It jumps into the deep end. There is hardly time to get used to it. On 1 January, the new SP federal council member Elisabeth Baume-Schneider (59) will take over the Justice and Police Department. At the same time, the new SVP federal councilor Albert Rösti (55) will start as Minister of the Environment, Transport and Energy.
Ironically, the two newcomers head those departments that are currently under the most pressure. A look at the biggest crises and bottlenecks facing Rösti and Baume-Schneider.
Rosti and the energy crisis
Albert Rösti takes office during the worst energy crisis in decades. After the unexpected departure of Simonetta Sommaruga (62), he must ensure that Switzerland is not only supplied with sufficient electricity and gas this winter, but also next winter. Then the bottleneck can become even greater, because the gas storages will then hardly be filled.
The Bundesrat has not been idle in recent months. For example, he had hydropower reserves expanded and reserve power stations operated with gas or oil on the rails. Yet there is still much to do: to reduce energy dependence on other countries, Rösti must continue with the energy transition. Switzerland must be climate neutral by 2050.
An unpleasant task awaits the Bernese here: he will have to defend the new climate protection law drafted by parliament as a counter-proposal to the glacier initiative at the ballot box. Because his SVP, of all people, won the referendum. Until his election to the Bundesrat, Rösti himself was co-chairman of the referendum commission.
Climate activists in particular doubt whether the previous car and oil lobbyists will succeed in this change of sides. However, Rösti will no longer be able to stop the energy transition, even if he wanted to.
In the longer term, Rösti must also find ways and means to give Switzerland a permanent place in the European electricity market. A difficult task, because after the Bundesrat broke off negotiations on the framework agreement, the EU showed little interest in an electricity agreement.
What else awaits Rösti
The climate crisis is closely linked to the energy crisis – Rösti is also required here. His predecessor Sommaruga, after the people’s no to the new CO2-Law 2021 again on the books. The revised law will now have to be defended by Rösti before parliament and eventually probably also before the voters, who should have the last word.
In addition, rösti are waiting for the Federal Ministry of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communication, which is almost an afterthought: perennial favorites are the role of the post office, bottlenecks in the railway network, the hunting law or the shift of Alpine traffic from road to rail. There are also new attempts to subsidize the media.
And especially in the media sector, the SVP could get its Bundesrat into trouble again. Rösti will probably have to fight against the halving initiative, with which the SRG wants to cut fees.
Baume-Schneider and the asylum crisis
Baume-Schneider is no better off. The new Justice Minister starts at a time when Europe is experiencing the largest influx of refugees since World War II. In Switzerland alone, more than 70,000 Ukrainians received protection status S at the end of November.
The regular asylum numbers have also been increasing for months. The State Secretariat for Migration expects almost 25,000 asylum applications this year, about 10,000 more than the year before. In the spring, the former Minister of Justice and Asylum Karin Keller-Sutter (58) made use of the special asylum staff for the first time due to the exceptional situation. The Confederation, cantons and municipalities are on the attack. The federal government had to temporarily allocate asylum seekers to the cantons earlier than planned and even deployed the army. A problem that the army cannot solve is the lack of personnel to deal with the many refugees.
The biggest challenge for Baume-Schneider will not be the organizational, but the political component of the crisis. As a SPlerin, the Jura native should expect to be under constant fire from the SVP – especially in the election year 2023. The SVP has already given a foretaste: As a “welcome gift”, she has launched a real asylum offensive.
More cracking nuts for the SPlerin
In addition to the asylum system, the fight against domestic and sexual violence is one of the important dossiers at the FPS Justice and Police. This includes, for example, the new sex criminal law: Baume-Schneider has always argued in the Council of States for the consent solution (“Only yes is yes”), which is currently being discussed. The Bundesrat was always against it.
Another problem she will face in her first year in office is creating a state e-ID. In the spring of 2021, voters rejected a private solution.
As Minister of Justice, Baume-Schneider is also responsible for the federal legislative file. It is about supervising the move from the municipality of Moutier to the canton of Jura, which is planned for 2026. The point of contention is currently the financial consequences of the change of canton for the Jura. A hot potato for her as a Jurassier. It is still unclear whether she will leave.