The foreign relations of Switzerland are the primary responsibility of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA). Some international relations of Switzerland are handled by other departments of the federal administration of Switzerland.
The 26 cantons of Switzerland are the member states of the Swiss Confederation. The nucleus of the Swiss Confederacy in the form of the first three confederate allies used to be referred to as the Waldstätte. Two important periods in the development of the Old Swiss Confederacy are summarized by the terms Acht Orte and Dreizehn Orte.
The Federal Chancellor is the head of the Federal Chancellery of Switzerland, the oldest Swiss federal institution, established at the initiative of Napoleon in 1803. The officeholder acts as the general staff of the seven-member Federal Council. The Chancellor is not a member of the government and the office is not at all comparable to that of the Chancellor of Germany or the Chancellor of Austria.
The Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences Switzerland is a University of Applied Sciences in Switzerland with the departments of Business and Management, Law, Health, Music and Applied Psychology. It was founded in 1997 and today is one of nine accredited Swiss Universities of Applied Sciences, being the only privately owned one. It has 4’400 students, 725 lecturers and around 12’000 graduates. Kalaidos UAS is a foundation, which is a federally accredited University of Applied Sciences under Swiss law.
The federal administration of Switzerland is the ensemble of agencies that constitute, together with the Swiss Federal Council, the executive branch of the Swiss federal authorities. The administration is charged with executing federal law and preparing draft laws and policy for the Federal Council and the Federal Assembly.
Cannabis in Switzerland is illegal, though minor possession was decriminalized to a fine in 2012. Several cantons began to allow adults to cultivate and use cannabis in 2012, but this was struck down by federal courts. In 2016, four cities stated they were looking into establishing pilot cannabis clubs. The number of cannabis users in Switzerland is estimated to be around 500,000 among a population of 8 million.
The Federal Statistical Office (FSO) is a Federal agency of the Swiss Confederation. It is the statistics office of Switzerland, situated in Neuchâtel and attached to the Federal Department of Home Affairs.
The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) within the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research is the federal government's specialised agency for national and international matters concerning education, research and innovation policy.
The Official Compilation of Federal Legislation (AS) (German: Amtliche Sammlung des Bundesrechts, AS; French: Recueil officiel du droit fédéral, RO; Italian: Raccolta ufficiale delle leggi federali, RU) is the federal government gazette of Switzerland. All Swiss federal laws and ordinances, as well as amendments to them, enter into force by chronological publication in the AS/RO/RU.
The COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The virus was confirmed to have spread to Switzerland on 25 February 2020 when the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed following a COVID-19 pandemic in Italy. A 70-year-old man in the Italian-speaking canton of Ticino which borders Italy, tested positive for SARS-CoV-2. The man had previously visited Milan. Afterwards, multiple cases related to the Italy clusters were discovered in multiple cantons, including Basel-City, Zürich, and Graubünden. Multiple isolated cases not related to the Italy clusters were also subsequently confirmed.
The 2021 Swiss same-sex marriage referendum was a facultative referendum held in Switzerland on 26 September 2021 about an amendment to the Civil Code to legalise marriage between persons of the same sex, as well as adoption rights for same-sex couples and access to assisted reproductive technology for lesbian couples. The amendment was called "marriage for all" in Swiss public discourse.
The State Secretariat for Migration (SEM) (German: Staatsekretariat für Migrationen SEM, French: Secrétariat d'État aux migrations, Italian: Segreteria di Stato per le migrazioni) is a Swiss federal authority. As of 2023, it is headed by Federal Councillor Élisabeth Baume-Schneider.
The Public Procurement Act (PPA) (German: Bundesgesetz über das öffentliche Beschaffungswesen, BöB, French: Loi fédérale sur les marchés publics, LMP, Italian: Legge federale sugli appalti pubblici, LAPub), is a Swiss federal law that governs the awarding of public contracts by Swiss federal authorities, representing a total market of 80-100 billion CHF per year. It transposes the WTO's Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA) into Swiss law. It was adopted on 21 June 2019 by the Federal Assembly and came into force on 1 January 2021. It is a complete revision of the previous law of 1994.
The Alcohol Act, is a Swiss federal law that regulates the manufacture, distribution, acquisition and consumption of alcoholic beverages. It was introduced in 1933 and is based on articles 105 and 131(1)(b) and (3) of the Swiss Constitution.
The Central Compensation Office (CCO) (German: Zentrale Ausgleichsstelle, ZAS, French: Centrale de compensation, CdC, Italian: Ufficio centrale di compensazione, UCC) is the federal office responsible for implementing body for first-pillar social security, which covers old-age and survivors' insurance (OASI), disability insurance (DI) and compensation for loss of earnings (APG).
The Federal Office for Buildings and Logistics (FOBL) (German: Bundesamt für Bauten und Logistik, BBL, French: Office fédéral des constructions et de la logistique, OFCL, Italian: Ufficio federale delle costruzioni e della logistica, UFCL) is the federal office responsible for central procurement and for the construction, operation and management of the real estate of the Swiss Federal Administration including embassies overseas. It is also responsible for federal publications, and for the production of Swiss identity documents. It is subordinated to the Federal Department of Finance.
The Federal Office of Personnel (FOPER) (German: Eidgenössisches Personalamt, EPA, French: Office fédéral du personnel, OPFER, Italian: Ufficio federale del personale, UFPER) is the federal office responsible for human resources management, personnel policy and personnel training for the Swiss Federal Administration. It is subordinated to the Federal Department of Finance.
The Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO) (German: Eidgenössische Finanzkontrolle, EFK, French: Contrôle fédéral des finances, CDF, Italian: Ufficio federale del personale, UFPER) is the supreme financial supervisory body of the Swiss Confederation. In this capacity, it assists Federal Assembly and the Federal Council. Its independence is guaranteed by the Federal Auditing Act.
The Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG) (German: Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft, BLW, French: Office fédéral de l’agriculture, OFAG, Italian: Ufficio federale dell'agricoltura, UFAG) is Switzerland's competence centre for agricultural issues, responsible for agricultural policy and for direct payments to Swiss farmers. It is also responsible for Agroscope, the Swiss Confederation's center of excellence for agricultural research.
The Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES) is the Swiss federal office responsible for national economic supply, working with the private sector to alleviate the effects of short-term shortages, notably by supervising compulsory stockpiling.
