasons, is one of the top biodiverse countries and offers global cuisines within its over 3.287 million km² inteational boundaries. While there are over 100 billionaires in India, there are also many at the bottom of the pyramid. Everyone and everything co-exists in India.

- Trust and relationships rule: Indians have lived this motto forever. When in India, give up your obsessiveness with plaing, control and processes. Trust the system, people and the results. Build relationships, not only mandates - Indians will do beyond your mandates if you build good relationship with them.

- Respect and curiosity will be rewarded: Immerse in local experiences, show respect to local culture and traditions as you would expect to be shown back in your country. Look beyond the superficial and obvious.

- Time is second priority: When in India, lea to be flexible with time. Generally, time is not the most important element in the everyday life of an Indian, but a good relationship is.

- Look at the bigger picture: Don't assume that wherever you're standing in India is representative of the entire country. Even moving a few kilometres in any direction within a single city will show you something completely different. So keep an open mind and look at the aggregate of your Indian experiences, not necessarily individual events and people.

- India is a testing ground: Don’t think that it is easy to conduct business in India. It's very hard but “if you win in India - you can win everywhere”, says the title of one book written by the man who helped build India into Microsoft's second-largest presence in the world and one of its fastest growing markets.

- You can have an opinion: Do realise that not everybody is made for liking and loving India or that India is meant for everybody. It comes with its own advantages and disadvantages - you always have a choice.

The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of swissinfo.ch.

Opinion series

swissinfo.ch publishes op-ed articles by contributors writing on a wide range of topics – Swiss issues or those that impact Switzerland. The selection of articles presents a diversity of opinions designed to enrich the debate on the issues discussed.

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Public debt in non-EU Switzerland corresponds to barely 33% of gross domestic product (GDP), while the EU average is more than 85%. Yet almost every year the Swiss govement comes up with new ways to cut public spending. Financial prudence or a savings mania?

“Switzerland is heading towards bankruptcy,” declared the weekly magazine Facts in 1997 after a series of deficits in the state coffers ruing into the billions. The magazine folded a few years later, while the Swiss public accounts are today in good shape.

Actually they are in excellent shape. Along with Norway – where income from oil boosts revenue – Switzerland is the only European country to have reduced its public debt since the begiing of the economic and financial crisis in 2007.

What’s more, it did this without renouncing the implementation of costly infrastructure, such as the new Gotthard Rail Tuel – the longest in the world – which was officially opened on June 1.

Having remained outside the European Union, Switzerland belongs to those very few European countries that have fulfilled, from the start, the Maastricht Treaty’s “convergence criteria”, designed in 1992 to ensure that a member state’s economy is sufficiently prepared for economic and monetary union and the adoption of a single currency, the euro. In order to adhere to monetary union, candidate countries had to strive above all to keep public debt below 60% of GDP.

Since then, Swiss public finances have been able to benefit from an unexpected economic robustness which has enabled the govement to maintain sound fiscal revenue.

The Swiss economy, which experienced a downtu only in 2009, rapidly came out of the inteational crisis: consumption has held up, exports haven’t collapsed despite weakening demand from EU markets, and the unemployment rate has remained between 3%-4%.

A real advantage for Switzerland has been the fact that the ratio of public spending to GDP has traditionally been low compared with other European countries:

However, a determining factor in guaranteeing the good health of the public coffers has been the “debt brake”, a mechanism introduced by the govement in 2003 to avoid structural imbalances in state finances and prevent debt growth, as happened in the 1990s.

The debt brake has enabled the rapid rebalancing of public finances.

The financial balancing is shared among all political forces, given that the agreed aim is not only to reduce expenses destined for paying off interest on debt but also to strengthen Switzerland’s resistance to new crises. But for some parties – and some economists – the policy of saving is now excessive: in the past decade the govement has reported surpluses even in years when the economy has slowed down.

In spite of these advantages, every year the govement presents new plans to cut public spending. According to the political left, state finances should be spent mainly on reinforcing the welfare state, supporting the economy and creating jobs in economic downtus. For those in the centre and on the right, the economy doesn’t need state support but rather further tax relief.

Despite the positive trend of the federal finances, fiscal policy has been one of the most fiercely debated issues in parliament for years. This year, within the framework of the new reforms on company taxation, the majority of those in the centre and on the right approved a series of relief measures worth billions of francs for companies. These reforms represent an attack on the state coffers, say those on the left, who intend to launch a referendum.

At the same time, Finance Minister Ueli Maurer from the conservative right Swiss People’s Party has already aounced three savings schemes for next year. These will affect in particular social security, education and foreign aid. Untouched, on the other hand, will be national defence, agriculture and road transport. These plans, too, are subject to heavy fighting between the parties.

