In this function, Schmid got caught-up in one of the most important referendums in contemporary Swiss politics: the vote on membership in the European Economic Area which was refused in 1992 by a slight majority of voting Swiss citizens. As chairman of the CVP-PDC, Carlo Schmid had to defend a position which went against his personal (Europe-skeptical) convictions. The party effectively supported the positive attitude towards the EEA taken by the government majority in which it was proportionally represented.
In what can be considered an acknowledgement of his long career in Swiss federal politics, but also as a reverence of his most conservative colleagues in parliament, Schmid received 11 votes to succeed Joseph Deiss in the Swiss Federal Council elections of 14 June 2006 although he did not officially stand for the office.
The government of Switzerland is a federal state with direct democracy.
The Federal Council is the federal cabinet of the Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and government of Switzerland. Since after World War II, the Federal Council is by convention a permanent grand coalition government composed of representatives of the country's major parties and language regions.
Joseph Deiss is a Swiss economist and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1999 to 2006. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), he first headed the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (1999–2002) before transferring to the Federal Department of Economic Affairs (2003–2006). Deiss was elected President of the United Nations General Assembly for its 65th session in 2010.
The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland, also called the Christian Democratic Party, Democratic People's Party and Swiss Christian Democratic Party, was a Christian democratic political party in Switzerland. On 1 January 2021, it merged with the Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP/PBD) to form The Centre, which now operates at the federal level. The Christian Democratic People's Party will continue to exist at the cantonal level as individual local and regional parties determine their status. Its 28 seats in the National Council and 13 seats in the Council of States were transferred to the new party, as was its sole seat on the Federal Council, held by Viola Amherd.
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Switzerland since 1 July 2022. Legislation to open marriage to same-sex couples passed the Swiss Parliament in December 2020. The law was challenged in a referendum on 26 September 2021 by opponents of same-sex marriage and was approved with the support of 64% of voters and a majority in all 26 cantons. The law went into force on 1 July 2022. A provision of the law permitting same-sex marriages performed abroad to be recognised in Switzerland took effect on 1 January 2022. Switzerland was the seventeenth country in Europe and the 30th in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry.
Carlo Schmid was a German academic and politician of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD).
In Swiss politics, the magic formula is an arithmetic formula for dividing the seven executive seats on the Federal Council among the four coalition parties. The formula was first applied in 1959. It gave the Free Democratic Party, the Catholic Conservative Party and the Social Democratic Party two seats each, while the Party of Farmers, Traders and Independents received one seat.
On December 12, 2007, all seven members of the Federal Council, the government of Switzerland, were elected by the joint chambers of the Federal Assembly for the 2008–2012 term of office. Councillors are elected individually by an absolute majority of votes, with the incumbent councillors defending their seats in descending order of seniority.
The Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland was a conservative political party in Switzerland from 2008 to 2020. After the 2019 federal election, the BDP had three members in the National Council.
On 10 December 2008, the Swiss Federal Assembly elected Ueli Maurer as successor to Federal Councillor Samuel Schmid. Schmid resigned on 12 November 2008 after a number of controversies, officially citing health and personal reasons. Maurer took office on 1 January 2009.
A by-election to the Swiss Federal Council was held in Switzerland on 16 September 2009, after incumbent Federal Councillor Pascal Couchepin announced his intention to retire on 31 October 2009.
Two by-elections to the Swiss Federal Council were held in Switzerland on 22 September 2010, after federal councillors Moritz Leuenberger (SP) and Hans-Rudolf Merz announced they would step down from the Federal Council towards the end of the year. The by-elections resulted in the elections of Simonetta Sommaruga from the SP and Johann Schneider-Ammann from the FDP, resulting in no change in the partisan composition of the council. It also resulted in the first majority of women on the Federal Council in its history, with Sommaruga joining Micheline Calmy-Rey, Doris Leuthard and Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf.
Karin Keller-Sutter is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2019. A member of FDP. The Liberals, she is the head of the Federal Department of Finance. Keller-Sutter previously served as President of the Council of States for the 2017–2018 term, and has served as vice president of Switzerland for the 2024 term since 1 January.
An election for all seven members of the Federal Council, the Government of Switzerland, was held on 9 December 2015, following the federal election on 19 October 2015, for the 2016–2020 term.
Viola Patricia Amherd is a Swiss politician who has served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council since 2019, and as President of the Swiss Confederation for 2024 since 1 January. She is the head of the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport. Amherd was a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC) before it merged with the Conservative Democratic Party (BDP/PBD) to form The Centre (DM/LC) in 2021, which she joined.
Ivo Bischofberger is a Swiss politician and jurist. He was a member of the Council of States from 2007 to 2019 and served as the President of the chamber from 2016 to 2017. Prior to his election to the upper chamber, he was a judge at the municipal level from 1986 to 1992 and at the cantonal level in Appenzell Innerrhoden from 1992 to 2008.
The Centre is a centre-right political party in Switzerland. It was formed through the merger of the Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (CVP/PDC) and the Conservative Democratic Party of Switzerland (BDP/PBD). Following the formal merger of the parties on 1 January 2021, it has 28 of 200 seats in the National Council and 13 of 46 seats in the Council of States. Viola Amherd is the party's representative on the Federal Council.
An election for all seven members of the Federal Council, the Government of Switzerland, was held on 11 December 2019, following the federal election on 20 October 2019, for the 2020–2024 term.
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