Grand Council BE Bernese GPK demands stricter BLS law

The BLS Act does not go far enough for the Audit Committee of the Bernese Parliament. Among other things, it wants to oblige the canton to actively exploit its options under company law as majority shareholder.

This was announced by the commission on Tuesday. Proven instruments such as an owner strategy, a supervisory concept and controlling discussions should be mentioned by name. The government should also advocate moderate compensation for BLS management and take precautions to avoid conflicts of interest.

The Government Council presented the law on the canton's participation in BLS AG and BLS Netz AG in April. In doing so, it complied with a recommendation of the Audit Committee.

Setting guard rails

In its view, however, the present text is too general. The GPK would like to see "clear guidelines". The canton's objectives should be clarified in the purpose article.

The law should also stipulate that BLS should only be active in other areas if these are related to the core task. This should prevent the railroads from suddenly taking on tasks that have nothing to do with the state mandate.

The commission would also like to establish the role of the Grand Council as a supervisory authority. An additional article should mention BLS's duty to cooperate with parliament. The government council should also be obliged to inform parliament about "incidents of particular significance".

First reading in the fall

The Grand Council will discuss the law at first reading in the fall session. The role of the canton in its major holdings is a perennial issue in Bernese politics.

In March, Parliament called for the government to present a general law on shareholdings by means of a motion. The canton has holdings in over 80 companies and institutions. The largest of these include BKW, Gebäudeversicherung and BLS.