Like the other countries in Europe, Switzerland has to tackle – and soon – two factors which threaten to weigh heavily on public spending: an ageing population and the explosion in health costs. Over the next 30 years, some CHF150 billion ($155 billion) will be needed to cover the costs coected to the changing demographics, says a new report from the finance ministry on the long-term prospects of the country’s public finances. Without savings measures or increasing tax revenue, public debt will increase to 59% of GDP by 2045.

Do you think state finances should be spent on supporting the economy and creating jobs as the political left argue, or does the economy need tax relief as the political right say?

Translated from Italian by Thomas Stephens, swissinfo.ch

“If it’s a woman’s will, everything will stand still” was the slogan of the nationwide women’s strike 25 years ago that brought around half a million women out onto the streets.

They were calling for more action, ten years after equality between men and women had been enshrined in the constitution.

The women were workers, graduates, civil servants, mothers and housewives from all over the country and from all language regions. The issues: the slow implementation of the equality article in the constitution and the need for an equality law. The strike was loud, colourful and full of imagination and took place in the same year that Switzerland celebrated the 700th aiversary of its founding. It is considered a key moment in Swiss history.

The equality law came into force in 1996, following an acrimonious debate in parliament. But women still ea on average 15% less than men. So they still protest and demand their rights every June 14, even if the numbers are not as high as in 1991.

On Tuesday, women will once again protest against the status quo. In several Swiss cities they are organising “events and extended lunches”.

“We’re hitting the streets with a clear message: salary controls – now more than ever!” said Regula Bühlma, secretary of the Swiss Trade Union Federation.

(Photos: Keystone, Text: Gaby Ochsenbein, swissinfo.ch)

Is there gender equality where you live? Tell us in the Idea section below.

The appointment of Philipp Kaiser as curator of the Swiss pavilion for the 2017 Venice Art Bieale is seen as a move to reenergise Switzerland’s century-old participation in the event. The Swiss-bo, Los Angeles-based 44-year-old is one of the most sought-after curators today.

Tall, with an easy elegance and an engaging smile, Kaiser exudes a juvenile enthusiasm that belies his standing as a major figure in the world of contemporary art.

One day in Los Angeles, the following in Switzerland and the week after in New York, catching up with him is like chasing the wind. But when our interview finally takes place across several time zones, he gives it his undivided attention.

Venice Art Bieale

- Founded in 1895, the Venice Art Bieale continues to be most prestigious showcase for artists from around the globe. It takes place from June to November biaually and is curated by a different artistic director each time. The central exhibition is surrounded by satellite presentations by participating nations and their own artists. A record 80 nations took part in the Bieale in 2015. It alteates every other year with the Venice Architecture Bieale

- The bieale is entirely non-commercial and is not to be confused with art markets like Art Basel. A limited budget does however imply that invited artists often rely on their galleries to fund their presence in Venice.

Kaiser began his career in his homeland as a curator for mode and contemporary art at Basel’s progressive Museum für Gegenwartskunst, but was lured away afer six years in 2007 to join the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles.

The energy of Califoia galvanised him. “Europe has an extraordinary institutional landscape, but LA is booming, it’s the wild west. Everything is very fast on every level.”

It wasn’t an easy time though, as MOCA was entering a crisis period that would last several years and worsened with the appointment in 2010 of an art merchant, Jeffrey Dietsch as museum director. Several curators had already left MOCA following the 2008 financial crisis and three board members resigned when Dietsch was appointed. “I was in the middle of it all and felt the pressure to leave.”

Before packing his bags, Kaiser was able to put the finishing touches to a show at MOCA that sealed his reputation. Ends of the Earth: Land Art to 1974, which was shown at the Haus der Kunst in Munich after LA, was hailed by the Art in America magazine as “a paradigm-shifting exhibition”. The culmination of five years of research with fellow art historian Miwon Kwon, it was an indepth survey of the land art movement that emerged in the 1960s, where landscapes become the stage of in-situ works of art made from earth and natural materials.

LA calling

Back in Europe, as the youngest-ever director of the Cologne Ludwig Museum in Germany, Kaiser threw his energy into preparing exhibitions on two American conceptual artists, Kathryn Adams and Louise Lawler, while also organising a landmark show on Jack Goldstein for the Jewish Museum of Art in New York. Both Lawler and Goldstein base their work on photography, a medium that Kaiser says he appreciates more and more.

“When I look back, I realise that I’ve always been interested in pictures.”

After a year in Cologne, he felt the draw of LA again and decided to go back. By then, it was clear that the art world was begiing to shift to the US West Coast.

“The interesting thing about the US’s lack of tradition is that it generates an open space. They need curators.”

He finds it easy to ea a living as a freelance curator in the US, which he believes would be virtually impossible anywhere else. “I was super happy to be back.”

Among others, Kaiser is currently preparing Cindy Sherman: Imitation of Life, the first special exhibition for the recently inaugurated Broad Museum in Los Angeles. For the past 40 years Sherman has photographed herself in meticulously-staged imaginary portraits and is considered one of the foremost artists today.

