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reThe Swiss Corporate Responsibility Initiative (KVI) narrowly failed. Most cantons voted against the measure on Sunday, which was hotly contested in Switzerland for months.
Measured by the distribution of all the votes cast, supporters led by 50.7 percent. But the initiators lacked the required majority of the cantons, which is why they are now considered losers. Such a constellation has not existed in federal referenda since 1955. Almost all German-Swiss cantons voted against the initiative, while it gained approval in (much smaller) French-speaking Switzerland and Ticino.
The initiative required Swiss-based companies that violate human rights and international environmental standards abroad to be held accountable in accordance with the civil law of their home country. The liability would also have been related to economically dependent subsidiaries and suppliers. Faced with any civil action, the accused companies would have had to prove that they fulfilled their duty of care.
“Conservative Switzerland wins over modern”
These requirements were too much for the trade associations. In large-scale campaigns, they warned that there would be a wave of lawsuits and that many smaller companies would pull out of developing countries due to increased litigation risks. They also noted that the Swiss economy was already under great pressure from the Crown crisis.
These arguments bogged down in rural German-Swiss cantons such as Schwyz, Appenzell-Innerrhoden, Glarus, St. Gallen, and Obwalden. For political scientist Lucas Golder, the distribution of the votes shows that the Swiss population was deeply divided on this issue of the vote. “Conservative Switzerland wins over modern, urban Switzerland,” Golder said on Swiss television. But there has never been so much approval for a left-wing cause that does not refer to a purely Swiss phenomenon, but to an international phenomenon.
Left-wing liberal FDP politician Dick Marty, who is one of the KVI chiefs, was disappointed by the defeat. At the same time, given the tight result, he was ready to fight: “If victory does not come today, it will surely be tomorrow.”
Tin, tantalum, tungsten
In polls, proponents of the initiative were long ahead of the game. The Berne government’s counterproposal, which now comes into effect after the initiative was rejected, is likely to have caused the change in the last few meters. In accordance with this, large Swiss companies are obliged to report on the risks of their business abroad for people and the environment, on corruption and on the measures taken against it. With regard to child labor and conflict minerals (tin, tantalum, tungsten, gold), all companies must now comply with extensive due diligence obligations. However, there are no additional liability rules.
The Swiss also rejected on Sunday the popular initiative “For the prohibition of financing the producers of war material.” According to projections, about 58 percent voted against. The initiative launched by the “Group for a Switzerland without an army” and the Young Greens demanded that the Swiss National Bank (SNB), foundations, as well as state and occupational pension institutions (AHV and pension funds) no longer invest money in armament manufacturers.
This meant not just weapons companies like Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems, and Northrop Grumman. Anyone who generates more than 5 percent of its sales from the manufacture of war material would have been taboo if the initiative had been accepted as an investment objective, including conglomerates such as Airbus, Boeing and Rolls-Royce Holdings.
