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Political
Status
Switzerland is a democratic federal state
administered by a Federal Assembly (the legislative
power) which is divided into two houses : the State
Council and the National Council.
The State Council is made up of 46 deputies who
represent the cantons.
The National Council is made up of 200 deputies who
represent the people.
These deputies are elected by general election for
a four year term of office.
The deputies vote for the seven federal counsellors
who make up the Federal Council (the executive
power) among whom each year a President of the
Confederation is elected.
The Chancellor of the Confederation is elected by
the Federal Assembly, he has an adminstrative
function, he sits at the Federal Council sessions
and has a consultative vote.
The Federal Court, which represents the highest
legal authority, sits in Lausanne.
Switzerland is a confederation composed of 20
cantons and 6 half-cantons which are largely
autonomous. Each canton has its own constitution,
government and courts.
Referendums are obligatory
for all projects to reform the Constitution or to
become members of international organizations. An
optional referendum of 50,000 citizens (or 8
cantons) is asked for federal laws and decrees.
Switzerland is member of the
IEAP, BAsD, 1BD, IBRD, CIJ, CNUCED, FAO, IMF
(1992), GATT (1966), OECD, ILO, WHO, UN (as an
observer), ONUDI, UNESCO and UNICEF.
HISTORICAL OUTLINE
:
1815 Switzerland is
officially recognized as a neutral country by the
Congress of Vienna
1848 the Federal State is created
22nd September 1978 a new canton, the Jura, is
added to the confederacy
12th June 1991 : Mr François Couchepin is
elected Chancellor of the Confederation
17th May 1992 : a referendum concerning the
membership of Switzeland to the IMF and the World
Bank, it was accepted by 55,8%
6th December 1992 : Switzerland refused to join the
European Union
7th December 1994 : election of Mr Kasper
Villiger
22nd October 1995 : the socialist party obtained a
majority in the National Council elections and won
54 seats out of 200
December 1995 : Mr Jean-Pascal Delamuraz is elected
President
Mr Adolf Ogi is elected President for the year
2000.
Geographical
Situation
Switzerland is
situated in central Europe, with Germany to the
north, Austria and Liechtenstein on the east, Italy
to the south and France to the west.
The country can be divided into three main parts,
the Alps, the pre-Alps and the plateau , and the
Jura.
The Alpine region represents 60% of Swiss
territory, it is the southernmost part of the
country.
The Rhone and the Rhine cross this region. Saint
Gothard is in the centre of it, from where you can
see the Rhone and the Rhine valleys, and also the
valleys of the Aar, the Reuss and the
Tessin.
These valleys are all vitally
important as they make it possible to go from one
region to another, between the Grisons and the
Valais, between northern Switzerland and the
Tessin, and also between Italy and the central
western European countries.
To the south of the Rhone are
the Alps of the Valais, dominated by the Rose
Mountain, (4634 m high), the Cervin mountain chain
(4478 m ) and the Weisshorn (4512 m).
The Alps of the Tessin are
situated to the south of the Rhine. The Inn valley
runs through the Alps of the Grisons which are
situated to the east of the col of Splügen,
the highest point of which is the Bernina peak
(4052 m).
The pre-Alps and the plateau
are situated to the south and the north of the
Alps. Over 200 lakes are in this region, the most
famous ones being Lake Geneva (or Lake Leman) which
is 580 sq. kms., the Four Cantons (113 km2) and
Zurich (88 km2). Lakes like Lake Majeur and Lake
Lugano are situated in the canton of the Tessin and
are also part of Italy. This zone is rich in
pasture lands and in farming and is fairly heavily
populated. The Mittelland is in the north western
part, bordered by the Jura in the north and ending
on the banks of Lake Constance.
The Jura is a mountain chain
where the altitude does not go above 1000 meters
and which is situated in the south west and the
north east. The relief is varied, being composed of
deep valleys, fields and picturesque gorges with
the sides covered in forests of larch and birch
trees.
Economy
The Swiss economy has advanced at a rythme over the
last year that it had not managed to attain for the
ten years before that. The GDP rose by 4% during
the first trimester and the economic growth was
expected to be at least 3% in 2000.
With an unemployment rate
that has dropped to only 1.8%, Switzerland is in a
situation of full
employment : highly specialized technical sectors
are having trouble finding employees and company
management are generally raising salaries. The
average gross monthly salary is 20,000 FF. Salaries
of executives have gone up by 4.3% between March
1999 and March 2000. They earn between 470,000 FF
and a million FF per annum and have the highest net
salaries in Europe.
The GDP per inhabitant is
36,166 dollars, making the Swiss the highest
earners in the world.