The West Coast’s Swiss art coections

- The San Francisco Museum of Mode Art recently expanded to become the largest in the country dedicated to mode and contemporary art by adding an extension to the original building by Swiss architect Mario Botta.

- Guess Jeans founders Paul and Maurice Marciano have transformed a massive Scottish Rite Masonic Temple in Los Angeles into a private art centre and have entrusted Kaiser to organise the inaugural exhibition with artists who are under 30 years old.

- LACMA, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, hopes to have completed by 2023 a swooping megastructure by the Swiss award-wiing architect Peter Zumthor.

- A recent shift in the art marked has seen renowned galleries inaugurate new premises on the west coast: the Swiss gallery Hauser Wirth & Schimmel has opened premises in LA and Gagosian is now both in LA and San Francisco.

Switzerland and the Venice Bieale

Despite his hyperactivity, Kaiser still retains close links to the Swiss art scene and observes that interesting things are happening in Zurich, Basel and especially the French-speaking regions. “The art scene is inteational, but I care about where I come from and the artists I grew up with.”

Mariae Burki, head of visuals arts at Pro Helvetia, confirmed that the Swiss Bieale jury chose Kaiser because he remains anchored in Switzerland, despite his inteational career.

“He has a strong curatorial practice and deals with subjects in a deep way. A lot of thinking and research goes into everything he does.” Burki is convinced that Kaiser will come up with an inspirational project for Venice.

Although it is still too early to say what the Swiss pavilion will contain, Kaiser states clearly what he doesn't want: to use it as a ‘white cube’, a hanging gallery. He notes that its clean rectangular lines have often inhibited artists, rather than inspire them.

Designed in 1952 by Bruno Giacometti, the younger brother of Alberto Giacometti, the Swiss pavilion is one of the 29 national pavilions built from 1907 to 1995 on the grounds of the Giardini, the Bieale’s central venue, many by famous architects in the style of their times.

For a small country, Switzerland invariably gets noticed at the Venice Bieale. It has also produced a remarkable number of inteationally recognised curators who have played important roles in Venice, including Bice Curiger the Bieale’s artistic director in 2011, one of the few women to have filled the prestigious position.

But the most legendary curator of all remains Harald Szeema, on whom Kaiser is actually preparing a comprehensive exhibition for the Getty Research Institute in LA. Bo in Be like Kaiser, Szeema elevated curating to ‘an art form in itself’ and is credited with a number of groundbreaking exhibitions. He was the artistic director of the Venice Bieale twice, in 1999 and 2001.

However, his larger-than-life personality and artistic choices often took precedence over the artists themselves.

“I don’t try to be like Szeema, I try to be an accomplice to the artists,” Kaiser explains. He describes the thrill that he feels working with artists, whether established or up-and-coming and says how exhibitions are a collaborative process.

“Many artists need an editor for their stuff. While I’m curating, I’m still leaing and translating. Sometimes the meaning of the show only becomes apparent when it’s ready.”

Kaiser says that he has several ideas for the Swiss pavilion. What really interests him as a curator is the present moment: “It’s all about timing. My question is: What needs to be done now? How can we make a contribution to the discourse?”

The answer will be revealed at the 57^th edition of the Venice Art Bieale.

Venice Architecture Bieale 2016

From May 28 to November 27, 2016, the Swiss pavilion will be occupied by the Venezuelan-bo Swiss architect Chritian Kerez; Salon Suisse, curated by Leïla el-Wakil, runs in parallel at the Palazzo Trevisan degli Ulivi.

The Venice Bieale also hosts cinema, theatre, dance and contemporary music festivals.

Is it still important in today's globalised society to celebrate national artists? Tell us what you think in the Idea section below.

swissinfo.ch

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Swiss politicians and media have expressed condemnation and shock over the mass shooting at the Pulse nightclub in Orlando in which a gunman opened fire, killing at least 50 people and wounding dozens.

“Switzerland condemns in the strongest terms the terrorist acts that struck Orlando yesterday, and extends its sincere condolences to the families and relatives of the victims of this tragedy,” said Foreign Minister Didier Burkhalter on Monday, speaking at the opening of the Human Rights Council’s June session in Geneva.

“We must continue our fight and prevent terrorism in order to defend our citizens and our freedoms,” he added.

Many Swiss newspapers drew parallels between Sunday’s attack on the gay club in Orlando – the worst mass shooting in mode US history – and that at Paris’s Bataclan concert hall in November, when 89 people were killed. Islamic State have claimed responsibility for both massacres.

“These comparisons are necessary in order to understand the scope and consequences of the Orlando bloodbath. ‘Orlando’ will soon become a symbol for the ever-present threat posed by attackers and how in need of protection American citizens are,” wrote the Neue Zürcher Zeitung (NZZ).

“In particular, looking ahead to the presidential elections in November, Sunday should represent a watershed, with a ‘before’ and ‘after’ in America. Commentators have been saying for ages that a serious attack would have a massive influence on the outcome of the election.”

