Senate Demands a Vote of People and Cantons on the Swiss-EU Treaty Package
By 23 votes to 17, senators chose a mandatory referendum on Bilaterals III, raising the bar to a double majority of voters and cantons.
September 2026
44 posts in the September 2026 file.
Wednesday, 30 September 2026
Swiss Football Association Withdraws Its Support for Gianni Infantino
The SFA no longer backs the Swiss FIFA president's bid for another term, costing Infantino the support of his home federation.
Swiss Health Insurance Premiums to Rise About 5 Percent in 2027
The average premium reaches CHF 412 a month next year. Adults will pay CHF 487.60, and the switching window closes at the end of November.
Tuesday, 29 September 2026
Senate Opens Detail Debate on the Swiss-EU Treaty Package
Senators moved from Monday's entry vote into the contested clauses: wage protection, the referendum rule and dynamic adoption of EU law.
Monday, 28 September 2026
Senate Votes 29 to 15 to Take Up the Swiss-EU Treaty Package
The Council of States voted 29 to 15 to open the Swiss-EU package. Detailed debate on wages and the referendum runs through Wednesday.
Sunday, 27 September 2026
Voters Reject Stricter Neutrality Rules in Every Canton
All 26 cantons and 70.15 percent of voters rejected a stricter constitutional definition of neutrality. The food initiative also lost.
Saturday, 26 September 2026
Schlegel Says Oil, Not the Hot Summer, Drove the Inflation Rise
Martin Schlegel told SRF the dry summer showed up in food prices, while the rise in Swiss inflation was still almost all petroleum.
Friday, 25 September 2026
Postal Votes Are In as Switzerland Prepares Two Sunday Ballots
With two days to go, the last national polls still have both 27 September initiatives behind. Most ballots in Switzerland are postal.
Thursday, 24 September 2026
SNB Holds Its Policy Rate at Zero as Energy Lifts Inflation
The SNB held at zero for another quarter, lifted its inflation forecast slightly, and softened the wording on franc intervention.
Insurer Puts Summer Crop Damage at CHF 59 Million
Hagel Schweiz expects CHF 59.2 million in crop losses and about 5,800 claims after the driest, hottest April-to-August stretch since 1901.
Wednesday, 23 September 2026
Senate Requires UBS to Back Foreign Units With 90 Percent CET1
The Council of States chose 90 percent CET1 backing for UBS foreign units, stricter than the committee plan and short of the government's 100 percent.
Tuesday, 22 September 2026
Keller-Sutter and Ermotti Clash Ahead of the UBS Capital Vote
The finance minister and the UBS chief executive restated capital positions that do not meet, a day before the Senate vote.
Monday, 21 September 2026
Senate Backs a CHF 24 Billion Defence Fund and a Smaller VAT Rise
Senators kept a CHF 24 billion defence fund, doubled the loan ceiling to CHF 12 billion, and cut the VAT rise to 0.2 points.
Sunday, 20 September 2026
One Week Out, the Neutrality Vote Still Leans No
Published polls still show the 27 September neutrality initiative heading for defeat, with no newer national survey yet.
Saturday, 19 September 2026
Bern Climate Grandparents Claim a Parking Space for People
Climate grandparents marked a Bahnhofplatz parking bay and asked Bern to see 15 square metres as public space.
Friday, 18 September 2026
Federal Council Rejects Border Checks and a 5,000 Asylum Cap
Ministers asked parliament to recommend a no vote on systematic border checks and a 5,000 asylum cap, with no counter-proposal.
Trains Resume After a Night of Disruption on the Lausanne Lines
An electrical fault stopped Lausanne, Geneva and Yverdon trains for hours on Thursday night. Services were back by morning.
Thursday, 17 September 2026
UBS Chairman Says the Bank May Rethink Switzerland if Rules Are Too Tight
Colm Kelleher said UBS may have to rethink Switzerland if it cannot compete. The Senate delayed the capital vote to 23 September.
Wednesday, 16 September 2026
Autumn Session Corridors Talk Neutrality Polls and EU Safeguards
The floor has an agenda. The coffee machine has a later one, and this morning it was a survey.
Final Polls Show Swiss Voters Set to Reject Tighter Neutrality Rules
Two surveys published Wednesday put the neutrality initiative well behind with ten days left before the 27 September ballot.
Tuesday, 15 September 2026
Farm Leaders Call Senate Mercosur Deal a Bribe With Extra Beef
The Senate offered a package. The unions offered the same no, with an invoice attached.
