Facts
On 27 November 2006, 42 municipalities of the Canton of Zurich submitted a government initiative to the Cantonal Council to amend the cantonal law on Zurich Airport. The Cantonal Council approved the initiative on 23 February 2009. The Cantonal Council referendum was filed against this resolution. In addition, the association "Flugschneise Süd - Nein" (VFSN) filed a referendum with a counter-proposal.
The counter-proposal provided, among other things, that the Canton of Zurich would oppose the construction or expansion of runways and new flight routes over densely populated areas. Furthermore, rapid exit taxiways were to be equated with runway expansions. In addition, amendments to Sections 10 and 19 of the Airport Act were planned to give the state more co-determination rights in decisions with an impact on aircraft noise.
On 30 November 2009, the Cantonal Council decided to declare Sections 10 and 19 of the counter-proposal invalid. The appellants filed an appeal against this with the Federal Supreme Court.
Considerations
The Federal Supreme Court concluded that the Cantonal Council had wrongly declared Sections 10 and 19 of the counter-proposal, with the exception of Section 10 lit. c, invalid. The counter-proposal was sufficiently related to the subject matter of the Cantonal Council's proposal and upheld the principle of unity of subject matter.
However, Section 10 lit. c of the counter-proposal,…