[ad_1]
After months of adjustments, the commercial rental law is about to expire. With 100 to 87 votes and seven abstentions, the National Council rejects the new law in the general vote. A majority of SVP, FDP and CVP prevailed.
“We already have a solution with the provision on difficulties in the Covid-19 Law,” said CVP national adviser Philipp Matthias Bregy (42, VS), summing up opposition from opponents. The national councilor of the SP, Jacqueline Badran (59, ZH), on the other hand, was upset: “It is very sad what the commoners have organized here: a tragedy hostile to trade.” It’s only a 1.6 percent annual rental loss in a high-margin industry.
Chaos in the detailed tips
Previously, in detailed consultation, you always talked about “chaos”, “intrigue” and “mosaic”. Because in the summer, the two councils agreed on a compromise formula: 40 percent should be borne by tenants, 60 percent by landlords, for commercial rentals up to CHF 20,000 per month.
But in the months that followed, resistance grew. Against the will of the national council’s legal commission, the grand chamber narrowly accepted the bill in October. The Legal Commission then developed a completely new concept. Only hardship cases that have entered an economic emergency due to federal crown measures should benefit from a 50 percent rental exemption. For this, the duration of the lease exemption should not be limited to closing. The strange thing about this: the Commission recommended its own proposal for rejection.
Center-left rescue attempt
Proponents of the lease exemption tried in vain to save the bill with one more step toward opponents. In an individual request, National Green Councilor Florence Brenzikofer (45, BL), National Councilor SP Baptiste Hurni (34, NE) and National PPE Councilor Nik Gugger (50, ZH) proposed a 50 rent waiver instead 60 percent. Otherwise, the Council should follow the proposal of the Federal Council.
“Many companies are threatened with bankruptcy,” Brenzikofer said. “If we want to prevent merchants from being bankrupted simply because they cannot pay their rents, we need a national solution.” The applicants were willing to swallow some toads. The right is limited to the blocking time from March 17 to June 21. Except for the distribution key, they fully adopt the Federal Council proposal. “We will swallow the bitter pill, because a little help is better than nothing,” said SP man Hurni.
But the bourgeois majority did not want to hear about this variant. In a cascade of votes, they stuck to the proposals made by the majority of the Commission. At individual points, however, the center-left narrowly missed. In the end, there was a completely “contradictory and inconsistent presentation, as SVP National Councilor Hans-Ueli Vogt (50, ZH), the commission’s spokesman, remarked with dismay.
There is also a threat of no in the Council of States.
Now it is the turn of the Council of States. There is also a no. The advisory committee recommends 8 to 5 votes not to intervene at all. The little camera will decide on Wednesday morning. If the Council of States says no, the deal is definitely off the table.
The Federal Council is also against the proposal and refers to a recently published report according to which there is currently little indication of major difficulties for commercial tenants.
Cantonal regulations
If it fails, the tenants depend on the goodwill of the landlord. Or the cantons, because some have already issued their own cantonal regulations.
In the canton of Baselland, for example, last Sunday the electorate said yes to the relief rental for companies that were seriously affected by the first wave of the Crown crisis. Businesses now receive retroactive support. The canton pays a third of the rent if the landlord in turn renounces a third of the rental income.