The NZZ noted that Republican candidate Donald Trump could benefit most from the attack. “After the attack in San Beardino in Califoia, Trump called for a blanket ban on all Muslims entering the United States. The current case shows how pointless that would be: the attacker was an American citizen.”

The paper concluded that it might be tempting to believe that simple solutions exist to complex problems such as radicalised citizens, “but challenges like that require sophisticated answers and, possibly, patience. The coming months will show whether Americans are ready for that”.

‘Incompatible worlds’

The Blick newspaper agreed that, like the Bataclan, the Orlando nightclub had been selected intentionally.

“Joie de vivre, hedonism, exuberance, equal treatment whatever your gender, origin, beliefs – that embodies everything that misanthropes detest. For us, it embodies everything that makes us who we are: a liberal society that stipulates where necessary and makes diversity possible,” it wrote.

“These worlds are incompatible. The massacre of Orlando tragically reminds us of our dilemma: in the struggle against militant intolerance in the name of Allah, we have to defend our values without giving them up. The other side doesn’t have this problem: they bring death; they idolise death.”

What is the best way for society to prevent terrorism?

swissinfo.ch

The surplus of milk in European markets, including Switzerland, has led to rock-bottom prices. Two dairy farmers explain how they have managed to survive.

His dairy is one of the biggest and cutting-edge in Switzerland. His cows allow themselves to be milked by a robot whenever they fancy it and their food is distributed automatically. Even the mucking out of the high-tech stalls is performed by a robot.

“We have specialised in dairy farming, invested millions, rationalised and improved efficiency,” said the farmer, who did not want to be named.

In the last few months milk prices have dropped again – this time to under 50 cents per litre. The bare minimum this farmer can sell his milk in order to cover the costs of his business is 55 cents. “Before I open the ba door I have to hand over CHF100,” he said with bitter irony. He can no longer ea anything because he runs his business at a loss.

But he is not thinking of quitting: “I am damned by the production process. Always bigger, always faster, always cheaper. My only hope is that my neighbour will fold first.” As a business owner with several employees he has to live on his reserves and keep investments to a minimum to get his business through this low price period. He lives in hope that that prices will rise soon.

“If Switzerland wants to keep producing milk then it will have to change its political framework to give us a chance of producing milk cheaper,” he declared.

As an example, the high-tech milk producer points to border tariffs on foreign grains: “Swiss grain producers are very happy about this because it means they can enjoy high hourly rates of pay. But it is ruinous for milk producers who have to pay at least twice as much for fodder as German competitors.”

"Best cows in Switzerland”

Toni Peterhans, from Fislisbach, canton Aargau, does not want to complain about milk prices. 2013 breeder of the year in canton Aargau, he says his Holstein cows are among the “best in Switzerland”. While the average Swiss cow will produce 23,000 litres of milk before it goes to slaughter, his produce 58,000 litres. They will be double the age, which has a positive effect on his cost-to-income situation.

His success is not down to luck. Each area of business is organised with “military precision” to the smallest detail, from smart feeding systems to detailed analysis of cow pats. “We are very structured,” said Peterhans. “We wash the cows’ tails every week and give them a steam clean three times a year.”

With milk prices as they are, even the top breeders like Peterhans caot cover their operating costs. But how much worse are things for less organised farmers?

“There are quite a few that are having sleepless nights and must make savings, stop investing or are slow at paying their bills. Things are very grim on a few farms,” said Peterhans.

But he proudly added: “Things are not bad for me. We have just bought a new tractor for CHF150,000 – without financing,” he said.

In contrast to the advice of some agricultural consultants, Peterhans has refused to put all his eggs into one basket. His 52-hectare farm is not only given over to livestock. He has also found room for other forms of agriculture and a solar plant. He also provides biogas and silage for other farms.

Higher price

Compared to the European Union, the price of Swiss milk is significantly higher. “The price difference with other countries grew 10 cents in 2015 because the price of milk has fallen even faster in the EU,” said Stefan Kohler, managing director of the Swiss Milk Producers Association.

Every year, Switzerland loses 800 to 900 dairy farms. Swiss milk producers have it hard, but not as bad as in large parts of the EU. One reason for this is that the EU milk market has only been partially liberalized. This means that there are still some protected areas that can provide value for producers. For example, consumers pay around three time the price for butter than in other countries so that farmers get a better price for their milk.

In Switzerland, the pace of structural change is moving more slowly. In fact, according to Kohler the progress of structural change is lagging behind progress in production. This means that some dairy farmers have not yet been forced out of the market despite rising costs. “Agricultural policy in recent years has hardly promoted the dairy sector. In the long term this inevitably means that some dairy farms will give up,” said Kohler.

How much does milk cost in your country? Do you find it too expensive, too cheap, or just right? Respond in the Idea section below.

