(as of November 2011)
01.080 s Governance reform
In the 1990s the PICs of both Councils called strongly for government reform. In 2001 the Federal Council submitted a proposal that set out the introduction of a second level of government comprising ministers that would be answerable to the Federal Council. In spring 2003 the Council of States decided in favour of expanding the Federal Council to nine members, however, together with an extension of the period of office of the federal President to two years. In spring 2004 the National Council passed the proposal back to the Federal Council and asked it to submit new proposals aimed at strengthening political leadership and improving efficiency within the administration.
The Federal Council subsequently addressed the issue of reforming the administration but not the government. Following more open criticism, in spring 2009, of the Federal Council’s reaction to the current financial crisis, the PIC-N asked the Head of the FDJP for information as to whether and how the Federal Council intended to fulfil the mandate it had been given in 2004. On 26 August 2009 the Federal Council held a discussion on the principles of how the state should be run in the future and decided that there was indeed a need for reform. On 13 October 2010 it put before parliament an additional message on government reform. The principal proposal concerns extending the period of office of the President of the Confederation to two years. Moreover, the Federal Council suggests various changes in the Organisation of the Government and Administration Act that involve the obligation to provide information within the Federal Council, deputies, committees and the deployment and functions of state secretaries. On 13 January 2011 the PIC-N agreed by 11 votes to 9 with 2 abstentions to address the proposals contained in the Federal Council’s additional message. The Committee regards the proposals as insufficient, however, and has therefore set up a sub-committee to examine further proposed reforms. The sub-committee is due to report back in spring 2012.
Validity of popular initiatives (07.477 among others)
The PICs have recently examined different popular initiatives whose validity has come under criticism (06.086 For democratic naturalisation procedures; 08.061 Against the construction of minarets; 09.060 For the deportation of convicted foreigners). The preliminary examination of a parliamentary initiative submitted by Vischer (07.477 Validity of popular initiatives) gave the Committee an opportunity to study the question of the validity of popular initiatives from a more general point of view. Having held hearings with various experts, a small majority of the PIC-N recognised the need for legislation regarding this issue and concluded that solutions needed to be found to complement the reasons given for a popular initiative being declared invalid. On 21 August 2008, the PIC-N endorsed the initiative. Although the PIC-S did not do likewise, its National Council counterpart maintained its proposal and submitted it to its Council. On 11 March 2009 the National Council decided to accept the initiative by 96 votes to 72. The PIC-S does not intend to express an opinion on the initiative before the Federal Council has confirmed the proposals it outlined in its report entitled “The relationship between international and national law” dated 5 March 2010. This confirmation is expected to be forthcoming in spring 2011, which means that the PICs will be able to address the issue again in the third and fourth quarters of the year.
08.432 parl. init. Recognition of Swiss children
The parliamentary initiative submitted by National Councillor Ada Marra on 9 June 2008 proposed that third generation foreign nationals living in Switzerland should be able to apply for naturalisation at their own request or at the request of their parents. In general, after a preliminary examination of the initiative, both PICs recognised the need for legislation in this respect. The majority of committee members agreed that children born in Switzerland whose parents have grown up in this country were more “natives” than they were “foreigners”.
Its sub-committee having completed its preparatory work, the PIC-N launched a proposal on 5 November 2009 for modifying the federal constitution and the federal law on the acquisition of Swiss citizenship. The proposal aims to facilitate the naturalisation of third-generation foreigners and guarantee uniform regulations throughout the country. Automatic obtention of Swiss nationality at birth (ius soli) is not included. The consultation procedure was completed on 15 February 2010. At its meeting on 15 April 2010, the PIC-N noted the results of the consultation and asked its sub-committee to modify the report accordingly. On 9 September 2010 the Committee put its proposal in abeyance, however, while waiting for the Federal Council’s draft concerning the total revision of the Swiss Citizenship Act (11.022). Once this draft has been forwarded to the PICs, the Committee will decide how to proceed during the 2nd quarter of 2011.
08.447 n parl. init. PIC-N. Protection of confidentiality in relation to Committee meetings and modification of legal stipulations concerning immunity
In the 2008 spring session, the National Council approved the appeal lodged by seven members of the Council who had been accused of breach of confidentiality by the Council Office. The PIC-N subsequently addressed the question of whether it was necessary that Committee meetings be confidential. The Commission decided in the affirmative. The stipulations on confidentiality, which is essential to the quality of the Committees’ deliberations, should be better implemented through a suitable regulation concerning disciplinary procedures in parliament.
