“Filmfestivals sind ein wenig wie Bundesräte. Beide sollen politisch sein – aber nicht allzu politisch.” At the opening of the Zurich Film Festival, Alain Berset notes that, in the year of Brexit, many of the guests come from Britain. He defends the city as a place of creation, where ideas and ways of life collide, […]
The people and the cantons reject the trade unions’ “AHVplus” initiative, which called for a 10% increase in OASI pensions. Nearly 60% of voters say no. Alain Berset comments on the result: the population has understood what is at stake in a stable first pillar. He calls on all those involved to unblock the Old-Age […]
At the Senate, Alain Berset and its President, Gérard Larcher, open a historians’ symposium on the 500th anniversary of the Perpetual Peace, signed in Fribourg on 29 November 1516. He defends European law as a bulwark: “Seeking to renounce the legal provisions under which Europe has grown up only serves the cause of nationalism.” In […]
In 2016, Switzerland holds the academic presidency of the World Health Summit, in the person of Antoine Flahault of the University of Geneva. Alain Berset speaks at the opening ceremony, at the German Foreign Office, on health in the Sustainable Development Goals. Some thousand participants attend. On 10 October, together with Hermann Gröhe, he opens […]
In Interlaken, Alain Berset opens the 11th Summit of Heads of Medicines Regulatory Agencies, organised in Switzerland for the first time, by Swissmedic. Some 75 representatives from 23 countries discuss regulatory transparency and dialogue with interest groups. He quotes Byron, who called glaciers “frozen hurricanes” and wrote: “Always laugh when you can, it’s great medicine […]
Together with the President of the Confederation, Johann N. Schneider-Ammann, Alain Berset signs a joint declaration with the Swiss Pension Fund Association, the Swiss Bankers Association, the Swiss Insurance Association and venture capital firms. The signatories want to develop the Swiss venture capital market for start-ups. The FDHA, which is responsible for occupational pensions, is […]
Alain Berset is patron of the Cinécivic awards and opens the ceremony; the film and poster competition encourages young people to vote. For this first edition in French-speaking Switzerland, 360 young people submitted 45 films and 134 posters. He pays tribute to Homer Simpson, “a great thinker, no doubt the most important and the most […]
“I do not know what Calvin or Zwingli would say if they knew that it is a Catholic Federal Councillor who is speaking for the 500th anniversary of the Reformation.” In Geneva, Alain Berset launches the national celebrations of the jubilee. He offers a political reading of the Reformation: social justice, its dark side, the […]
Alain Berset inaugurates the ArtLab, Kengo Kuma’s building on the EPFL campus, which brings together under one roof a museum space, a music venue and a science laboratory. He opens with some “arithmological considerations”: three pavilions, 23 metres wide, foundation stone laid on the 23rd. Speeches on this site Inauguration de ArtLab, le nouveau bâtiment […]
Hereditary Prince Alois of Liechtenstein is on an official visit to Berne. In the evening, together with Alain Berset, he opens the exhibition of the Princely Collections at the Kunstmuseum Bern. Alain Berset quotes de Gaulle: “Staaten haben keine Freunde, sondern nur Interessen.” And sees an exception: “Liechtenstein und Schweiz. Hier darf man durchaus von […]
Since 2013, Switzerland has chaired the Bureau of the Protocol on Water and Health of UNECE and WHO Europe. At the Palais des Nations, Alain Berset opens the three-day meeting, which brings together representatives of the health and environment ministries of 52 countries. Global demand for water is set to rise by 55% by 2030. […]
The Swiss Public Health Conference 2016 is devoted to the health of refugees and migrants. Alain Berset opens it with an observation: the world is experiencing the largest refugee movements since the end of the Second World War. He sets out the conference’s questions: what health problems refugees have, how well the Swiss system is […]
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