CSA – Seat Allocation
The CSA is a world-wide network. The 140-strong Council is comprised of delegates from Swiss expatriates’ associations and communities abroad, 60 seats from within Europe and 60 from the rest of the world, and 20 delegates resident in Switzerland who have connections to the Swiss Abroad.
The number of delegates depends on the size of the registered Swiss community. Australia is entitled to four council seats and New Zealand has two seats allocated. Together they represent the region of Oceania, comprised of the English-speaking countries and territories under the diplomatic jurisdiction of the Swiss embassies in Canberra and Wellington.
At present, around 25,200 registered Swiss live in Australia and around 7,100 in New Zealand including the territories of Tokelau, Niue and Cook Islands. Around 180 registered Swiss reside in Papua New Guinea and on the independent island nations of Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu, Tuvalu, Nauru and Tonga.
Delegates are elected every four years by members of OSA-recognised Swiss expatriates’ associations. This modus operandi is under review. In order to increase legitimacy as representatives of their relevant community, the CSA is looking for ways to have future elections conducted in a more democratic manner that involves all registered Swiss residing in that country/region.
For the term 2017–2021 elections, Australia was one of only two countries that took part in an e-voting pilot program. This gave all eligible Swiss in Australia the opportunity to elect the current delegates.
Delegates residing in Switzerland are elected by the Council on recommendation by the Executive Board. They are personalities from the political, business and cultural fields who have the necessary expertise and connections to be able to address the concerns of their compatriots abroad and represent them effectively.
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News
Jungbürgerfeier – Melbourne
Saturday, 5 October saw the ‘Young Swiss Citizen Celebration’ being held for the fourth time in Melbourne. 13 young Swiss who recently celebrated their 18th birthday, and thus became fully-fletched Swiss citizens, followed the invitation by the Hon. Consul, Manuela Erb, to a luncheon at the Swiss Club of Victoria. They were accompanied by families and friends.
Summary of Proceedings at the CSA Meeting in Montreux on 16 August 2019
1)
CSA elections in 2021: because the Swiss e-voting systems are on hold until further notice, direct election via e-voting of the CSA delegates (as per pilot projects in Australia and Mexico in 2016) will not be possible. The CSA Delegates in Australia will have the job to organise the next elections without certainty of assistance at this stage. Importance is given to umbrella organisations in countries where they exist, which will have the task to organise fair and democratic elections. Default solution is the ‘old System’ each country carried in the past.
Pacific Islands Forum
The 50th Pacific Islands Forum (PIF) Summit took place in Tuvalu from 13 to 16 August, 2019.
AVIS28 – Foreign policy vision for Switzerland 2028
Switzerland is a success story, but it will have to evolve under fast changing international conditions. Therefore, foreign policy will become more important for Switzerland’s prosperity and security. Starting from these reflections, Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis established the AVIS28 working group in 2018 with the aim to define a coherent and adaptive foreign policy vision for Switzerland for 2028. AVIS28 is a source of inspiration and new ideas, and at the same time, it should initiate a broad discussion on the future of Swiss foreign policy. Switzerland needs the courage to change. Its foreign policy must become more focused, networked and agile. Switzerland should also work more closely with like-minded states, like Australia and New Zealand, towards their common goals.
An update on e-voting and the federal election 2019
A lot has happened lately with regards to e-voting. There has been growing resistance and a fair bit of scare-mongering in Switzerland regarding the introduction of e-voting. Whilst the advantages are obvious to the government and the Swiss Abroad, sceptics argue that the trust in the democratic process is compromised due to e-security uncertainty and the cost of developing a secure system is also a concern. Earlier this year, a broad alliance of political parties has been collecting signatures for a popular initiative. Their aim is to ban the introduction of e-voting for at least five years.
Mobile passport station visits in 2019
The Consulate General of Switzerland in Sydney and the Embassy of Switzerland in Wellington inform that they plan to visit the following cities with the mobile passport station:
• Auckland (May)
• Northland (May – only if sufficient interest)
• Perth (first half of April)
• Melbourne (October)
Banking problem: No solution for the Swiss Abroad
OSA PRESS RELEASE: Bern, 13 June 2018 – The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) representing the interests of 751,800 compatriots living abroad, is disappointed that the Council of States today rejected Motion 17.3626 by 30 votes to 9 with 4 abstentions. The Council of States has decided not to follow the majority of its Foreign Policy Commission (APK-S) and has rejected a motion calling on PostFinance to accept Swiss Abroad on similar terms as citizens residing in Switzerland. The problem that has existed for our compatriots living abroad for ten years remains unresolved.
Council of States decides against discriminatory social security changes
OSA PRESS RELEASE: Bern, 30 May 2018 – The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) is relieved that the Council of States has today decided to follow the recommendation of its Commission on Social Security and Health (SGK-S) to delete the amendment to Article 4 (1) in the context of the supplementary benefits reform. This means that the current rules remain in place. Last March, the National Council approved an application whereby Swiss Abroad would have had to pay social security contributions (AHV) for at least ten years in order to qualify for supplementary benefits, which would have discriminated against Swiss Abroad.
New Partnership with Geneva Cantonal Bank
On 10 March 2018, at he CSA meeting in Bern, the executive of the OSA announced that it had entered into a partnership with the Geneva Cantonal Bank (BCGE).
More information is available under the topic Swiss Banks.
Health insurance: we’re interested in your experiences!
The Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA) would like to know about difficulties you have encountered in the area of health insurance and the practical problems that you face as a Swiss person living abroad. This may be of specific relevance to those living temporarily in the Oceania region or those in need for travel insurance when visiting Switzerland. By the same token, if you have had positive experiences or wish to share good practices, please do so!
The purpose is to look at ways of improving the situation of Swiss people living abroad in this regard.
You can send your experiences and suggestions to us delegates and/or directly to the head office in Bern: info@aso.ch