The members of the Federal Council are elected for a term of four years by both chambers of the federal parliament sitting together as the United Federal Assembly. Each Federal Councillor is elected individually by secret ballot by an absolute majority of votes. People elected to the Federal Council are considered a Federal Councillor even if they decline the election.[2] Accordingly, the five persons who were elected but never assumed office are listed in a separate table below. For the same reason, the principal table only records the date of election and not the date on which the Federal Councillors assumed their office.
Once elected for a four-year-term, Federal Councillors can neither be voted out of office by a motion of no confidence nor can they be impeached. Reelection is possible for an indefinite number of terms. The Federal Assembly has decided not to reelect a sitting Federal Councillor four times and only twice (in 2003 and 2007) since the beginning of the 20th century. In practice, therefore, Federal Councillors serve until they decide to resign and retire to private life, usually after three to five terms of office.[3]
The Federal Councillors currently serving are indicated with bold type.
Members who declined their election
Five people have declined their election to the Federal Council by the Federal Assembly. Their number here is that of the Federal Councillor in the list above who was later elected in their place.
↑ This is the prevailing reading of the relevant constitutional provision: Swiss Federal Constitution / Bundesverfassung (BV) / Constitution fédérale (Cst.) / Costituzione federale (Cost.) of 1999-02-07, SR/RS 101 (E·D·F·I), art. 175 (E·D·F·I).
↑ For the abbreviations, see Data codes for Switzerland: Cantons. Up until 1987, the Federal Chancellery recorded the Councillors' legal place of origin. From 1987 on, the canton in which the Councillors live has been recorded, or, for councillors who were members of the Federal Assembly, the canton whose population they represented.
↑ The names of the federal departments have changed over the years. Generic names have been used as much as possible.
↑ The sequence number indicates to which of the seven seats (denoted by the letters A to G) the Councillor was elected.
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