Federal finances National Council wants to budget less money for foreign aid
The National Council wants to spend less on foreign aid than the Council of States and the Federal Council. In the budget debate on Monday, it cut contributions for bilateral development cooperation and multilateral organizations.
08.12.2025, 17:12
08.12.2025, 22:46
SDA
In doing so, it followed the majority of the Finance Committee. As a result, bilateral development cooperation will receive CHF 6.3 million less next year.
More money for cyber security
The National Council has allocated CHF 28.2 million less for contributions to multilateral organizations than the Federal Council wanted. Proposals from the SP, Greens and GLP to increase or not to reduce the amount did not get through. The Council of States will now have to deal with the budgets for foreign aid again.
However, the Federal Office for Cyber Security (Bacs) will receive more money next year. Like the Council of States, the National Council has increased the budget of the still young Federal Office by ten million francs to around 26.25 million francs.
The Councillors also increased the budget of the Federal Office of Police (Fedpol) by CHF 1.8 million, against the wishes of the SVP. The majority wants to make it possible to increase the staffing of the Federal Criminal Police. The Federal Council also recently called for more staff for criminal investigations.
Less money for tourism advertising
On the other hand, the National Council wants to allocate six million francs less than the Federal Council for tourism advertising abroad and reduce the budget of Switzerland Tourism accordingly. Ursula Zybach (SP/BE) said that this was appropriate in view of the overcrowded tourist resorts in the Bernese Oberland.
Reto Nause (center/BE) opposed the majority's plans without success. The tender plant "tourism" had only just recovered from the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. The cuts would also primarily affect rural regions. The Council of States now has to deal with the cuts.
Not yet fully discussed
Parliament, on the other hand, wants to spend more money on viticulture than the Federal Council. The National Council approved a motion by the SVP to support winegrowers with an additional ten million francs - they are faced with falling demand. The Council of States had also approved the increase.
The National Council was unable to finish discussing the budget on Monday evening due to time constraints. Its decision on the subsidy for a night train from Basel to Malmö in Sweden is still pending, and it has also not yet decided on additional funding for the poison hotline. The debate will continue on Tuesday morning.
