Swiss Reignite Controversial Plebiscite on Business Liability
(Bloomberg) — Swiss campaigners collected enough signatures to revive a previously rejected plebiscite on whether multinational corporations should be held responsible for human rights and environmental lapses abroad.
The Coalition for Corporate Responsibility took less than half a year to submit the required 100,000 signatures, the Federal Chancellery confirmed in a statement Wednesday. Campaigners have 18 months to meet that threshold.
The proposal is expected to trigger an emotional debate as a 2020 initiative on the same topic was rejected by a very narrow margin. It won the popular vote, but failed to get the requisite majority among the country’s cantons, or states. Still, a date for a national vote has not yet been set and could be years away.
If approved, corporations would be held liable for misconducts of foreign units and subsidiaries. Companies, associations and the government have argued in the past that the proposed change of constitution would hurt the country’s economy.
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