Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research

Swiss government department

Guy Parmelin, Federal Councillor

Websitewww.wbf.admin.ch

The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER, German: Eidgenössisches Departement für Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung; French: Département fédéral de l'économie, de la formation et de la recherche; Italian: Dipartimento federale dell'economia, della formazione e della ricerca) is one of the seven departments of the federal government of Switzerland, headed by a Member of the Swiss Federal Council.

The department was renamed from Federal Department of Economic Affairs (FDEA) effective on 1 January 2013 based on decisions taken by the Federal Council in 2011.^[2]

Organisation

The department is composed of the following federal offices:^[3]

General Secretariat, including the Federal Consumer Affairs Bureau FCAB (responsible for consumer affairs) and the Swiss civilian service agency (ZIVI).
State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO): Responsible for national and international economic policy, trade negotiations and labour policy.
State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).
Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG): Responsible for agricultural policy, for direct payments to Swiss farmers, and for Agroscope, center of excellence for agricultural research.
Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES): Manages emergency supplies of essential goods and services.
Federal Office for Housing (FOH): Responsible for housing policy.

The following independent agencies are administratively attached to the EAER:

Price Supervisor: Price ombudsman and responsible for the supervision of regulated prices.
Competition Commission, also known as COMCO,^[4] the Swiss competition regulator.
Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training (SFIVET): Provides training for vocational education professionals.
ETH Board, which itself manages the ETH Domain, a group of technical universities and research institutes. These include the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (ETH Zurich), the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL), the Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen, the Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research in Birmensdorf, the Federal Laboratory for Materials Testing and Research and the Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology in Dübendorf.

Former offices

The Federal Veterinary office (FVO) was merged in 2014 into the Federal Office for Food Safety and Veterinary Affairs, subordinated to the Federal Department of Home Affairs. The FVO was responsible for animal welfare and health, the safety of food of animal origin and the implementation of the CITES convention.

Names of the department

1848–1872: Department of Trade and Customs
1873–1878: Department of Railway and Trade
1879–1887: Department of Trade and Agriculture
1888–1895: Department of Industry and Agriculture
1896–1914: Department of Trade, Industry and Agriculture
1915–1978: Department of Economic Affairs
1979–2012: Federal Department of Economic Affairs
2013–present: Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research

List of heads of the department

1848–1853: Friedrich Frey-Herosé
1854 only: Wilhelm Matthias Naeff
1855 only: Josef Munzinger
1855–1856: Constant Fornerod
1857 only: Melchior Josef Martin Knüsel
1858 only: Constant Fornerod
1859–1860: Melchior Josef Martin Knüsel
1861–1866: Friedrich Frey-Herosé
1867–1873: Wilhelm Matthias Naeff
1873–1874: Johann Jakob Scherer
1875–1877: Karl Schenk
1878 only: Joachim Heer
1879–1880: Numa Droz
1881 only: Louis Ruchonnet
1882–1886: Numa Droz
1887–1896: Adolf Deucher
1897 only: Adrien Lachenal
1898–1902: Adolf Deucher
1903 only: Ludwig Forrer
1904–1908: Adolf Deucher
1909 only: Josef Anton Schobinger
1910–1912: Adolf Deucher
1912–1934: Edmund Schulthess
1934–1940: Hermann Obrecht
1940–1947: Walther Stampfli
1948–1954: Rodolphe Rubattel
1955–1959: Thomas Holenstein
1960–1961: Friedrich Traugott Wahlen
1961–1969: Hans Schaffner
1970–1978: Ernst Brugger
1978–1982: Fritz Honegger
1983–1986: Kurt Furgler
1987–1998: Jean-Pascal Delamuraz
1998–2002: Pascal Couchepin
2003–2006: Joseph Deiss
2006–2010: Doris Leuthard
2010–2018: Johann Schneider-Ammann
Since 2019: Guy Parmelin

Notes and references

^ ^a ^b Swiss Federal Chancellery. "The Swiss Confederation – a brief guide 2009". Archived from the original on 14 May 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2009.
^ EAER instead of FDEA: Departmental reform implemented Archived 16 May 2013 at the Wayback Machine, press release Archived 10 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine 28 December 2012.
^ "Organisation of the EAER". EAER.
^ OECD, Serial Offenders: Industries Prone to Endemic Collusion. Contribution from Switzerland, published on 6 October 2015, accessed on 27 June 2024