ZURICH: The “Paradise Papers”, which have shed light on the offshore dealings of some of the world’s richest people and biggest companies, are increasing conversations around a people’s initiative, on which Swiss citizens are set to vote in the next couple of years.
In Switzerland, a coalition of 85 non-governmental organisations and trade unions are backing an initiative called “responsible business”. It aims to make Swiss companies comply with human rights and environmental standards when they operate abroad or be brought to account before Swiss courts. It has already gathered 120,000 signatures to force a nationwide vote on the issue.
The initiative text is currently being examined in Bern. For the Federal Council (executive body), the initiative goes too far. It fears that extra regulations could hurt Swiss businesses, which may simply move abroad, and that existing rules suffice.
The government does not plan to issue a counter-proposal to the campaigners’ text, but a Senate commission announced on Tuesday that it wants one.
If the House of Representatives’ Legal Commission makes a similar request, parliament will be forced to draw up a counter-proposal. This seems to suggest that senators are more open than cabinet ministers to the campaigners’ demands and that, in theory, some of those demands could be incorporated in a counter-proposal.
Beatrix Niser, coordinator for the initiative in French-speaking Switzerland, welcomes the Senate commission’s decision, which came just days after the Paradise Papers’ first revelations. But she fails to see any direct link between the two.