Translated from German by Matthew Allen, swissinfo.ch

Here are the stories we’re following the week of June 13:

Tuesday

Twenty five years ago, 500,000 Swiss women took to the streets across the country to protest against inequality. Ten years after equality between men and women was written into the Swiss Constitution, they wanted action. Has the situation improved since then? We take a look at the historic day.

Wednesday

In the face of tough economic conditions, the Swiss administration has ordered yet another round of budget cuts. But with Swiss debt well under control, some people are arguing that this is overkill. swissinfo.ch explains all in a graphics-based tour of public finances down the years.

Thursday

With a potential Brexit just around the coer, all eyes will be on the Swiss National Bank’s response. Is the central bank ready to consider negative interest rates? At the same time, the SNB will issue its aual report on whether too-big-to-fail banks and all mortgage lenders are a threat to Swiss financial stability.

Friday

Back to Brexit, with British voters set to go to the polls on June 23. Our animation on Friday will break down the issues with a thought-provoking Swiss perspective on whether there is life outside of the European Union.

What you may have missed last week:

swissinfo.ch

Let’s be honest, no one knows what’s going to happen if Britain votes on June 23 to leave the EU. But here’s some ‘informed speculation’ from a debate in Geneva on what it could mean for non-EU Switzerland.

The Euro 2016 football championships kick off in Paris on Friday night and Switzerland are once again the most multicultural of the 24 teams taking part. Of the 23-man squad and manager, only nine do not have a so-called migration background.

After sitting out the 2012 touament (they failed to qualify), the boys in red and white are back on the European stage and boasting talent bo in countries including Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire and Kosovo.

If managers are included, Switzerland and France both have 15 team members with a migration background – although Switzerland have twice the number of players who were bo abroad than France, according to data from online bookmaker NetBet.

While a third of the Swiss squad do not have an immigration background, another third hails from the former Yugoslavia. Four players alone have roots in Kosovo, which became a full member of UEFA, European football’s goveing body, on May 3. What this will mean for Switzerland remains to be seen. Indeed, in an unusual situation, there will probably be two players with “Xhaka” on their shirt in the first match on Saturday: Granit will be playing for Switzerland while his brother Taulant will be playing for opponents Albania.

So how does this multiculturalism convert into wiing chances? In their previous three Euro appearances (1996, 2004 and 2008) Switzerland never made it out of the group stage. While this time they should make it out of their relatively easy group (they drew France, Romania and Albania), the bookmakers are making them 66-1 to lift the trophy on July 10.

The Swiss squad

Manager: Vladimir Petkovic

Goalkeepers: Ya Sommer, Roman Bürki, Marwin Hitz

Defenders: Johan Djourou, Nico Elvedi, Michael Lang, Stephan Lichtsteiner, François Moubandje, Ricardo Rodriguez, Fabian Schär, Steve von Bergen

Midfielders: Valon Behrami, Blerim Dzemaili, Gelson Feandes, Fabian Frei, Granit Xhaka, Denis Zakaria

Forwards: Eren Derdiyok, Breel Embolo, Admir Mehmedi, Xherdan Shaqiri, Haris Seferovic, Shani Tarashaj

swissinfo.ch

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The cartoon of the week is a new series at swissinfo.ch. Cartoonist Marina Lutz has worked with different Swiss media as a caricaturist, including the Nebelspalter satirical magazine. Lutz has won several awards for her work, notably during the Fumetto inteational cartoon festival.

Click through to see the different images.

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The prestigious Patrouille Suisse display team is a popular ambassador for Switzerland and its air force. On Thursday, the team suffered the first serious incident in its 52-year history, when two F-5 display jets collided near a Dutch air base.

The mid-air collision occurred near the northe city of Leeuwarden, about 150 kilometres (90 miles) north of Amsterdam. One jet crashed in a pond and the pilot ejected before impact, and the other landed safely with a damaged tail. The cause of the accident is unknown and an investigation is underway. The Swiss plane was due to take part in an air show this weekend.

In an interview with Swiss public television, SRF, Air Force Commander Aldo Schellenberg described Patrouille Suisse as an “ambassador for the Swiss air force both here and abroad”. He said it also helped attract young people interested in an aviation career.

Three years ago, a defence ministry plan to clip the wings of Patrouille Suisse for financial reasons sparked controversy. A parliamentary committee had been told by Defence Minister Ueli Maurer that there was no longer sufficient funds to continue the six-strong squadron of F-5 Tiger fighter jets beyond 2015. The idea was later dropped.

Schellenberg rejected the notion that the display team’s future had ever been called into question by Maurer, saying he had been “misunderstood”.

Last October an F/A-18 fighter belonging to the Swiss air force crashed in France. The pilot was able to eject to safety. The most recent fatality involving the Swiss air force was in October 2013, when a fighter plane crashed into a cliff wall in Alpnachstad, canton Obwalden. The pilot and an air force doctor both died. It was later concluded that the accident had been caused by pilot error.