According to the new text, disciplinary measures would no longer be decided in a plenary session of the National Council. Cases would first be dealt with by a new, small standing committee and the Council Office would have the final say on appeals.
At the same time as the PIC, the National Council CLA (Committee for Legal Affairs) drew up a proposal whereby responsibility for dealing with applications for lifting the relative immunity of members of the Councils and members of the administration elected by parliament would be transferred from plenary sessions to committees (08.497 parl. init. Modification of legislation concerning immunity). Since the aim of the two parliamentary initiatives is similar and both call for similar organisational solutions, the PIC integrated the CLA’s proposals into its draft, which it submitted to the National Council in a report dated 19 August 2010. Unlike the CLA, however, the PIC proposes to abolish the relative immunity of members of parliament while maintaining the relative immunity of members of the authorities elected by parliament in connection with offences concerning their professional activities.
On 2 March 2011 the National Council rejected the proposals for changing disciplinary proceedings and abolishing the relative immunity of members of parliament. It approved the transfer of powers from parliament to committees concerning decisions on relative immunity and the limiting of relative immunity to offences that directly concern the professional activities of the accused.
The Council of States is expected to give its opinion on these questions during the 2011 summer session.
09.439 n Parl. init. Meyer Thérèse. Continued access to traditional, non-biometric ID without a chip for all Swiss citizens; 10.308 n Cant. init. Thurgau Revision of the Identity Documents Act
Following the close result of the popular vote on the revision of identity documents (Identity Documents Act) on 17 May 2009, a large number of initiatives were submitted calling for parliament to re-examine certain parts of the text. While various initiatives calling for the abolition of the central database were not successful with the PICs, two other initiatives which also address issues arising from the voting campaign were approved: firstly, a parliamentary initiative submitted by National Councillor Thérèse Meyer (09.439), calling for continued access to traditional, non-biometric ID without an electronic chip, and secondly an initiative put forward by the canton of Thurgau (10.038) calling for the cantonal authorities to be able to decide whether people can continue to obtain identity cards from their local authorities.
At its meeting on 21 October 2010 the PIC of the first council (National Council) decided to pass on a proposal for implementing both initiatives for consultation. According to this proposal, the Identity Documents Act should be modified in such a way as to ensure that Swiss citizens may continue to obtain an identity card without electronically stored data and that the cantonal authorities should be responsible for deciding whether such ID should be issued by the local authorities. In view of the positive results of the consultation, the PIC approved the proposal on 4 February and passed it on to the National Council. The latter having voted unanimously in favour of the proposal on 17 March 2011, the bill will be examined by the PIC-S during the 2nd quarter of 2011 and most probably by the Council of States during the summer session.
09.480 Parliamentary initiative, No extension of the compulsory provision of information in connection with federal surveys
The aim of the parliamentary initiative submitted by the UDC Group on 21 September 2009 in response to criticism from the general public and political circles is to maintain the voluntary character of replies to surveys carried out by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office, at the same time proposing a modification of the Federal Statistics Act and the Ordinance on statistical surveys in the same vein. It should continue to be compulsory to supply answers only to questions that are part of the periodic population censuses. Following the PIC’s approval of this parliamentary initiative, the Committee of the National Council, as the first council, drew up a preliminary bill which it approved for consultation at its meeting on 21 October 2010. In the 2nd quarter of 2011 the Committee will examine the results of the consultation and it is expected to submit a bill to the National Council during the 2011 summer session.
10.052 Asylum Act: modification
The aim of the partial revision of the Asylum Act is to make procedures faster and more efficient, and to deport more rapidly those applicants who are not to be given protection by Switzerland. The aim of the Federal Council’s bill is to simplify the present system of rejection of applications for asylum and to introduce a faster procedure, on paper only, for dealing with appeals and multiple applications. Moreover, the option of submitting an application for asylum to a Swiss mission abroad will be abolished. Other measures have also been set out: applicants who are or fear that they will be the subject of serious prejudice purely owing to the fact that they are conscientious objectors or deserters will no longer be recognised as refugees in Switzerland; when applicants are interviewed, the representative of an aid organisation will be replaced by an advisor, paid by the Confederation, who is specialised in procedures and evaluating the likelihood of asylum being granted. The Aliens Act would need to be modified.
