When Switzerland angered Germany

1984 is the first vote on Sunday. On February 26, Swiss voters pay an additional fee of CHF 30 per year. With a turnout of 52.77 percent, 53 percent of the voters accept the “Federal Decree on the Use of National Roads”. The sketch we know today was born.

A year later, in 1985, Switzerland became the first country in Europe to introduce the vignette. It was designed by Bernese graphic artist Roland Hirter (79). To date, it has remained virtually unchanged optically, except for the color that changes every year. A watermark was introduced in 1999 to make counterfeiting more difficult, and 2000 was the only year the year was displayed in four digits.

for foreign cars

When introduced, the federal government assumed that foreign vehicles in particular would pay the toll charged in this way in transit. Alternate tunnel tolls have been removed for Gotthard and San Bernardino to avoid straining local businesses.

Instead, with vignettes, especially transit traffic, should participate in the maintenance of the national road. They rarely refueled in Switzerland due to high gasoline prices and therefore did not make their contribution through the fuel tax. On the ballot, the Federal Council calculated that foreign vehicles would pay CHF 200 to 250 million, while Swiss vehicles would pay only CHF 50 million. Probably for this reason, the Federal Customs Administration, not the Federal Highway Administration, is still responsible for the sketch.

angry neighbor

At that time, Switzerland was also harshly criticized by Germany. The transport minister at the time, Werner Dollinger (1918–2008), described the vignette as an obstacle to European transport routes. But this was controversial not only with neighbors, but also in Switzerland itself. A popular attempt was made to have the vignette removed in 1986. National Councilor Michael E. Dreher, 78, feared for Switzerland’s reputation, sought to hasten the removal with a motion in 1988: “The poll disturbs hundreds of thousands of tourists each year, which is very damaging to our reputation and popularity in our country,” he previously said. Wrote Turner.

However, progress was not crowned with success. Dreher’s motion was canceled two years later without action, and the initiative was withdrawn in 1990. Instead, ten years after the vignette was released, Switzerland agreed to a price increase of 10 francs. The current price of 40 francs has been applied since 1995. In November 2013, voters rejected a further price increase to CHF 100.

Many imitators in the east

Even international criticism from Germany was in vain. Other European countries adopted the Swiss system, led by Austria. The country also introduced a highway vignette in 1997. Today, such a system also exists in Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Hungary. However, unlike Switzerland, most of them not only offer short-term quotes for days, weeks or months, but have replaced the sticky version with an entirely electronic vignette.

In Switzerland, a partial step is planned for next year. Customs administration wants to introduce e-vignette in 2023. Unlike other countries, the adhesive version for the windshield will continue to exist – at least for now. It cannot be ignored that sooner or later it can only be obtained from us digitally. Then there wouldn’t be any issues where the vignette didn’t stick properly like in 1995 and 2000. But it often sticks to the inside of the windshield better than drivers would like (click here for a guide: How to easily remove a highway vignette). With e-vignette, that too is a thing of the past.