Schellenberg rejected accusations that the three most recent accidents involving Swiss air force jets was an indication that there is trouble managing the fleet. He said accidents were uncommon and that there were no safety problems in the air force.

(Photos: Keystone)

The Swiss canton of Appenzell Ier Rhodes has the oldest form of direct democracy. But how democratic is it really?

Once a year in Appenzell, the golden helmets are polished, the big flags with the family crests are hung and the black robes are dusted off, all for the “most important day of the year” – the so-called “Landsgemeinde”, an open-air assembly where voters get together to have their say in public.

The smell of grilled sausages hangs in the air as the snowflakes fall, alongside the scent of traditional hazelnut cakes made just for the event. Citizens flood the narrow streets of the 6,000-person town.

All roads lead to the Landsgemeinde plaza in the centre of town. Here, for centuries, Appenzell residents have decided on cantonal issues and elected their local representatives by simply raising their hands. Is this democracy in its most direct form? Or is it a fossil being preserved with much folklore?

Origins in the Middle Ages

There are many theories about how the Landsgemeinde came about. In his just-published dissertation, Hans-Peter Staub of Be’s Institute for Political Science compared it to a ballot box system.

“For a long time, people thought that the Landsgemeinde came from German folk gatherings, but now the prevailing theory is that such gatherings began in the Middle Ages as cooperatives,” he says. At the time, cooperatives would have involved groups of people who farmed the same land.

The band starts to play as presiding officials march in. The six men and one woman approach the centre of the plaza with slow, heavy steps. They climb up to the “chair”, as the stage is known. It’s not just used for this event – the stage is available for all town business.

On the same page

“Giving everyone a voice is the Landsgemeinde’s biggest democratic strength,” says Staub. In this way, key questions can be answered and all voting citizens can be brought up to speed on the issues.

“With the ballot system, the discussion mostly happens in the media,” Staub explains, adding that it tends to be a shielded conversation that not everyone can participate in. Another of the Landsgemeinde’s strengths lies in its multidimensional decision-making options. Voters don’t just choose “yes” or “no”, but can also reject certain elements and suggest referendums.

Today, the proceedings move quickly as the city council and cantonal court members are elected, four legislative reforms are adopted and one citizen’s initiative regarding the school system is rejected.

No voter secrecy

One key difference to a ballot system is that here, participants see how the people around them are voting. Everyone knows everyone. And this, says Staub, is the Landsgemeinde’s greatest weakness.

“Voter secrecy – one of the most important fundamentals of a democracy – isn’t safeguarded,” he points out.

Because this lack of vote secrecy also goes against the terms of the European Human Rights Convention, Switzerland had to insert an exceptional clause regarding the Landsgemeinde when ratifying the legislation.

Can public votes affect people’s political decisions? According to Staub, “the Landsgemeinde has long been perceived to tu out more politically right-leaning results”. This impression has been kept up by events like in 1990, when Appenzell Ier Rhodes did not want to give women the vote on a cantonal level, yet again.

But, Staub adds, such voting systems have also tued out progressive decisions in recent years.

“For that reason, we can conclude that the Landsgemeinde system doesn’t favour any particular political leaning.”

Besides the lack of voter secrecy, the system used in Appenzell struggles with a lack of tuout.

“On average, 10-15% fewer people participate in the Landsgemeinde than in a ballot vote,” Staub says.

Addressing weaknesses

Still, on this day, a huge crowd of people is gathered in the town square – though maybe it just seems that way because many visitors from around Switzerland are sitting at bars and restaurants nearby, watching the event. Even though such democracy by assembly is on the decline when placed in a historical context, the Landsgemeinde is a nationwide institution, more loved than ever, as Staub has noticed.

It’s especially experienced a strong surge in popularity among rural communities, he says, noting that it’s more than folkloric nostalgia.

“We have found that the Landsgemeinde is not less democratic than the ballot system,” he concludes. But if the system is to survive, its weaknesses need to be addressed. The political scientist sees particular potential in finding solutions for keeping the votes secret using technology, or ideas for how to attract more voters to the aual event.

Have you ever participated in the Landsgemeinde?

Translated from German by Veronica DeVore, swissinfo.ch

Torrential rain, thunderstorms and flash floods have inundated towns and villages, especially in parts of northwest, central and easte Switzerland in recent days.

Heavy rain over the past few days has caused damage to homes and infrastructure in cantons Solothu, Aargau and Basel-Country, with numerous cellars and roads flooded. The police and fire services were called out 400 times in Aargau alone, and in several areas civil protection volunteers were out in force. In the town of Stetten 60 millimetres of rain fell in three hours.

Rail services were affected between Lenzburg and Othmarsingen on the Zurich-Aargau line. In Oftringen a ba was set ablaze after being struck by lightning but no one was injured. On Wednesday afteoon the A1 motorway was flooded near Lenzburg causing tailbacks for over an hour.

