“See me as the guardian of democracy” – Martullo-Blocher on neutrality and Ukraine

In your company, Ems-Chemie, you pay bonuses to management – ​​but many in your party advocate a ban on bonuses for banks. How does that go together?
Magdalena Martullo-Blocher: Our bonuses depend on the short, medium and long term success of the company. It doesn’t have much in common with Credit Suisse’s bonus system. The team responsible for success and failure must also be paid afterwards. But it is unacceptable that CS managers massively profit from success and leave failure to the state. That has to change.

Did you have business relationships with Credit Suisse?
No, not on purpose. I avoid companies that are not well managed.

Could the end of the CS have been prevented?
Yes of course. Your management followed a clear risk strategy. But politicians have also made mistakes.

Which?
After the state bailout of UBS, the SVP with the left wanted to introduce a separate banking system. The riskier part of a bank could have failed separately. FDP and CVP had prevented that. The “too big to fail” rule did not cover the bank run when customers withdraw their money. Ensuring liquidity was left to the National Bank. CS now needs such large amounts that even the National Bank is not equipped to handle it and the federal government has to step in. The federal guarantee alone is equivalent to 1.5 times the annual federal budget!

Could you have acted differently in the critical phase since last fall?
The CS management failed to create confidence, both among the public and major shareholders. No one stood up and communicated convincingly. The National Bank, Finma and the federal government should have worked towards this at CS.

So did the then Minister of Finance Ueli Maurer of the SVP.
People did not remain idle, Finma set conditions for CS, but they probably worked too bureaucratically. I think Ueli Maurer underestimated the whole thing too. Maybe the CS board didn’t want to hear anything.

How do you prevent Switzerland from having to assist a bank for the third time?
A working “too big to fail” rule should now be implemented. Those responsible at UBS know that too. She has to show how she wants to organize herself so that she never has to be bailed out by the state again. There are variants: no transactions for own account. Much stricter risk requirements. Higher liquidity reserves or guarantees from third parties. Insurance with premiums. You have to give UBS some time, I have a lot of faith in Sergio Ermotti. Politicians and regulators must critically review and approve the plans.

The US put pressure on Switzerland: they did not want the American part of Credit Suisse to be spun off and liquidated.
Yes. Actually, the Americans should have saved the ailing American company, but they made us pay. An example of great power politics. The US controls the financial markets with the dollar. Anyone who is left out is dead. The Europeans initially tried to establish the Euro as their key currency, but failed. Now China is trying. Will it work? Different key currencies would also be better for Switzerland.

Shouldn’t Switzerland be clearly on America’s side in the US-China rivalry?
If you are at the mercy of a superpower, as is now the case with CS, do you think that is a good thing? Especially for a small country like Switzerland it is always better to have good contact with the whole world. Neutrality allows that.

The US and other Western countries are demanding that Switzerland allow arms re-exports and seize more money from Russian oligarchs.
Do you think these demands will continue? Every time Switzerland gives in, new demands are made. As for Ukraine, it was ammunition supplies first, then weapons, tanks, and now planes – and in the end we should send our sons and daughters to war? I have personally heard this demand from EU politicians. We have many soldiers, in the EU only France has more. It is unacceptable for the people to be fooled and for laws to be slyly eliminated. Tanks will be dismantled especially for Ukraine. Democracy was also knocked out in the mass immigration initiative and in the case of Covid. I see myself as the guardian of democracy.

In the current US/China bloc, Switzerland is on the side of those who respect human rights and do not put ethnic minorities in re-education camps.
What worries me is that the Chinese government has so far said it does not want any conflicts or hard confrontations. Now the government has changed its repertoire. It seems that they are preparing the population for confrontation. That makes the world restless. China and the US are pressuring other countries to join a bloc. That is not good for Switzerland. We are small, want peace, get along and act with everyone. That is why we must remain neutral, even under pressure.

As the guardian of democracy, don’t you think Switzerland belongs in the western camp?
Switzerland does not belong in any camp. It should not be dominated by a great power. The US is not like us either, just think of its military foreign policy or repeated attacks on our financial center. Switzerland must go its own way and contribute to peaceful solutions.

The Ems is active in China. What will you do if China attacks Taiwan?
We have prepared all scenarios. But: a world without economic exchange between the US and China will lose enormous prosperity. That would also hit Switzerland hard.

Let’s change the subject: Switzerland has signed the Paris climate agreement. In June, we will vote on a law to protect the climate that is temperate. However, you are against it.
Moderate, are you serious? It is the most aggressive exit law in the world.

No incentive taxes are planned, only subsidies for replacing heating installations and better insulating houses.
I’m asking you. As early as 2031, in just eight years’ time, we must halve the consumption of fuel oil, gas, diesel and petrol in companies, households, heating and transport. These energies make up more than 60 percent of our consumption!

The EU will largely ban internal combustion engines from 2035.
Yeah so? We are more aggressive: we need to halve all vehicles by 2031. Alternative fuels are very expensive and insufficiently available. Only electricity remains. If you take out working heating appliances and replace them with heat pumps, scrap registered cars and replace them with electric vehicles, that costs more electricity. That’s not what the law is about.

That’s in the Mantle Decree.
It’s just about the current power gap. This will double with the phasing out of fossil fuels. To compensate, you would need 3,000 large solar power plants or 5,000 wind turbines in the Alps. That is totally unrealistic. It would also no longer be possible to import it from the EU, as almost half of this electricity comes from coal and gas.

But subsidies are there in the law?
One speaks of 200 million francs per year. The energy conversion would require 400 billion euros. We pay for insulation, remodeling, remodeling, new cars and higher rents and rates. And then have too little power. When electricity is scarce, the price rises. 6600 francs higher energy costs per person per year are expected. With this law we drive the country to the wall.

Don’t want to do anything about climate change?
Everyone wants to replace fossil fuels. Switzerland is world champion here, we have our CO₂-Emissions reduced by 30 percent since 1990. However, Switzerland’s emissions are only 1 percent of the world’s, China alone consumes more in half a day than we do in a year. On the Ems we switched from gas to biomass steam 15 years ago. We have the largest biomass power plant in Switzerland. Since 2022 we are CO2 at every location worldwide thanks to hydropower₂-free. Precisely because we are active, I know that the industry cannot just turn the switch. Certain sectors, such as the steel or concrete industry, would hardly survive.

What would be in a climate protection law you write?
We rely on technical innovations that can be implemented economically. We could give tax breaks to companies that produce CO₂ Reduce. But above all, investments in large power plants are needed. There is only nuclear energy, gas, oil and coal. Personally I prefer nuclear power, it’s CO₂-free and safe in Switzerland. The people must decide. If we don’t move forward, we will build gas and oil plants like in Birr. We use fossil fuels again.

Do you want to renew the existing nuclear power plants?
These are new generation power plants. Probably because of the networks and the adoption in previous locations.

It takes 20 to 30 years for a new nuclear power plant to come online.
Certainly not. Today they are built in seven years. In Switzerland we could do it in ten years.

SVP Minister of Energy Albert Rösti presented the climate protection law to the media quite convincingly.
He is doing his duty, representative of the Bundesrat. You don’t think for a second that he’s suddenly in favor of this law, do you?

Wide circles of business support the law.
Many companies are no longer free when it comes to the climate. They fear for their image or loans and investors. They don’t want climate activists trapped in front of their headquarters or paint thrown on their facades. Behind closed doors they speak differently. In addition, many report that they will have to pass on higher costs to consumers. (aargauerzeitung.ch)