The PIC-S started examining this voluminous issue at its meeting on 28 June 2010 and interviewed representatives of those bodies involved as well as experts at its meeting held on 30 August 2010. On 23 November 2010 the Committee voted unanimously in favour of asking the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP) to submit a report by the end of March 2011. This report should indicate in particular how basic improvements can be made as part of the current revision to ensure that application procedures can be speeded up across the board and not only in certain cases. The PIC will continue examining the revision of the Asylum Act during the 2nd quarter of 2011.
10.403 parl.init. New system of support for the press
For several years now the PIC-N has been addressing the question of support for the press. It was this Committee that drew up the proposal that led to a system of indirect support for the press through preferential postal rates (06.425 parl. init. Supporting the press through subsidies for distribution costs). Today this system is coming under scrutiny once again as part of the total revision of legislation concerning the Swiss Post Office. In a joint report intended for the attention of the CTT-N, the PIC-N has proposed that, contrary to the suggestion put forward by the Federal Council, the system of indirect support for the press (reduced postal rates) be maintained for an undetermined period of time. Furthermore, the PIC-N would also like to see whether there are feasible alternatives to reduced postal rates. Consequently, it decided by 11 votes to 8 to submit a Committee initiative (10.403 New system of support for the press). On 22 March 2010 the PIC-S approved of this decision and thus gave the PIC-N the green light for drawing up a corresponding proposal. The latter has set up a sub-committee for this purpose, which is already examining the issue.
10.440 parl. init. PIC-S, Improved organisation and procedures in parliament
At its meeting on 22 March 2010 the PIC-S voted unanimously in favour of the following text for a parliamentary initiative after examining a motion submitted by Stadler (Council of States; 09.3896 The federal parliament: fit for the future):
“The Political Institution Committee of the Council of States has decided to draw up changes to parliamentary law aimed at raising the efficiency and effectiveness of parliamentary activities as well as improving the quality of the work carried out by parliament. The basic conditions for the said changes are the fulfilment of parliament’s tasks under the terms of the federal constitution, the guaranteeing of the rights of parliament and of its members and the maintenance of the militia aspect of parliament.”
On 21 May 2010 the PIC-N approved this decision by 16 votes to 3 with 5 abstentions. The PIC-S has thus been given the go-ahead for drawing up a proposal.
The Committee is expected to pass the proposal to its Council at the end of June 2011.
10.090 n More rights for the people vis-à-vis foreign policy (Let the people have their say on international treaties!) Pop. init.
This popular initiative, which was submitted on 11 August 2009, calls for an extension of the compulsory referendums on international treaties. It should be obligatory to hold a referendum on international agreements which lead to a multilateral harmonisation of legislation in important areas, which oblige Switzerland to adopt future legislative stipulations in important areas, which transfer responsibility for handing down judgements in important areas to foreign or international organisations or involve new one-time payments over a certain amount. In its message dated 1 October 2010, the Federal Council asked parliament to recommend that the initiative be rejected by the people and the cantons. The PIC-N approved this request on 3 February 2011 with 17 votes to 8. In the Committee’s opinion, the expression “important areas” used in the text of the initiative would be extremely difficult to interpret in practice. It felt, however, that the compulsory referendums on international treaties should be extended, and voted in favour of the direct counter-proposal drawn up by the Federal Council with 17 votes to 8 and 1 abstention. According to this proposal, international treaties whose contents can be compared to the stipulations of the constitution should be subject to a compulsory referendum.
11.022 n Civil Rights Act. Total revision
The aim of the Federal Council’s proposed total revision of the Civil Rights Act is to ensure that in future only successfully integrated foreigners are granted Swiss citizenship. Accordingly, only applications from foreigners who already have a “C” residence permit, who speak at least one national language and who demonstrate their desire to participate in the economic life of the country or to obtain training will be considered. As an incentive for successful integration, especially well integrated candidates should be able to apply for Swiss citizenship through the normal procedures after eight years’ residence in the same place instead of the current twelve years. Moreover, if they move house, the cantonal and local requirement should be three years’ residence at the most. Finally, the total revision of the Act should lead to the harmonisation of procedures throughout the country as well as improvements in the exchange of data between the authorities involved at all levels. As the Committee of the first council, the PIC-N is expected to start examining this proposal during the 2nd quarter of 2011.