Business Association Chemistry Pharma Biotech
Newsletter
October 18th 2016
scienceindustries, the Swiss Business Association Chemistry Pharma Biotech, keeps you informed about our industry's standpoints on current politico-economic and social topics.
Topics
covered in this edition
European policy: Autonomous implementation of the mass immigration initiative, with some degree of moderation
Croatia Protocol: Quiet hope of a continuation of the European Horizon 2020 research programme
Another 395 million Swiss francs for Education, Research and Innovation for 2017-2020
Stabilisation programme for the 2017-2019 period: Swiss Council of States makes sensible reductions in the level of savings affecting Education, Research and Innovation
scienceindustries rejects Energy Strategy 2050 on regulatory and economic grounds
The CO2 tax exemption system proposed during the consultation process for the climate protection legislation from 2020 is to be implemented using an economic approach
Greater safety in the transportation of chlorine: scienceindustries signs second joint declaration
scienceindustries is to put the Responsible Care Global Charter into practice in Switzerland
«We care» - New brochure from scienceindustries on safety and environmental protection in the chemical/pharmaceutical industry of today
Plant protection products: New brochure from the scienceindustries Agriculture Group supports customers' efforts to apply these products sustainably

European policy: Autonomous implementation of the mass immigration initiative, with some degree of judgement

It is the view of scienceindustries that Art. 121a BV must be implemented in a business-friendly way that is also compatible with Europe. Preservation of the Bilateral I agreements must therefore be a top priority. Given that it is now hardly possible for implementation of Art. 121a BV in agreement with the EU to take place before the deadline of February 2017 set by the Constitution, we now require a cautious form of implementation by autonomous methods that will not provoke countermeasures from the EU.

On 21st September 2016, the Swiss National Council agreed upon «Priority for the country's own citizens - light», as put forward by the National Council's Federal Commission. This includes the following three levels of action:

  1. Intensified use of the country's own human resource potential. The intention of this is to reduce the number of unemployed people and diminish the need of the business sector for foreign workers.

  2. Notification of vacancies to the regional employment agencies (Swiss abbreviation: RAV). The Federal Council can decree that an employer must initially register any vacancies with the RAV. The relevant threshold will be established by Federal Council, bearing in mind the economic situation, the rate of unemployment and the salaries involved.

  3. «Suitable remedial measures». In the event of serious economic or social problems, the Federal Council can take «Suitable remedial measures». However, these may only be enforced with the agreement of the EU on the basis of Art. 14 Para. 2 of the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons.
This type of implementation does not violate the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons with the EU, but it only implements the constitutional text in Art. 121a in part. In addition, it does not impose a pre-requirement for agreement in negotiations with the EU, which avoids any connection with the EU's demand for an institutional framework agreement.

The Council of States will consult upon this matter in its winter session. It is anticipated that it will tighten up certain contractual aspects involving the Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons in order to bring the submission into closer agreement with the constitutional text. The reconciliation of differences stage will also take place in the winter session so that Parliament can adopt the submitted implementation on 16th December 2016.

Croatia Protocol: Hope of a continuation of the European Horizon 2020 research programme

As long as the Council of States does, in the main, confirm the implementation option on the Mass Immigration Initiative passed by the National Council (see above) in its winter session, the conditions for ratification of the Croatia Protocol as set by Parliament may well be fulfilled. It voted for ratification «if a regulatory system to control immigration is put in place with the European Union and can be reconciled with the Swiss legal system». The way would, in principle, then be open for the system of research collaboration within the framework of Horizon 2020 to be continued.
Another 395 million Swiss francs for Education, Research and Innovation for 2017-2020

During its autumn session, Parliament increased the financial framework for Education, Research and Innovation for 2017-2020 by 395 million Swiss francs. This means, for example, that the ETH (Institute of Technology) domain will receive an extra 160 million CHF and the universities an extra 55 million CHF. A broad alliance of industry associations, including scienceindustries, universities, research institutions and cantons was able to persuade Parliament that Switzerland's position as a venue for research and education is dependent on additional funding.

