Groups of the Federal Assembly (Switzerland)

The groups of the Federal Assembly ( French intergroupes parlementaires , Italian Intergruppi parlamentari ), better known as parliamentary groups ( French Groupements parlementaires , Italian Gruppi di intereste parlamentari ) are associations of members of the National Council and Council of States "who are interested in a certain subject area". Parliamentary groups are not to be confused with the parliamentary groups in the Federal Assembly .

According to Art. 63 of the Parliament Act , the groups must be open to all members of the Council and their constitution and lists of members must be reported to the Parliamentary Services. There are no budgets for parliamentary groups, but they are given administrative work relief and meeting rooms as far as possible. It is also stated that parliamentary groups “cannot appear on behalf of the Federal Assembly”.

Public register

The parliamentary services keep a public register of parliamentary groups, which is regularly updated.

The number of groups founded has risen sharply from 51 in 2004 to 157 in 2019. In the 20th century there were even fewer: in 1962 there were only 7 groups, in 1981 there were 19.

In terms of content, they cover a very wide range of topics. The oldest and best known group is the Agricultural Club of the Federal Assembly , which has existed since the 1880s. Further examples of parliamentary groups in the Federal Assembly are the parliamentary group for police and security issues , the parliamentary group for age issues , or the parliamentary group for the Gotthard-Alpine crossings .

Around 50 have an international, geographical focus, few of which are dedicated to entire continents (Africa, Latin America), but most are dedicated to specific countries or regions from Algeria to Western Sahara .

Perception abroad

Although the groups are not an official organ of the Federal Assembly under the Parliament Act, they are often perceived abroad as official representatives of Switzerland.

See also

• Parliamentary Group (Germany)

literature

• Diego Hättenschwiler, Art. 63 , in: Parliamentary Law and Parliamentary Practice of the Swiss Federal Assembly, Commentary on the Parliamentary Act (ParlG) of December 13, 2002 / Martin Graf, Cornelia Theler, Moritz von Wyss (eds.); Hebling Lichtenhahn Verlag, Basel 2014, ISBN 9783719029753 , p. 529 ff.
• Ernst Frischknecht: Parliamentary Groups. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . May 10, 2010 .

Web links

• Parliament Act (Federal Act on the Federal Assembly)
• Groups of the Federal Assembly (PDF)
• Parliamentary Dictionary: Parliamentary Groups

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Art. 63, Parliamentary Groups , admin.ch, accessed: July 24, 2019
2. ↑ Art. 63, Parliamentary Groups , admin.ch, accessed: July 24, 2019
3. ↑ Art. 63, Parliamentary Groups , admin.ch, accessed: July 24, 2019
4. ^ Groups of the Federal Assembly. (PDF) In: parlament.ch. Parliamentary Services, November 9, 2016, accessed November 21, 2016 . 
5. ^ Groups of the Federal Assembly. (PDF) In: parlament.ch. Parliamentary Services, November 9, 2016, accessed November 21, 2016 . 
6. ^ Ernst Frischknecht: Parliamentary groups. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . May 10, 2010 , accessed July 25, 2019 .
7. ^ Ernst Frischknecht: Parliamentary groups. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland . May 10, 2010 , accessed July 25, 2019 .
8. ^ Groups of the Federal Assembly. (PDF) In: parlament.ch. Parliamentary Services, November 9, 2016, accessed November 21, 2016 . 
9. ↑ Groups of the Federal Assembly , parlament.ch, accessed: July 24, 2019
10. ↑ Fabian Fellmann: Blue-eyed National Councilor - No more Switzerland labels when traveling. In: Tages-Anzeiger . July 23, 2019, accessed July 24, 2019 .