by Yannick Vanderborght | Sep 25, 2013 | News
The 4th of October will be a major event for the international Basic Income community. The 116,000 signatures collected in Switzerland since April 2012 for the popular initiative for an unconditional basic income will be handed over to the Swiss parliament. Because of this initiative, within 4 years every Swiss citizen will know the idea of unconditional basic income (UBI) and have to vote on whether they want or not a basic income. It will be the first time in history that the people of a country will be asked to make this choice. Organizers of the Swiss Basic Income Initiative have requested supporters to gather in the Swiss capital of Bern for the handover.
Meeting point : Friday, 4th October, at 10am, Bundesplatz 3, in Bern. Signatures will be handed over to the Federal Chancellery at 11am. Then supporters will have a prepared lunch together and finally a party at 8pm in the “Turnhalle,” next to Bern station.
The Swiss initiative in details: The popular initiative for UBI was launched in 2012. It aims to have a new clause incorporated into the Swiss constitution that the Confederation “shall ensure the introduction of an unconditional basic income. The basic income shall enable the whole population to live in human dignity and participate in public life. The law shall particularly regulate the way in which the basic income is to be financed and the level at which it is set.”
For more information (in English) go to: https://www.facebook.com/events/557424807640024/
For information in French, see: https://www.facebook.com/events/407789052654692/
by Yannick Vanderborght | Sep 11, 2013 | News
The Swiss popular initiative for a basic income has officially collected 116,000 certified signatures. Those signatures were necessary to trigger a referendum on introducing Basic Income in Switzerland. The initiative will be officially submitted on October 4th, 2013, in Bern, and the referendum will be held within two years. As was mentioned in earlier posts on BINEWS, the proposal does not specify the amount of the basic income, but it would enshrine the principle in Switzerland’s constitution.
For further info on the submission, see: https://bien.ch/fr/page/actualites
by Yannick Vanderborght | Aug 6, 2013 | News
A Swiss petition drive has collected more than the 100,000 signatures necessary to trigger a referendum on introducing Basic Income in Switzerland. If the government certifies 100,000 of the signatures as valid, a referendum will be held within two years. The proposal does not specify the amount of the basic income, but it would enshrine the principle in Switzerland’s constitution. The proposal is controversial. Even some unions and left organizations have dismissed basic income as a “bonus for laziness.” This proposal is one of several petition drives for basic income in Europe this year, some have been waged nationally and some at level of the European Union as a whole.
For more information see:
Jourdan, Stanislas, “Will the basic income revolution come from Switzerland?” Boiling Frogs, Alternatives, June 3, 2013
Vogele, Wolfgang G., “Swiss parliament may soon debate unconditional basic income,” NNA: News with a difference, 30 Apr 2013
Geiser, Urs “Basic income for all. Old utopian revived on Swiss streets,” swissinfo.ch, June 13, 2013
The Swiss initiative in print
by Yannick Vanderborght | Jan 29, 2013 | News
A committee of citizens and BIEN-Switzerland are currently collecting signatures for a ‘popular initiative’, which if put to the vote and accepted by the electorate will introduce a basic income into the Swiss Constitution. 120,000 signatures will probably be needed so that the requirement of 100,000 validated ones is satisfied, and half way through the period allowed–which runs until October 2013–the committee has over 70,000. The prospects are therefore good that a binding popular vote on this subject will be held in three or four years. Even if the electorate does not accept it the first time, the chances of success on a subsequent occasion will be increased. The signature campaign has aroused a great deal of interest and discussion in broad areas of public life.
Further information: https://bien-ch.ch/
Official page from the Swiss government: https://www.admin.ch/ch/f/pore/vi/vis423.html
by Yannick Vanderborght | Oct 24, 2012 | News
This debate is organized by the left-wing monthly “Pages de gauche”, which has published a special issue on basic income in the Summer of 2012. Guest speakers include Bernard Friot (Université Paris X), Gabriel Barta (one of the proponents of a “popular initiative” in favour of basic income), Romain Felli (Pages de gauche) and Yannick Vanderborght (FUSL Brussels and Louvain University).
Details: 9PM, Casino de Montbenon, Salon bleu, Avenue Ernest-Ansermet, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Website: https://www.pagesdegauche.ch/
