r/Switzerland

Is this extreme weather, heatwave after heatwave, historic low water levels, trees turning yellow/red-ish as if it’s already fall, making anyone to consider more their daily habits on water usage, recycling, diet (exploring vegetarian/vegan diets), etc?

Berne, 20.08.2026 — President Guy Parmelin and Chinese Minister of Commerce Wang Wentao announced on 20 August, during a meeting in Bern, that negotiations on the optimisation of the free trade agreement (FTA) between Switzerland and the People’s Republic of China had been concluded.

Switzerland has achieved its negotiating objectives. Under the existing FTA almost all Chinese imports into Switzerland are duty-free, while this is only the case for around half of Swiss exports to China. The optimised FTA rectifies this imbalance: 99.8 per cent of Switzerland’s current exports will be able to enter the Chinese market duty-free. The optimised FTA also ensures that Swiss investors have access to the Chinese market. Lastly, the provisions on environmental issues and labour rights will also be expanded and strengthened in the revised FTA.

Furthermore, the optimisation of the FTA also covers rules of origin and trade facilitation, trade in services, digital trade, competition, and economic and technical cooperation.

Upon completion of the legal review of the texts, Switzerland and China will work towards the signing of the agreement. The aim is to have the agreement signed by the end of 2026, followed by the required domestic approval procedures.

Negotiations on the optimisation of the 2014 free trade agreement were officially launched in September 2024 and have been concluded following five rounds of talks.

China is Switzerland's third most important trade partner after the EU and the USA. By optimising the agreement, the Federal Council is improving and securing access to the Chinese market, thereby helping Swiss companies to diversify their export markets.

Free trade agreement Switzerland - China (SECO)

Higher tax receipts allowed the Federal Council to abandon those cuts.

Summary:

Total federal expenditure increases CHF 2.7bn, from CHF 91.1bn to CHF 93.8bn. Social welfare gets the largest identifiable increase among policy areas, about CHF 900m, while security increases about CHF 400m. Education and research increase around CHF 100m and transport around CHF 100m.

For social welfare specifically, the CHF 900m increase includes roughly CHF 500m more for old-age provision, nearly CHF 200m more for disability insurance, and nearly CHF 200m more for health-insurance premium reductions.

Additionally, because the revenue outlook improved, the government says the planned future VAT increase for defence can be smaller than previously proposed.

I’m curious if anyone here started with a pretty standard EFZ apprenticeship and later managed to work their way into a much higher-level position with a relatively high salary just through work experience.

I’m especially interested in people who did this without Weiterbildung, additional certifications, university or any other formal education after the EFZ. Basically: you finished your EFZ, started working, gained experience, took on more responsibility, changed roles or companies and eventually worked your way into a much better position.

I have a feeling a lot of these career jumps probably happen either through Vitamin B / connections, or by getting into the right company, proving yourself internally and then slowly climbing higher and higher. But I’d be interested to hear how it actually happened for people who managed it. Basically looking for examples of people in Switzerland who started with a normal EFZ and managed to get quite far purely through experience and proving themselves on the job.

I was wondering, if there is a common „view-point“ that can be seen from all of Switzerland (well, from all 26 cantons at least…).
Finsteraarhorn (my first guess) cannot be seen from Geneva.

I was reading the article and yes its from the trashpaper 20min and therefore also the comment of the respective quality.

Let review his arguments that he pretends that the left are the culprit for high rents:

- higher bureaucracy make building more expensive - valid argument (but it does by protecting th one living for example in appartments at low rent to not be kickedout)

- we need to build more - valid argument (yup Genossenschaften and non profit oriented landlords not you)

- landlords don’t benefit from high rents - clearly nonsense

- ”i know nobody who can’t find an appartment in zuerich” - clearly he doesn’t know anyone or at least nobody outside of his rich friends

For me: Who captures the economic value created when we allow more housing to be built?

Lets no get fooled by these people! Why do we give our own Trumps/SVP and other immobilien moguls such platforms without fact checking or properly analyse his arguments? All he wants is stearing the chaos to get lower regulations and build more and raise his profits… and tries to be charming with “old building have a story to tell”.

I’m currently considering a new Polestar 2 Long Range Single Motor (MY27) in Switzerland.

The car has an MSRP of around CHF 61,000, but after current discounts, fleet discount and an additional dealer discount, I can get it for about CHF 41,800.

The leasing offer I was given is roughly:

• 60 months
• 15,000 km/year
• around CHF 506/month
• apparently 0% interest
• no down payment, as far as I understand

I’m planning to test drive it next week and will get the full written leasing offer afterwards.

My main question is whether leasing makes sense compared with buying the car outright for CHF 41,800.

I could also imagine buying the car at the end of the lease if the residual/book value is attractive. My thinking is that after 5 years and around 75,000–90,000 km, the car could potentially still be worth noticeably more on the used market than the residual value.

Would you lease it, buy it outright, or look for a used Polestar 2 instead?

Anything specific I should watch out for in the leasing contract, especially regarding residual value, buyout, mileage or hidden fees?

Before every major vote, the sub gets flooded with posts from people who suddenly take an interest in Swiss politics out of nowhere.

These accounts always have less than 100 karma and some have been inactive for years meaning they’re only fired up when they’re needed for specific purposes.

Or at least the ability to report bot posts directly.

Thanks for reviewing this.

I‘m looking for recommendations what other women use as backbacks for their notebook and whatever else they bring to work. I’d like this to be a bag that is available in stores in Switzerland. I need sth spacioous to also pack my water bottle, my lunch and some more stuff. I don‘t need anything girly or luxurious just want good quality, nice and practical design and not a backpack that looks like I‘m going hiking for 3 days😅

Edit: Extra point if the bag can be opened all the way
Edit 2: wow girls you are amazing! Got so many good suggestions! This is what Reddit is best for. Thank you!

In all honesty, what options do we have to take care of this issue? France cannot take care of their criminals, so we have to pay the price for it and watch it happen in silence?

The Geneva-Vaud area is losing its reputation as a safe haven in front of our eyes and no one is doing anything. It reached the international media now, it’s not just little arguments on reddit anymore.

Maybe activate the Schengen emergency 6 month border control could be an option (if we’re even allowed to do that)? I’m not super rich but I know lots of people that aren’t either and had their homes broken into while they slept, I don’t want to be the next one. It’s really worrying me

What is your favorite way to sell your car?

I'm considering an upgrade, my car is ten years old, but I never sold one. I'm mostly interested in hassle free transactions rather than maximum earning.

I would consider using it as trade in as well if possible or contact those exporters that sometimes leave their business cards on cars, as well as selling outright to someone, but I would like to hear your experiences with the process of selling, whatever the process you went through.

Note that the car is fully owned, fully paid.