The first major campaign event of the year. On behalf of the Federal Council, Alain Berset recommends accepting the new Article 115a of the Constitution, put to the vote on 3 March. The Confederation and the cantons would promote the reconciliation of family and working life; the cantons would provide enough places in day care […]
Alain Berset presents the 6th Swiss Nutrition Report and the nutrition strategy derived from it. The finding: the population knows the recommendations but does not follow them. It eats as many calories as thirty years ago and moves less. Meals eaten out and ready-made dishes are gaining ground, too fatty, too salty, too sweet. The […]
The Federal Council approves the overall strategy “Health2020”, prepared by the Federal Department of Home Affairs: 36 measures in four areas, quality of life, equal opportunities, quality of care and transparency. The diagnosis: an excellent system, but one too focused on acute care, lacking transparency and poorly steered, while chronic diseases are increasing and premiums […]
At his second WEF, Alain Berset focuses his talks on his own portfolios. With László Andor, European Commissioner for Employment and Social Affairs, he discusses the coordination of social insurance under the free movement of persons and the European white paper on pensions. With Ursula von der Leyen, German Minister of Labour, he discusses ageing, […]
At the Schiffbau, a former shipbuilding hall turned theatre, Alain Berset takes up the image of the venue: a ship only reaches port safely if it is balanced. “Stellen Sie sich vor, das Schiff wäre zum Beispiel rechtslastig.” He introduces himself as a former 800-metre runner, a discipline in which you start flat out and […]
At the Konzertsaal in Solothurn, on the eve of the close of the Festival, the nominees for the Swiss Film Award 2013 are announced: 123 films in the running, ten categories, 440,000 francs. The new Quartz trophy, designed by Jean Mauboulès, is unveiled. Alain Berset speaks together with Charles Beer, President of the Geneva Council […]
A campaign evening before an audience from Obwalden and Nidwalden, regions reputed to be reluctant. Alain Berset sets out the figures: 1.1 million families, 60% women among university graduates, three quarters of mothers in work, often on very small part-time hours, a divorce rate that has risen to 43%. His argument rests on freedom of […]
Curaviva, the association of care homes and social institutions, celebrates its tenth anniversary and closes two days of congress. Alain Berset starts from Michel Serres: since his birth, life expectancy has risen from 50 to 80, and “when people swear fidelity for sixty-five years, marriage no longer has the same meaning”. Old age, he says, […]
On the same day as Curaviva, Alain Berset repeats his plea for the constitutional article in French. “Every parent remains free to use childcare places or not.” It is not, he insists, a matter of the state interfering in family life. Smaller families, less rigid roles, single-parent and blended families: “This is an observation, without […]
Alain Berset opens the Basel fair. He draws from it a portrait of the country: innovative strength, precision, reliability. But innovation, he says, is not only a matter of technology: a country only succeeds in the long term if its citizens are convinced that things are done fairly there. Hence the role of social policy, […]
A short visit to Germany, accompanied by the Swiss Ambassador in Berlin, Tim Guldimann. On 25 February, Alain Berset gives an interview to the editorial team of the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. In the evening, the ambassador hosts an official dinner in his honour at the Old Stock Exchange, with executives of major German and Swiss […]
At the NATUR congress, Alain Berset is amused by a figure: 15 million results for “Nachhaltigkeit”, 113 million for “sustainability”. Both gratifying and worrying: the word risks no longer meaning anything. He goes back to 1962, the year when a Switzerland of 10 million inhabitants was first spoken of, when motorways with “mindestens (!)” four […]
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