In cantons Basel Country and Basel City in northwest Switzerland the police and fire services received 400 calls for help as streams and rivers overflowed. Several local roads were inundated, as well as the A2 and A3 motorways near Pratteln, Liestal and Augst.

The Solothu police received 110 calls for help, mostly due to flooded cellars and small landslides.

In central Switzerland the region between Be and Chiètres in canton Fribourg was badly hit by torrential rain. Trains on the Be-Neuchâtel and Be Brüen Westside and Chiètres were delayed.

In Zurich and Fribourg 58 millimetres of rain fell in 12 hours.

French-speaking Switzerland has generally escaped the heavy rains and flooding. The MeteoSwiss weather service was, however, that the entire Jura region could witness violent storms and floods similar to those on Tuesday, which caused power shortages in canton Basel Country and the closure of the Transjurane (A16) motorway.

A violent storm hit Geneva on Wednesday afteoon causing a large tree to fall across the 12 tram line, delaying traffic. No injuries were reported.

The map below shows detailed flood alert information across Switzerland. Zoom in to find out more.

After days of continual rain, the MeteoNews weather service was of a high risk of floods and landslides in the central and easte alpine region. Heavy rain is expected to continue in the German-speaking regions and may cause local damage on Thursday, MeteoNews said in a statement on Wednesday.

Around 50mm of rain, and up to 80mm in some areas, is expected across the central and easte central alpine region. The levels of streams and rivers such as the Aare, Thur, Emme, Petite Emme and Sihl are expected to rise until Friday.

Were you affected by the storms and flooding? Tell us about your experience.

swissinfo.ch

If British voters decide on June 23 to leave the European Union, Brits abroad will suddenly wake up as non-EU citizens, in theory putting them in a different queue for Swiss work permits, visas and various study programmes. How nervous should these “Brexpats” be?

The short answer is no one knows. Because no country has ever left the European Union, there are no precedents and everything will depend on how rancorous the divorce negotiations are between London and Brussels.

Nevertheless, a recent debate on the subject in Geneva, organised by the British Swiss Chamber of Commerce and featuring eminent British politicians, businesspeople and joualists, promised to shed some informed speculation on the matter.

“You shouldn’t be worried. You are safe,” Matthew Elliott, chief executive Vote Leave, the official Leave campaign, reassured swissinfo.ch (a conceed Londoner without a Swiss passport). “And so are Brits with holiday homes in the south of France and the Costa del Sol and so on.”

Expat numbers

In November 2014, 32,848 Swiss citizens were registered at the Swiss embassy in London, according to the Swiss foreign ministry. At the same time, there were 41,577 Brits in Switzerland (out of some 1.3 million in Europe).

Around 446,400 Swiss nationals were registered in the EU with more than three-quarters of them living in France, Germany, Italy and Austria. Some 1,324,400 EU citizens were living in Switzerland.

“The reason I can say that with such confidence is because of the Viea Convention, a well-established principle which means the EU would have to honour where people are currently resident. And also, interestingly, forcing people back to their countries would go against the principles of the European Union’s very own Charter of Fundamental Rights.”

He admitted, however, that things might not be so smooth for people thinking about moving abroad without a job. “Some people may not have the right to live here [in Switzerland], but people wanting to work here would be able to continue to do so.”

At present, citizens from the EU and the European Free Trade Association (which in addition to Switzerland comprises Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) are generally allowed to come to non-EU Switzerland for three months while they look for work (this can be extended for another six months). Everyone else must have a guaranteed work contract from an employer as well as the appropriate work visa before entering the country. In the event of Brexit, Brits would suddenly find themselves in the second group.

‘Pandemonium’

Not all the panellists shared Elliott’s confidence. “One of the worrying things about Brexit is what will happen to people who are British nationals but now live in Europe,” said Diane Abbott, the Shadow Secretary of State for Inteational Development, whose Labour Party is campaigning for “Remain and Reform”.

“The question is will their rights be protected? Will they have access to healthcare? We’re still not getting answers from the Brexit camp. You could end up with British people needing visas to enter individual countries. In terms of being able to get on a train in London and travel all around Europe, we could be going backwards not forwards,” she told swissinfo.ch.

Indeed, on June 1 the Spanish Prime Minister waed that British expats could forfeit their rights to live in Spain if Britain votes to leave the EU.

Expat alarm was raised last year by former British attoey-general Dominic Grieve, who said two million British citizens working abroad could become illegal immigrants oveight if Britain were to leave the European Union.

In Geneva Tom Newton Du, political editor of The Sun, a British tabloid which is traditionally anti-EU but which is playing its Brexit cards close to its chest, agreed that in the event of Brexit the next two years would be “pandemonium” and that to know whether the short-term pain would outweigh the long-term gain “you’d need to be a soothsayer”.

