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- The Council of States approved the Covid-19 Law by 33 votes to 1 and 4 abstentions.
- The Council of States also opted for broader economic aid than those proposed by the Federal Council and said yes to the hardship clause for companies introduced by the National Council.
- The law now returns to the National Council.
The Covid-19 law is a step further. The purpose of the law is to make common law the emergency legal measures that the Federal Council has taken to deal with the crisis in the crown.
With the penalty clause introduced by the councils, the Federal Council should also be able to help those companies that do not benefit from an industrial solution. As long as companies were financially healthy before the crown crisis. Municipalities are thinking in particular of the travel and events industry or showmen.
The councils have yet to agree everywhere
However, the councils still don’t agree everywhere. The Council of States does not agree, for example, with the proposal of the National Council to extend the right to loss of earnings for the self-employed and people in positions similar to employers. Furthermore, the Council of States is more cautious than the National Council when it comes to measures for culture. The National Council wanted to increase the support from 80 to 100 million francs by the end of 2021, the Council of States remained in the line of least cost of the Federal Council.
In addition, the Council of States calls for a new step for cross-border travelers. Consequently, the Federal Council must take the necessary measures to guarantee freedom of movement for cross-border travelers and residents who have a special connection with the border area.
“Precarious situation” due to time pressure
The Council of States had to advise the company under time pressure. The National Council only finished its deliberations on Wednesday night and had made numerous changes. The main health commission addressed the most important points in a special session on Thursday morning. However, the Commission was unable to advise on many of the individual requests submitted. The situation is a bit precarious, said Commission President Paul Rechsteiner (SP / SG).
However, the postponement was not possible. The goal is to clean up the bill at the end of the session so that the law can go into effect. If the law is not passed, several measures by the crown would come to an end next week, six months after its entry into force.
The law has nothing to do with vaccination!
In the discussion during the deliberation of the numerous individual and minority applications, an explosive topic emerged again and again: vaccination and the fear of mandatory vaccination, which is widespread in parts of the population. Rechsteiner made it clear: “The law has nothing to do with vaccination!” The criticism was also directed at the vaccination that is addressed in the Epidemic Law.
The law now returns to the National Council to adjust the differences.
