Swiss Review 6/2018

Swiss Review / November 2018 / No.6 12 Politics JÜRG MÜLLER The two failed initiatives had similar aims. The Fair Food Initiative in- tended to enshrine in the Federal Con- stitution that the supply of environ- mentally-friendly, animal-friendly and fairly produced food from Swit- zerland and abroad would be strengthened. It was rejected by 61.3 percent of voters. The initiative for food sovereignty also called for a sus- tainable, diverse, GMO-free, small- scale and more family-oriented agri- culture; the group behind the initiative criticised the opening of the market and the strong international competitive pressure. The popular in- itiative was rejected even more clearly with 68.4 percent of votes cast against it. The results cannot be interpreted as a categorical “no” to these issues – sur- veys conducted prior to the vote showed that both initiatives had high levels of approval. Additionally, or- ganic products are becoming increas- ingly popular in Switzerland. But ob- viously consumers prefer to decide for themselves at the shops whether they want to buy organically produced food or not. After all, the arguments of the opponents gained ground in the course of the debate over the initiative. They argued that the protectionist ap- proach of the two proposals is prob- lematic, the implementationwould be associated with bureaucratic hurdles and international trade agreements would also be at risk. The debate about Swiss agricultural policy is not over after the rejection of both initiatives. On the contrary - five further agricul- tural initiatives are in preparation. In the next few years there will be popu- lar initiatives for a ban on pesticides, clean drinking water, against mass livestock farming, for an import ban on products produced in a way that is cruel to animals, and for nutritional education of the youth. Moral boost for cycle paths Meanwhile, bicycles had an easy ride and managed to make it into the Fed- eral Constitution on the popular vote Sunday of 23 September. The coun- ter-proposal to thewithdrawn cycling initiativewas accepted by 73.6 percent of voters. In future, the federal govern- ment will coordinate the construction of cycle paths. However, the cantons and communes will still be in charge. It remains to be seen whether the countrywill soon have uninterrupted cycle paths. The article of the Consti- tution does not contain any specific requirements and there are no signs of a genuine construction programme in favour of bicycle traffic. But at least the Federal Constitution now con- tains something like a moral obliga- tion to embark on one. Initiative aims to end urban sprawl Thousands of hectares of farmland and near-natural landscapes have disappeared in recent decades, and urban sprawl continues to progress. Voters have already expressed their views on this issue twice. In 2012, an initiative that limits the proportion of second homes to 20 percent nationwide was adopted, and in 2014 the partially revised spatial planning law came into force (see Swiss Review of September 2018). This is one of the reasons why the Federal Council and parliament are against the urban sprawl initiative of the Young Greens. The implementation of the spatial planning law is in full swing and is beginning to take effect. The initiative will be put to a vote on 10 February 2019. The aim of the popular initiative is to pre- vent a further increase in building zones. New building zones should only be created if an area of at least the same size and comparable soil quality is removed from the building zone. This should enable existing development land to be used more efficiently and allow for sufficiently good land to be preserved for agriculture. The initiative also contains provisions on internal settlement development, on sustainable neigh- bourhoods and on building outside the construc- tion zones. This goes too far for the opposition, which consists of almost all parliamentary groups except the Greens, while the SP was di- vided. The opposition believes the initiative is too rigid and does not account for cantonal and regional differences. During the parliamentary debate, everyone expressed their concerns about dwindling farmland and increasing urban sprawl. Yet at the same time, one cannot simply freeze the current situation and “turn rural areas into Heidiland”, as the BDP National Councillor Hans Grunder from Bern put it. (JM) Despite rejected initiatives the debate about agricultural policy is still ongoing Both agricultural initiatives were rejected by voters on the popular vote Sunday of 23 September 2018. However, the topic is by no means off the table – no fewer than five more initiatives envisage changes to Swiss farming policy.