News

Die Empa hat am 16. Juni eine neuartige Methanisierungsanlage in Betrieb genommen. Das Forschungsprojekt “move-MEGA” demonstriert erstmals im Pilotmassstab die sorptionsverstärkte Methanisierung, eine an der Empa entwickelte Technologie, die den “Power-to-Gas”-Prozess flexibler und robuster macht. Das erzeugte synthetische Methan kann als erneuerbarer Energieträger fossiles Erdgas ersetzen. Zusammen mit der Methan-Pyrolyse lässt sich daraus zudem CO2-negativer Wasserstoff herstellen.

Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, the head of the FDFA, today received the Serbian foreign minister, Marko Đurić, in Bern for an official working visit. Talks focused on bilateral relations, developments in the Western Balkans, the situation in the Middle East, the war against Ukraine and Switzerland's OSCE chairpersonship next year.

You could be interested by new pages which have been published on the OFCOM website between 01.06.2025 and 14.06.2025.

On 16 June 2025, the OECD published its latest development cooperation peer review on Switzerland. The peer review takes place as part of a regular review process that the 33 members of the OECD Development Assistance Committee (DAC) undergo every six years. The report recognises the continuous development of Swiss international cooperation and formulates recommendations.

The Federal Tax Administration has updated the course listings and bonus shares 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The Federal Government Expert Group on Business Cycles has revised down its forecast for Swiss economic growth. GDP adjusted for sporting events is expected to grow by 1.3% in 2025, followed by 1.2% in 2026 (March forecasts: 1.4% and 1.6% respectively)1. This would mean the Swiss economy growing at a significantly below-average rate in both years. The forecast assumes no further escalation of the international trade conflict. Given the high level of uncertainty, SECO has formulated two supplementary scenarios to the expert group's forecast.

The Producer and Import Price Index fell in May 2025 by 0.5% compared with the previous month, reaching 106.4 points (December 2020 = 100). Petroleum products in particular saw falling prices. Electricity (for large-scale consumers), basic metals and semi-finished metal products became cheaper, as did petroleum and natural gas. Pharmaceutical products, in contrast, became more expensive. Compared with May 2024, prices for the whole range of domestic and imported products fell by 0.7%. These are the results of the Federal Statistical Office (FSO).

VAT-registered companies that use the transfer procedure, must now declare import tax in their VAT returns online in the ePortal. Separate submission of paper forms is no longer required. This digitizes and simplifies the declaration process for the transfer procedure.

At its meeting on 13 June 2025, the Federal Council approved the agreements in the new package to stabilise and develop Switzerland's bilateral approach with the EU and opened the domestic consultation process. After Switzerland brought the negotiations with the EU to a successful close in December 2024, the Federal Council finalised the implementing legislation and accompanying measures. Previously unresolved issues concerning wage protection, immigration, electricity and the type of referendum to be held have since been settled and presented to the public over the last five months. The consultation process will last until 31 October 2025. With this package, the Federal Council is aiming for customised sectoral participation in the EU single market as well as cooperation in selected areas. Given the current global unrest, maintaining good relations with neighbouring countries is key.

Switzerland is chairing the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) in 2025. At the meeting of the organisation's Council of Member States, the current chair of International IDEA and Swiss ambassador to Sweden, Adrian Junker, called for focused action to promote democracy worldwide and thus counter the growing pressure on democratic systems. International IDEA was founded in 1995 to bolster democracies around the globe. The council meeting in Stockholm to mark the organisation's 30th anniversary was chaired by Patricia Danzi, director general of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), who reaffirmed Switzerland's ongoing commitment to promoting the resilience of democratic systems.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face the challenge of protecting their IT systems against cyberattacks. Although awareness of cyber risks has increased, implementing protective measures often proves difficult. To support SMEs in taking their first steps towards cybersecurity, the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), ITSec4KMU and the Swiss Insurance Association (SIA) recently organised an information event where experts provided SMEs with a simple introduction to this important topic.

Federal Councillor Albert Rösti will travel to Norway on 16 and 17 June to strengthen bilateral cooperation on carbon storage. The programme includes signing a bilateral agreement and visiting companies operating in the field of carbon capture and storage.