The Swiss, who are accustomed to using "referendums" to decide everything, experienced three referendums on Sunday, one was a "sovereign referendum", one was a "subject referendum" and the other was a "detective referendum".

The Swiss, who are accustomed to using "referendums" to decide everything, experienced three referendums on Sunday, one was a "sovereign referendum", one was a "subject referendum" and the other was a "detective referendum".

According to Swiss radio station SRF, the Swiss people rejected the "sovereign referendum" aimed at giving Swiss law priority over international law and international treaties with 66.2% opposition and 33.8% support.

In another referendum, the "ox horn referendum" for subsidies to farmers who retain cow horns and sheep horns was rejected with 54.7% opposition and 45.3% support.

In addition, the relevant laws supporting the use of social insurance detectives were passed with 64.7% support and 35.3% opposition.

As a permanently neutral country, why did Switzerland suddenly hold the so-called "sovereignty referendum"? What are the "Niuke Referendum" and "Detective Referendum"?

may undermine the "sovereign referendum" that will undermine relations with the EU

According to Reuters, the sovereign referendum - also known as the "Self-determination Initiative" or the "Swiss Law First Initiative", its main supporter is the right-wing Swiss People's Party (SVP).

The initiative calls for an additional provision in the Constitution to make it explicitly take precedence over international law and international treaties. Especially when the two conflict, Switzerland needs to adjust the relevant provisions of the international treaty to adapt to the constitution, or simply withdraw from the international treaty. Supporters of the initiative

believe that Switzerland's historic autonomy is being destroyed by various international treaties, including environmental protection, police cooperation, trade and other fields. They believe that these treaties jeopardize Switzerland’s direct democratic tradition—that citizens can have a final say in political events through referendums.

SVP said this "self-determination initiative" will strengthen civil autonomy and protect Switzerland from influence from some international organizations such as the EU.

In fact, in recent years, debates about whether Switzerland’s sovereignty is being dissolved have always existed, especially based on the relationship between Switzerland and the EU. At present, the two sides maintain their relationship mainly based on some bilateral agreements.

Yes, Switzerland is not an EU country.

And the Swiss BJP is a political party that is trying hard to prevent Switzerland from joining the EU. According to Bloomberg, Switzerland held a referendum on whether to join the EU in 1992, but the SVP strongly opposed it. In the end, Switzerland did not join the EU. The SVP gradually grew and grew stronger and has now become the largest party in the Swiss parliament.

Since then, the Swiss People's Party has also insisted on "restrictive" cooperation with the EU while opposing immigration.

The referendum originated from a 2012 judgment of the Supreme Court of Switzerland. According to the SRF, in 2012, the Swiss Supreme Court banned the deportation of a foreigner, although voters had passed relevant BJP initiatives. The basis of the Supreme Court is the "European Convention on Human Rights".

Therefore, the Swiss People's Party hopes that through this referendum, Switzerland will no longer apply the international treaty if the results of the referendum are inconsistent with the international treaty.

However, the Swiss federal government, business groups, human rights organizations, etc. have all expressed opposition to this initiative. According to Reuters, the initiative forced Switzerland to withdraw from many international treaties, weakening human rights and damaging the country's economy. At the same time, if the treaty is adopted, it means that Switzerland has to renegotiate thousands of treaties, which will undermine the Swiss economy under the global trading system. Jan Atteslander of Economiesuisse, a business group, said the initiative “will destroy Switzerland’s global identity. We must abide by the international order and be an excellent and trustworthy partner in both good and bad times.”

Tania Ovanne-Erias of , Geneva, said, "I voted against this initiative because I don't think we need to vote again on the terms we voted for, which is ridiculous. I don't think we should only think about our own country, we are part of this continent, and part of the world as a whole."

"Cow Horn Referendum" initiated by a farmer

In addition to the "Soul Referendum", the Swiss people rejected a "Cow Horn Referendum" on Sunday.

According to the BBC, the referendum was initiated by Swiss farmer Armin Capaul for eight years and collected 100,000 signatures. The referendum was to decide whether to give additional subsidies to farmers who retained their horns.

Capaul believes that the process of removing cow horns is inhumane and very painful, and animals "apparently prefer to keep horns."

According to the Financial Times, 3/4 of cows and 1/3 of sheep in Switzerland have no horns. Because farmers believe that removing the antler makes these animals easier to keep, and also reduces their chances of harming humans and other animals. But animal rights advocates believe that cattle use their horns to scratch and communicate, and therefore require the preservation of horns.

The Swiss federal government also opposed the proposal, saying that it would cause additional government expenses, and farmers have the right to decide on their own.

According to the proposal, the Swiss government will receive a subsidy of 190 Swiss francs (about 1,322 yuan) for farmers who save horns for each cow. This will lead to the government having to provide an additional subsidy of nearly 3 million francs per year.

allows the "detective referendum" that monitors suspected of fraudulent insurance

According to AFP, the Swiss people's referendum passed relevant laws on insurance companies' right to investigate insurers.

Previously, relevant laws stipulated that insurance companies have the right to investigate and monitor insurers suspected of insurance fraud. In this regard, some people questioned that the original law granted social insurance detectives too much power, which infringed on people's privacy rights.

Swiss insurance companies have been monitoring insurers suspected of false claims for years, but this has stopped after the 2016 European Court of Human Rights ruling.

For this referendum, supporters believe that laws that guarantee investigative rights are necessary to keep insurance costs at a low level.

Swiss BJP legislator Tuena said, "Honest insurers have no reason to worry that their benefits will not be affected and they will not be monitored."

But opponents believe that this proposal lacks "legal clarity" and is very likely to violate personal privacy.

Switzerland is known as the "country of referendum" and has always adhered to "direct democracy". Citizens can decide national affairs through referendums.

According to statistics, Switzerland has held 10 referendums since 2018.