Taking this increase into account, Parliament has approved a financial framework amounting to just about 26.4 billion Swiss francs for the Education, Research and Innovation sector for the 2017-2020 period. This is equivalent to an average annual growth in funding of 2.5%, which is what scienceindustries had called for. In its own draft proposals, the Federal Council had planned for a growth of just 2%.

Stabilisation programme for the 2017-2019 period: Swiss Council of States makes sensible reductions in the level of savings affecting Education, Research and Innovation

In essence, scienceindustries supports the stabilisation programme for 2017-2019, but believes that the priorities have been set incorrectly. The disproportionate reduction of 485 million Swiss francs in investment for Education, Research and Innovation originally planned by the Federal Council is misplaced in comparison with other Federal expenditure and will be contested by scienceindustries.

During the last week of the autumn session, the Council of States resolved that Education, Research and Innovation would have to reduce the amount of savings to 196 million CHF. The reason for this decision is the increase included in the resources contained in the Dispatch on Education, Research and Innovation for the period 2017-2020, which both Councils resolved upon during the first week of the session; in order that the additional funds can be paid out from 2017, the extent of the programme of savings needs to be reduced accordingly. The National Council will consult upon the stabilisation programme for 2017-2019 during the winter session.

scienceindustries rejects Energy Strategy 2050 on regulatory and economic grounds

It was not very surprising that the National Council accepted the initial package of measures for Energy Strategy 2050 in the final vote, since a large number of beneficiaries would profit from the subsidies to be distributed. It proved possible to achieve at least some improvements in the reconciliation of differences stage that took place beforehand, also as a result of a strong intervention by scienceindustries. For example, it will now definitely be a requirement that a time limit should be set on the subsidies under the nuclear energy ordinance, and the decision taken in the interim to promote large-scale hydropower must be put into practice without any further increase in overall funding.

Nevertheless, scienceindustries continues to reject Energy Strategy 2050 as a project directed towards planned economic structure, for both regulatory and economic reasons. Subsidies are a fundamentally flawed path on the way towards an economical energy future. Energy Strategy 2050 would increase the cost of production in Switzerland still further and would weaken Switzerland's level of competitiveness unnecessarily.

The CO2 tax exemption system proposed by the Swiss Federal Council is to be implemented using an economic approach

The main demands made by scienceindustries with regard to climate protection legislation from 2020 are still that it should avoid unilateral action from Switzerland, that appropriate consideration should be given to the performances achieved within the preceding periods (up to 2020) and that it should incorporate sufficient flexibility in the introduction of measures at home and abroad. In the draft version of the CO2 law, a new criterion has, on the one hand, been established for the system of exemption from the CO2 tax; on the other hand, two different options were also proposed for the tax exemption system.

The new criterion for exemption requires that the CO2 exemption burden should be higher than 1% of the gross salary total, in order that the company can declare in favour of an exemption. The first indications show that only a minority of companies can be exempted if this threshold value is applied. The 1% threshold value must therefore be rejected. Instead, every company should be able to decide for itself whether an exemption from the tax would be worthwhile, on the basis of the cost effectiveness of potential CO2 savings.

In the case of Option 1 of the tax exemption system, it is intended that absolute, uniform reduction targets should apply and that international certificates can be used in the event of non-compliance. For Option 2, it is intended that individual, relative targets should be agreed and it is not anticipated that international certificates would be used. Both options involve fundamental uncertainties, in that they are only defined at the Ordinance level for the final evaluation of the necessary principles. When it delivers its opinion during the consultation process, scienceindustries will not be held back by this pre-selection of the options; we will campaign on behalf of the most appropriate approach.