Free movement of people

Graham Brady, a Conservative parliamentarian and Brexit supporter, dismissed fears that British expats in Switzerland or Swiss expats in Britain could be kicked out on June 24.

“Of course not. There are very longstanding inteational treaties which protect people in those situations. There’s a presumption that people who are settled in a country will have a right to continue working there if there is a political change or change of sovereignty,” he told swissinfo.ch.

“More importantly, and as a matter of common sense, the United Kingdom would have no earthly desire to remove good hardworking people who are contributing to the British economy and to British society. The same of course would apply to people from the UK in EU countries.”

It remains to be seen, however, whether Brexit would see the free movement of people – a red rag to eurosceptics – being replaced by quotas for EU (and Swiss) citizens. If quotas were introduced, it’s not inconceivable that Brussels would respond tit-for-tat, or worse.

Brady rejected conces that Brussels could, for example, freeze British scientists and students out of EU programmes, as it did with Switzerland in 2014.

“We make one of the biggest contributions to the EU science budget! And of course the biggest scientific collaboration in the world is here in Switzerland: the Large Hadron Collider [at CERN]. So it really is a nonsense to think that the European Union can control all cooperation in scientific research. If it tried to do so, the EU would be the loser.”

Uncertainty

Around 70 people attended the British Swiss Chamber of Commerce debate, most from the world of business. Before the action started, they were asked to raise their hands if they supported Brexit. Seven did. After the debate the number didn’t change.

One of those in the Remain majority was panellist Ian Hudson, who lives in Geneva and has 35 years of inteational business experience.

“What Brexit would bring would be huge uncertainty. And one thing businesspeople don’t like is uncertainty,” he told swissinfo.ch.

“I look at it from a purely economic point of view. One of the tenets of business is ‘hang on to your existing customers’, and when you think that 50% of the UK’s exports go to the European Union, why would you put that into jeopardy? All the arguments I’ve seen for alteatives just don’t stack up – from a trade and economic perspective.”

Hudson believed Brexit would have a major impact beyond Europe. “Let’s not forget that all our friends and allies around the world and all the inteational organisations are saying we’re mad to think about coming out of the European Union. Whether it’s the US, Australia and New Zealand, India, the OECD, IMF and so on, everyone’s saying the same thing.”

When it comes to lessons from Switzerland’s experience with the EU, Hudson thinks one issue that is very clear is that if the UK wants to have some sort of different relationship with the EU, then it’s still going to have to abide by certain EU rules – and one of those rules is the free movement of people.

“You’re not going to have access to the Single Market unless you accept the free movement of people. So what’s more important? Restricting immigration or the economy? This is similar to the problem the Swiss have at the moment, so I think the UK can lea from that.”

Fingers crossed

Of the 65 or so Remainers and seven Leavers in the audience in Geneva, it was unclear how many would be casting or had already cast their vote – which British citizens lose after living abroad for 15 years.

This was a source of personal frustration for Hudson, but he was still confident his fellow Brits would do what he considered the right thing.

“I firmly believe that on June 23 the British people will wake up and say ‘Hang on a minute, this doesn’t make any sense’. I think British people, like Swiss people, are very pragmatic and I think they will vote to remain.”

Matthew Elliott was also upbeat. “I hope that [on June 23] Britain will be joining Switzerland as still very much a European country, very much part of the European continent – we can’t move from that – but one which has good neighbourly relations and good trading links with the rest of Europe but is still an independent sovereign country.”

What do the embassies say?

The British embassy in Be told swissinfo.ch: “Because the [British] govement has a clear position on the issue it is of course also the position the official public servants in Switzerland are supporting. The embassy is therefore in favour of a Remain vote in the referendum because the UK govement believes Britain would be safer, stronger and better off inside the EU.”

The embassy did not, however, want to give “hypothetical answers” to what would happen following Brexit.

The Swiss embassy in London told swissinfo.ch that “the referendum is a domestic matter for the UK, and the Swiss govement follows the development in this matter and will take note of the result.”

Asked what would change for the 33,000 Swiss people living and working in Britain, the embassy replied: “In the short-term, we would anticipate little to no change since Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty allows a two-year period during which the UK would still be a member of the EU and would have to negotiate the terms of its exit and the framework of a new relationship with the EU. After this period, again, it would depend very much on the detail of the deals made.”

So far, the embassy said it had had a “low number of queries” from citizens.

British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce

The British-Swiss Chamber of Commerce told swissinfo.ch it remained “strictly neutral” regarding the British referendum, although it conducted a poll among its members, asking them what they thought the impact would be on their business if Britain were to leave the EU.

Of 185 respondents, 109 were in Switzerland, 58 in Britain and 18 elsewhere. The results were published on March 16.

51% said the impact would be negative, 13% said it would be positive and the rest believed Brexit would have no impact. Location didn’t make a huge difference to views, although the British companies were slightly more negative than the Swiss ones.

What do you think?

swissinfo.ch

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