Transport, agriculture, taxes These are the Federal Council's most important savings items

The Federal Council plans to drastically cut spending with a comprehensive package of measures. An overview of the most important savings items - and what the population thinks of them.

At the end of September, the Federal Council presented a package of 60 savings measures. The national government plans to use this to bring the federal budget back into balance. From 2027, it wants to reduce the budget by 3.6 billion francs. From 2030, this figure is to rise to CHF 4.6 billion.

From transport, taxes and the federal administration to social welfare, numerous areas are affected by the planned cuts - unlike the army. blue News provides you with an overview of the most important savings items - and how the people are reacting to the measures.

In the longer term, the planned waiver of federal contributions for supplementary childcare will have the greatest impact. This is expected to reduce the federal budget by almost CHF 900 million a year from 2030. The Federal Council wants to save half a billion francs per year by reducing the integration lump sum for refugees to four years. An unbundling of the federal contribution to the AHV should enable further savings of CHF 289 million. CHF 313 million less is also to be spent on development aid.

The Federal Council's package provides for a CHF 145 million reduction in contributions to the Swiss National Science Foundation. In addition, CHF 120 million is to be saved with the measure "Strengthening user funding for cantonal universities". According to the Federal Council, the total savings potential in this area amounts to almost half a billion francs.

Federal contributions to the railroad infrastructure fund are to be reduced by CHF 200 million and to the national roads and agglomeration transport fund by CHF 96 million. Funding for night train services abroad is also to be cut. This subsidy was only recently approved by Parliament as part of the revision of the_{CO2 Act}. Other proposed measures would affect regional passenger transport (CHF 62 million) and the promotion of alternative drive systems for buses and ships (CHF 46 million).

By far the largest savings item in this area is the renunciation of climate protection subsidies, for example for the building program. In this way, the federal government intends to reduce the budget by CHF 400 million.

On the revenue side, the Federal Council is planning to tax capital withdrawals from the second and third pillars more heavily in future. This could generate additional revenue of CHF 220 million. The "Reduction in socio-demographic equalization of burdens" measure is intended to save an additional CHF 140 million.

The national government wants to examine the auctioning of all import quotas for agricultural goods, which would generate CHF 80 million. In addition, reducing the landscape quality contributions to 50 percent would reduce the burden by CHF 65 million.

Measures within the Federal Administration are expected to reduce expenditure by CHF 305 million. This mainly refers to measures relating to federal personnel. Overall, the savings potential in the administration is expected to be CHF 362 million.

The Confederation is planning further major potential savings in the areas of "Environment and Spatial Planning" (CHF 72 million), "Culture and Leisure" (CHF 60 million), "Health" (CHF 50 million), "Security" (CHF 25 million) and "Institutional and Financial Requirements" (CHF 2 million). There are also plans to halve federal contributions to indirect press funding. The membership and foundation press is to be excluded from this in future. Subsidies for the local and regional press are to be cut.

"This package is not very noticeable for the population in everyday life", commented Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter on the measures. However, a representative survey by the opinion research institute Sotomo comes to a different conclusion: a large proportion of the population in Switzerland rejects the package. 48 percent of the 3,000 or so respondents are against it, 45 percent are in favor.

According to the survey, a majority of 54% would like to cover at least half of the deficit with additional revenue - and not almost exclusively with cuts. There is also disagreement on the question of where the federal government should reduce its expenditure. At 41%, the proportion of those willing to make savings is highest in development aid, followed by media funding at 36% and the army at 35%.

The Federal Council writes of "key figures of the relief package for the federal budget". The details are expected to be presented with the consultation draft by the end of January 2025. The Federal Council plans to present a framework decree that includes amendments to numerous laws.