Governatives

Talks on the post-Brexit relationship between Switzerland and the UK are underway, according to the Swiss Federal Council. On March 31, Swiss Federal Councillor Johann N Schneider-Ammann met the UK’s Trade Secretary Liam Fox for a working meeting on Swiss-UK relations after the UK leaves the EU.

As part of the Federal Council’s "Mind the Gap" strategy, it will seek to reach a post-Brexit follow-up agreement with the UK as swiftly as possible. According to the Council, Fox said this was in the UK’s interests and that reaching such an arrangement with Switzerland is a priority. Schneider-Ammann and Fox agreed to meet on a regular basis.

Luxembourg has ‘thrown its hat in the ring’ to become the new home of the European Banking Authority (EBA) after Brexit and says it has a "legal claim" to host it.

Citing a European Union law dating back to 1965, Luxembourg Prime Minister Xavier Bettel made his case in a letter to EU Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker, following the triggering of Article 50.

In the past, two exceptions to the decision have been made with the ECB going to Frankfurt and the EBA going to London.

Switzerland has extended a ban on Brazilian meat to 21 processing plants from four as part of Europe-wide safety measures, Swiss authorities said on Sunday. EU veterinary experts recommended reinforced checks on imports of meat from Brazil on Friday after an investigation began there into bribery of food inspectors.

The moves are in response to a scandal that emerged last weekend, in which authorities in Brazil suspended over 30 government following allegations that some of the country’s biggest meat processors have been “selling rotten beef and poultry for years”.

Switzerland’s parliament made an unprecedented decision on Wednesday to prevent the state from "financing any organization which supports racism, anti-Semitism, or the BDS ( Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement)."

Switzerland’s National Council, its lower chamber in Parliament, passed a bill on Wednesday by a vote of 111-78, that would cease all funding to non-governmental organizations (NGO) promoting boycotts against Israel and incitement to hatred.

The Bern leadership provides approximately one million Swiss francs each year to the Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law Secretariat in Ramallah, which then moves the money along to more than 30 pro-Palestinian Authority NGOs.

Online gambling sites are no longer welcome in Switzerland after legislators voted to require internet service providers to block the domains of unapproved sites. The Swiss House of Representatives voted on Wednesday in favor of the proposed blockage of Internet access to real-money gambling websites that have not been licensed by local authorities.

The measure had previously been approved by the Senate. Discussions over the proposed block of international operators emerged once again in January. However, the effort, which has long been called for by domestic casino, betting, and lottery companies, lost some momentum after Swiss telecoms voiced certain opposition earlier this year. “Blocking websites works – experience abroad demonstrates that,” said Thierry Burkart from the centre-right Radical Party.

Some 28% of EU citizens who have applied for permanent residency in the U.K. since Brexit had their applications rejected or declared invalid, the Guardian reported Monday.

In the last half of 2016, more than 12,800 EU citizens had their permanent residency requests rejected and a further 5,500 were declared invalid, analysis by the Liberal Democrats found. However, the Home Office said “applications can be rejected for a whole range of administrative reasons including where an application form has not being signed or failure to pay a fee.”

Sweden’s government has an unusual complaint, it is collecting too much tax. With interest rates in the country at -0.5%, holding cash in bank accounts and other savings vessels provides little to no return and in many cases actually costs people money.

According to data released by the government on Wednesday, Sweden ended 2016 with a budget surplus of 85 billion kroner ($9.5 billion), and about half of that was due to individuals and businesses paying more tax than they needed to as a means of actually making money.

"The development of Sweden’s central government finances is still affected by excess deposits in tax accounts," a report from the Swedish National Debt Office said.

Four in 10 European doctors are considering leaving Britain following the Brexit vote, new research suggests. A British Medical Association (BMA) survey found that 42% are thinking of quitting the UK, with a further 23% still unsure if they will stay. The BMA warned it could spell “disaster” as the National Health Service (NHS) was already facing “crippling staff shortages”.

Among NHS staff in England, 59,796 are from the European Union, according to NHS Digital, including 10,267 doctors – around 6.6% of the UK medical workforce. “Diseases know no country borders, and medicine is an international profession, with global co-operation in research, drug development, standards of patient care, and free movement of doctors around the world.”