Swiss finance committee recommends rejecting the 2027 federal budget

A first in the committee

The finance committee of the National Council recommended on Thursday, 12 November, that parliament reject the federal budget for 2027. The vote was 15 to 9 with one abstention, and it followed three days of work on more than a hundred proposals. Le Temps reported that the committee had gone through the Federal Council's draft and amended it before rejecting it, a rare outcome one year before federal elections. RTS said a situation like this had not occurred in 25 years, while 20 Minuten called the recommendation a first. Committee chair Jacques Nicolet (SVP) said the committee had met its duty to table a budget, but had not managed to agree one.

“We must put a budget on the table. We have not failed in our duty.”

Parties split on priorities

According to 20 Minuten, the SP, the Greens and the SVP voted against, while Mitte, the FDP and the GLP backed the budget. The opposing groups objected for different reasons. Greens group leader Greta Gysin said the committee majority had kept all cuts to climate and environment spending, and that the Greens would reject the budget for that reason.

“After the 2026 summer of heat, that is not acceptable.”

SP National Councillor Sarah Wyss accused the bourgeois majority of pursuing a policy of cuts, and said the army had been promised a quarter of a trillion francs over two decades without a substantial additional financing plan.

“That is not responsible fiscal policy. What is needed now is a change of course.”

SVP National Councillor Lars Guggisberg took the opposite position. He said the Federal Council wanted to raise spending by more than 3% again and that many relief measures had been dropped. The SVP wants to prioritise the army and the old-age pension (AHV) and to make cuts in asylum, development aid and administration. Blick reported that the party also opposes planned VAT increases to finance AHV and the army.

Spending growth and the cost drivers

NZZ reported that federal spending has grown faster than the economy for several years, rising from 81 billion francs in 2023 to a planned 90.1 billion for 2027, with 104 billion projected by 2030. The largest cost drivers are social insurance and the army, and costs are set to rise further as the 13th AHV pension and additional armament spending must be financed. Blick reported a projected surplus of 180 million francs for 2027, helped by higher revenues and a relief package. When the budget was tabled in the summer, Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter said fiscal discipline remained an important task, despite estimated additional tax revenue in the billions.

202381

2027 (planned)90.1

2030 (projected)104

2023

81 billion francs

2027 (planned)

90.1 billion francs

2030 (projected)

104 billion francs

Data from the article text

What happens if parliament says no

The full National Council must still debate the budget in the winter session in December, and it will first vote on more than a hundred amendments before the final vote on the whole budget. If both chambers reject the budget as a whole, or one chamber does so twice, it is sent back to the Federal Council, which would present a temporary budget, the Federal Finance Administration said. No rules cover this case, so the Federal Council would have some room to manoeuvre, and it could propose continuing certain credits. Parliament keeps the final word. According to 20 Minuten, parliament could instruct the government to apply the principles of the last budget, put a provisional budget into force, or authorise the Federal Council to carry out essential tasks. The last emergency budget came 51 years ago, after voters rejected tax and tariff increases in 1974.