Senate Revives Mercosur Trade Deal With Farm Support Package
Senators voted 35 to 7 to revive a South American trade pact the National Council rejected in June, pairing it with new money for farmers.
Heat Pumps Now Warm a Quarter of Swiss Residential Buildings
New building figures show heat pumps racing ahead in new homes while oil still heats a third of the existing stock.
Monday, 14 September 2026
Knabenschiessen Crowns Its Winner as the Fair Packs Down
Sunday was the funfair. Monday was the rifle, and a thinner tram toward Wollishofen.
Parliament Opens Autumn Session With EU Treaties and Army Funding
Lawmakers returned to the Bundeshaus on Monday for a three-week sitting that will test the bilateral path with Brussels and the cost of rearmament.
National Housing Vacancy Rate Falls Below One Percent
Official figures now put Switzerland under the one percent vacancy line that analysts treat as a shortage.
Sunday, 13 September 2026
Zurich Fills Albisguetli for the Knabenschiessen Weekend
Carnival rides, sausage stalls and a rifle range older than the federal state filled the meadow above Wollishofen.
Saturday, 12 September 2026
Food Security Initiative Trails as Farmers Split on the Ballot
A proposal to write higher self-sufficiency into policy is losing ground, including in some rural districts that usually back farm causes.
Friday, 11 September 2026
EU Package Briefing: Wage Protection, Dynamic Law and a Safeguard
The package is one vote in the diary and three arguments in any corridor that still has a coffee machine.
Lawmakers Prepare to Debate CHF 24 Billion Defence Fund
Rearmament meets the debt brake next week, when the large chamber takes up army money that supporters call overdue and critics call a blank cheque.
Thursday, 10 September 2026
Franc Holds Near 0.94 After the ECB Leaves Rates Unchanged
Frankfurt's patience left the franc where Swiss manufacturers already found it: manageable, not comfortable.
ECB Holds Rates Steady as Inflation Nears 2 Percent Target
Frankfurt policymakers left the deposit rate unchanged at 2.75 percent, citing stable price growth across the eurozone.
Federal Council Sets 2035 Climate Targets Ahead of Autumn Session
The revised framework links national emission cuts to cantonal grants, setting up a tense debate when parliament returns to Bern.
Zurich Cantonal Council Approves New Housing Density Rules
Planners estimate 12,000 new apartments by 2030, but tenant advocates say the measure alone will not cool rents in districts 1 through 4.
Wednesday, 9 September 2026
Geneva Hosts UN Climate Talks as Nations Debate Loss and Damage Fund
Representatives from 140 countries opened negotiations at the Palais des Nations, seeking rules for disbursing aid to climate-vulnerable regions.
Tuesday, 8 September 2026
Swiss Abroad Watch Dual Citizenship Debate Before the Autumn Sitting
Before the first gavel in the Bundeshaus, consular groups asked deputies not to treat overseas voters as an afterthought.
Monday, 7 September 2026
Geneva Hotels Fill as Climate Delegates and UN Staff Overlap
The city is doing what it does in September: absorbing a second population of badges, interpreters and night meetings.
Sunday, 6 September 2026
SBB Extends Siemens Rail Control Support Into the Next Decade
The old control software will not retire on a slogan. SBB is paying to keep it safe while the next platform is designed.
Saturday, 5 September 2026
Basel Life Sciences Corridor Holds Hiring Plans Into Autumn
Along the Rhine the dominant employers still talk in product cycles, not in parliamentary committee minutes.
Friday, 4 September 2026
Neutrality Campaign Buses Work the Market Towns of Basel-Landschaft
A campaign bus is a village hall that can still find a parking space.
Ticino Cross-Border Commute Tests Housing and Train Capacity
In Lugano the morning crowd on the platform still speaks more Italian than Swiss German, and the arguments have not aged out.
Thursday, 3 September 2026
Lausanne Students Return to a Rental Market With Almost No Slack
Noticeboards at the metro filled faster than the remaining studios in Renens and the old town.
Wednesday, 2 September 2026
Alpine Resorts Close a Summer Season Under the Glacier Line
The postcard is still for sale. Some of the paths in the picture are not.
Tuesday, 1 September 2026
Keller-Sutter Criticises Committee Move to Soften UBS Capital Rules
The first political fight of September is about how much equity Switzerland's largest bank must hold after swallowing Credit Suisse.