There will be a live debate tonight on Radio Télévision Suisse (formerly TSR) concerning a constitutional amendment that will be voted on by the people this coming 17 June, requiring a popular vote to approve international treaties.
The amendment would require a majority of the people and the cantons to approve any international treaty that:
1. Results in a multilateral unification of laws in important domains. [read in the notion of a “super-national” structure such as the EU, of which Switzerland is not a member, but is bound to by various “bilateral accords”]
2. Obliges Switzerland to accept future legal rules in important domains. [The current US-CH taxation treaty is an example, although I think it cannot supersede the Constitution as it is not fully self-executing (no definition of what a US or a former US citizen is) and its passage was unconstitutional as the Swiss Confederation must protect the rights of the people(Art 2, CFS).]
3. Delegates legal jurisdiction to foreign or international institutions in important domains.
4. Results in costs of more than 1 billion francs or recurring costs of more than 100 million [I suppose they mean per year].
Swiss Francophone TV: Infrarouge Debate 15 Mai 2012
I am in favor of this amendment, as it would protect us from parliament and federal council members who kneel in front of the US and accept treaties that violate our own constitutional and legal principles.
Here is a link to the short version of the debates: Accords avec l’étranger: la parole au peuple, version courte
As before, there is a page for Internet-based debate on the issues. Please would any of you at IBS who speak French make some comments.
I just posted this comment to Infrarouge, pending moderation:
@Jeff, When representative democracy stop functioning, then why not give direct democracy a chance. But alas, there is no perfect system. Perhaps in this instance, it is good thing as you suggest in your comment–I wonder whether the cooperation of UBS (stand for, Used to Be Safe), for example, with United States authority was not a violation of Switzerland’s laws, and your government’s bending over backwards to accommodate the IRS is really the loss of sovereignty and autonomy. Now, they want to make it a part of law, without consulting the people? No wonder the Swiss want treaties to be subject to referendum.
I hope the Swiss succeed. What are the Americans going to do if a future US Swiss Tax Treaty gets the thumbs down by the Swiss people. Is Washington going to start treating Switzerland like Iran and have trade embargos or cut off its access to SWIFT? I can’t see Europe standing for that. They would have to intervene on behalf of the Swiss and apply pressure on Washington.
I would hope some ACA members are participating in this debate. I will check to see.
Talking about debated, I think today is the IRS hearing about FACTA. If someone hears something about it, please post!
@Petros The US representative democracy does not function properly, I think that there are plenty here that would agree with me. The Swiss system will collapse if we do not use our direct democracy to defeat that which would undermine our direct democracy. The first step is the present initiative to require popular vote on treaties. The second step (if the first does not work) is grounded in the Swiss constitution and I cannot discuss the implications in public at this time.
vive la suisse! j’espere qu’il ne pas trop tard.
Ce n’est pas trop tard, je pense que les Suisses et Suissesses vont se reveiller et bloquer les efforts des USA, efforts qui mettent en danger les valeurs des deux constitutions.