State Secretary (Switzerland)

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State Secretaries in Switzerland are not primarily support a political office, but essentially protokollarisch higher Asked Office directors within the federal administration that a State Secretariat project. The title has been awarded by the Federal Council since 1979 . In accordance with the Government and Administrative Organization Act (RVOG), the latter can temporarily award him to other directors and secretaries-general if they represent Switzerland in international negotiations at the highest level on behalf of the Federal Council.

State Secretariats

Currently (2019) there are six state secretaries. These are assigned to four of the seven existing departments .

history

Until well into the 20th century, the administrative structure of the federal government was deliberately kept small, which increasingly turned out to be a disadvantage, especially when it comes to international relations. Compared to most foreign state apparatus, there was no administrative level in Switzerland, as a Federal Council (equivalent to the rank of minister) was immediately followed by directors and department heads. From the 1960s onwards, it became more and more common that the head of the Political Directorate, actually number two in the Political Department (as the Foreign Ministry was called at the time), was often unable to negotiate at the same level of protocol. At the same time, various Federal Councilors felt increasingly overburdened by the increasingly important visit diplomacy and complained that they hardly had time for actual governance.

In 1975 the Federal Assembly decided to revise the government and administrative organization. In principle, the parliamentarians agreed that the federal councilors had to be relieved of administrative and representational tasks. However, it turned out to be difficult to find a solution tailored to the situation in Switzerland. The model of the Federal Republic of Germany , where state secretaries also have a political function, was out of the question because parliament was reluctant to create “departmental co-kings”. In 1978 the Federal Council decided on a compromise solution and introduced so-called "titular state secretaries", who have no independent decision-making powers. The first two State Secretariats were created on February 1, 1979. Four more were added over time.

List of State Secretaries

The following persons held the office of State Secretary:

Political Directorate (PD)
Surname Term of office
Albert Weitnauer 1979-1980
Raymond Probst 1980-1984
Edouard Brunner 1984-1989
Klaus Jacobi 1989-1992
Jakob Kellenberger 1992-1999
Franz von Däniken 1999-2005
Michael Ambühl 2005-2010
Peter Maurer 2010–2012
Yves Rossier 2012-2016
Pascale Baeriswyl 2016–
Directorate for European Affairs (DEA)

(originated from the integration office)

Surname Term of office
Roberto Balzaretti 2018–
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO)

(initially Federal Office for Foreign Trade BAWI, merged with the Federal Office for Economics and Labor BWA to form SECO in 1999)

Surname Term of office
Paul Jolles 1979-1983
Cornelio Sommaruga 1984-1986
Franz Blankart 1986-1998
David Syz 1999-2004
Jean-Daniel Gerber 2004-2011
Marie-Gabrielle Ineichen-Fleisch 2011–
State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI)

(initially Group for Business and Research GWF, from 2005 State Secretariat for Education and Research SERI, since 2013 SERI)

Surname Term of office
Heinrich origin 1992-1997
Charles Kleiber 1997-2007
Mauro Dell'Ambrogio 2008-2018
Martina Hirayama 2019–
State Secretariat for International Financial Matters (SIF)
Surname Term of office
Michael Ambühl 2010-2013
Jacques de Watteville 2013-2016
Jörg Gasser 2016-2019
Daniela Stoffel 2019–
State Secretariat for Migration (SEM)
Surname Term of office
Mario Gattiker 2015–

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Government and Administrative Organization Act . In: Systematic Collection of Federal Law . admin.ch , March 31, 2019, accessed on April 1, 2019 .
  2. ↑ a b Dominik Matter: "Titles open doors" - how Switzerland got its own state secretaries forty years ago. Neue Zürcher Zeitung , February 4, 2019, accessed on April 1, 2019 .
  3. ^ The State Secretaries and State Secretariats . In: Urs Altermatt (Ed.): Das Bundesratslexikon . NZZ Libro , Zurich 2019, ISBN 978-3-03810-218-2 , p. 751 .