Greater safety in the transportation of chlorine: scienceindustries signs second joint declaration

Transportation of chlorine by rail is to become even safer. scienceindustries, SBB, the association representing the shipping industry (the «Verband der Verladenden Wirtschaft»), the Swiss Federal Office for Transport and the Swiss Federal Office for the Environment have signed a second joint declaration on this matter, building upon the first joint declaration, signed in 2002.

In the Joint Declaration (GE II), particular attention was required with regard to the shore of Lake Geneva, since the major consumers of chlorine in the Canton of Valais currently import this product mainly from France and transport it by train along Lake Geneva into Valais. GE II comprises clear risk-reduction targets and a package of measures; some of these are already in force, while others are still to be implemented. They include slower-moving trains, shorter routes and the use of the best available rolling stock.

In time for the new timetable in 2015, for example, the SBB produced a goods train route to be used by tank waggons containing chlorine that travel at a reduced speed through the densely populated conglomerations of Geneva and Lausanne. The operational flows were also altered so that the goods train no longer had to travel through the station at La Praille (GE).

The industry is now also in contact with a foreign producer of chlorine in order that it can import chlorine for the businesses in Valais via a shorter, less densely populated route. The industry will also negotiate as quickly as possible with its suppliers and shippers so that all its imports can be transported only in the safest tank waggons currently available. The safety engineering in these waggons exceeds the standard currently applicable to international rail traffic.

On its own part, the BAV, in conjunction with the SBB, will check whether tank waggons containing chlorine can be transported in Switzerland in special trains only, and at a reduced speed. In addition, sections of the railway will be checked for any obstacles that might damage the tank walls in the event of a derailment.

scienceindustries is to put the Responsible Care Global Charter into practice in Switzerland

In 2014, the association representing the global chemical industry, the ICCA, passed an updated Global Charter for the Responsible Care initiative and encouraged leading businesses to sign this Charter. By now, all the companies that were approached in Switzerland have signed the Global Charter. As a further stage, it is anticipated that all businesses will be encouraged by appropriate means to adhere to the principles of the Global Charter. The European chemicals association, the CEFIC, has instructed the national associations to put this stage into practice.

The members of scienceindustries now have a duty to sign the national Responsible Care principles for safety, and for health and environmental protection, compiled in 1993. The content of these principles continues to apply as before, but they do not yet cover every aspect of the Global Charter. For this reason, the board has decided to update the existing Responsible Care principles moderately, without fundamentally altering the previous statements. scienceindustries will shortly ask its members to sign the new national Responsible Care principles.

«We care» - New brochure from scienceindustries on safety and environmental protection in the chemical/pharmaceutical industry of today

In its new brochure entitled «We Care - Safety and environmental protection in the chemical/pharmaceutical industry of today», scienceindustries makes use of practical experiences from a variety of member companies to show how Responsible Care is put into practice in the areas affecting production, plant safety, acting as a good neighbour, emergency management, water protection and warehouse safety in Switzerland. The brochure can be downloaded in PDF form in German or French from www.responsible-care.ch or ordered free of charge in printed form from info@scienceindustries.ch.
Plant protection products: New brochure from the scienceindustries Agriculture Group supports customers' efforts to apply these products sustainably

Plant protection products must be used carefully to limit their effect upon the environment, and particularly to restrict their entry into the water system as much as possible. The new brochure issued by scienceindustries' Agriculture Group supports professional users in their efforts to curb any drifting of plant protection products as they are being applied. In conjunction with Swiss experts from the agriculture sector, consultancy services and the authorities, it converts the results of the European TOPPS project into specific recommendations for users. The brochure can be downloaded in PDF form from Pflanzenschützer.ch or ordered free of charge in a printed form from info@pflanzenschuetzer.ch.
Would you like to know more about our standpoints, or ask any questions? Please follow us on Twitter or contact our subject specialists at scienceindustries.

sig. Dr. Beat Moser
Direktor
sig. Marcel Sennhauser
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