Federal finances Army spending at the center of the budget debate in the Council of States
The budget debate in the Council of States revolves around the additional expenditure for the army and its compensation in several other areas. The conservatives want to exclude agriculture from the savings.
09.12.2024, 16:54
SDA
The Council of States began the debate on the 2025 budget on Monday. "The financial challenges facing the Confederation are very great," said Jakob Stark (SVP/TG), Chairman of the Finance Committee (FK-S). As the federal government is preparing an austerity package, the lead should be with the Federal Council and not with Parliament.
The Finance Committee is requesting an additional 530 million for the army. The National Council already approved this amount last week. However, the Council of States wants to compensate for this additional expenditure differently to the upper chamber. As in the National Council, the conservatives in the Council of States insisted on adherence to the debt brake.
"Revenue must be an issue"
"Continuing as before and constantly fulfilling new spending requests is unfair to future generations," warned Peter Hegglin (center/ZG). Compensating for additional costs with additional income is not easy.
Esther Friedli (SVP/SG) called for the shortcomings in equipping the army to be made up for and for it to be given more resources. "Look at the world situation, there are new levels of escalation every day," said Andrea Gmür-Schönenberger (Center/LU).
"The revenue side must also be an issue," said Eva Herzog (SP/BS). The ageing population and climate change would lead to further expenditure. Herzog praised the FK-S proposals as a compromise between the Federal Council and the National Council. Baptiste Hurni (SP/NE) opposed a too rapid increase in army spending.
Eva Herzog (SP/BS) said that Switzerland had to make its contribution to the military capability in Europe. "The question is how much that is." She criticized "the National Council's slashing" of development aid to compensate for army spending.
Priority for agriculture
In addition to the army, priority must be given to food security - i.e. agriculture, Friedli demanded. If cuts were made here, farming families would have less income.
Johanna Gapany (FDP/FR) addressed those who want to make savings in agriculture, as in other areas, saying that expenditure on agriculture had increased less than in other areas. Gmür-Schönenberger countered that fewer and fewer farms were receiving the same amount of money for agriculture.
The FK-S also wants to tackle the issue of personnel. The federal workforce is growing, said Hegglin. He added that 440 jobs were needed for communication alone. "There is certainly scope for action here." Federal employees could also be used more instead of external consultants.
