National Council reluctantly agrees to vaccine credits
It is better to have too many vaccine doses than too few: the majority of the National Council supports this strategy – despite mistakes in obtaining the vaccine.
Federal Councilor Ueli Maurer plays it safe: “We don’t yet know how the situation will develop this autumn and next winter.”
Foto: Anthony Anex (Keystone)
The excitement was great: inconsistencies in the loans for vaccine procurement prompted the Finance Committee of the National Council to meet at 6 a.m. on Wednesday morning. Health Minister Alain Berset launched an administrative inquiry last week. The suspicion: Parliament was bypassed, its budgetary authority violated.
The results of the investigation will not be available until August. But the administration put together facts about Pentecost. The report shows that, as Finance Minister Ueli Maurer put it, things did not go perfectly with the procurement of vaccines. But the majority in the National Council didn’t think it was a good idea to vote in protest against the necessary loans. In the end, the National Council approved the Federal Council’s motions. Now it’s up to the Council of States again.
SVP demands a PUK
In the National Council, only the SVP spoke of a scandal. “We must not back down here,” said Sandra Sollberger (BL). “If I paint a wall red instead of blue with my painting company, you don’t just smile about it.” Pirmin Schwander (SZ) found that the scandal actually called for a parliamentary commission of inquiry.
The spokespeople for the other groups also spoke of failures. However, the majority supports the strategy of the Federal Council for vaccine procurement. Clearly cause these costs, said Alex Farinelli (FDP, TI). But these would have to be put in relation to the possible costs of another corona wave with too few vaccines.
The Federal Council wants to ensure that the population has access to the most effective vaccine available and minimize the risk of failure of individual manufacturers – and has therefore deliberately reserved and bought too many vaccines. Finance Minister Ueli Maurer called for caution, “because we don’t yet know how the situation will develop this autumn and next winter”. The SVP Federal Council thus opposed its own party.
Parliament only has a real choice when it comes to the commitment credit for vaccine doses for 2023. There were various applications for cuts here. In the end, however, the National Council followed the Federal Council’s request and approved the commitment credit of CHF 780 million. The Federal Council wants to procure 14 million vaccine doses. If the amount were reduced, the vaccine contracts would be void: the federal government would have to negotiate new contracts, possibly worse ones.
Threatened Legal Actions
When it comes to the supplementary credit for the vaccine doses in 2022, Parliament basically has no choice: if it does not approve it, the Confederation will be in breach of contract with the vaccine manufacturers and legal proceedings are threatened. The National Council followed the Federal Council with 134 votes to 51. However, the amount involved is lower than assumed: the review showed that not 314 million francs are necessary, but only 234 million.
In December 2021, the Federal Council decided to trigger options for the procurement of additional vaccine doses for 2022. He was able to rely on a commitment credit approved by Parliament. With such a loan, Parliament basically authorizes the federal government to enter into obligations. After that, Parliament still has to approve the payment. If a contract is concluded for which Parliament has not yet approved payment, a reservation must be included in the contract.
In two cases, the federal government could not rely on a commitment loan approved by Parliament. When concluding a contract signed at the beginning of May 2021, a reservation was built in. However, this was limited to the end of May. Parliament only approved the increase in the commitment credit in June 2021. The administrative investigation should now clarify who is responsible for this.
Charlotte Walser has been part of the Tamedia editorial team since 2021. The doctor of philosophy has been working as a journalist since 1995. From 2010 to 2020 she reported for the Keystone-SDA news agency from the Federal Palace. Further stations were InfoSüd and the UN refugee organization UNHCR.
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