Switzerland's policy of
banking secrecy still attracts capital looking for
fiscal shelter, from all over the world
Tourism brings in a good
revenue and is an expanding sector even if the
prices are dissuasive.
Exports are benefitting from
a better orientation in demand in Europe and
Eastern Asia. Switzerland depends on the European
Union for two thirds of its trade, but is still not
a member of the Union.
In May 2000 67% of the country voted "yes" for
seven bilateral agreements negotiated with the
Union, but Switzerland guards its differences very
carefully and integration is not going to happen
anytime in the near future. The opening up of the
Swiss work market will happen very progressively
and will only actually take place for other members
of the Union after a period of 12 years.
Consumerism is increasing in
this context of full employment, low rates of
interest and refound confidence.
Main
Economic Indicators
|
(in percentage)
.
|
1997
|
1998
|
1999
|
2000
|
|
economic
growth
|
1.7
|
2.1
|
1.4
|
1.8
|
|
consumption
(variation)
|
1.3
|
2.3
|
1.9
|
2.0
|
|
investment
(variation)
|
1.5
|
4.4
|
4.7
|
4.0
|
|
inflation
|
0.6
|
-0.3
|
0.8
|
0.8
|
|
unemployment
rate
|
5.2
|
3.9
|
2.8
|
2.6
|
|
short term interest
rate
|
1.6
|
1.4
|
1.1
|
1.5
|
|
exports (variation)
|
9.0
|
4.6
|
3.0
|
4.5
|
|
imports (variation)
|
8.1
|
9.4
|
4.8
|
6.0
|
|
trade balance
(billions $)
|
-0.3
|
-1.9
|
-1.8
|
-4.1
|
|
tourism revenue
(billions $)
|
7.915
|
7.815
|
-
|
-
|
|
foreign investment
(billions $)
|
5.693
|
5.488
|
-
|
-
|
(source
OECD)
Agriculture
Swiss agriculture is highly protected and it is
auto-sufficient. The agreement with the European
Union on agriculture is to drop or lower the
customs duties on certain products, mutual
recognition on the equivalence of reciprocal
legislation, and the elimination of technical
barriers (recognition of quality standards and
legislation concerning fertilizers and herbicide
and organic agriculture).
The agricultural reform 2002,
started 10 years ago, encourages organic farming
with subsidies. It is developing rapidly, and a lot
of private ecological labels have been
created.
Switzerland is 110%
auto-sufficient in its milk production which brings
in more than a third of its agricultural revenue.
After 2003 the producers will be faced with more
competition but also an access to new
markets.
The main crops are wheat (21%
of the farmed land), barley (13%) and potatoes
(4%). The production is good : 500,000 tons of
wheat in 1999, 263,000 tons of barley and 484 ,000
tons of potatoes.
The importance of the forest
as protection against avalanches, flooding, soil
erosion, lands slides and falling stones, has been
long recognized. In 1993 Switzerland created laws
which guarantee the upkeep of the forests and their
various functions. The protection and developement
of healthy and strong forests is the objective of
the Swiss forestry policy. Nearly 7 million cubic
meters of timber are available each year, and
90,000 people are employed in the sector.
Stock breeding takes up 2.7
times more of the territory than crop farming.
In 1999 Switzerland raised 1,615,000 head of
cattle.
Fishing is not a very
important sector, only concerning fresh water
fish.
The local wine production is sufficient for 40% of
the market demand, 80% is white wine.
The agricultural balance has
a deficit each year. It is a family-type
production. According to OECD statistics the
subvention equivalent is 80% compared to 49% for
the rest of the European Union. The national
preoccupation with self-sufficiency has been the
justification for an agricultural production at any
price. The agricultural reform 2002 provides for a
gradual decrease in the subsidies, the suppression
of protected prices and the guraranteed
reimbursement of production.
The agricultural sector
employs 5.6% of the working population. and
contributes 2.6% of the GNP.
Industry
There is hardly any mining activity in Switzerland.
On the other hand the industrial sectors are highly
competitive, particularly chemicals and
pharmaceuticals (2nd in the world), machine tools
and watchmaking.
The high cost of production
and the strength of the currency would lead one to
believe that Swiss manufacturing would be in
difficulty, but that would not take into account
their mastery of technology and the quality of
'Swiss made' products. Foreign companies selling
luxury items, such as Hermès, Cartier and
Boucheron want their watches to have the label
'Swiss made' and the guarantee of an expert
microtechnical production. More than 3 million de
luxe watches were sold last year, generating a
turnover of 6 million Swiss francs. Exportations
were at a record high with 18.6% growth in the
first five months of the year.
Other sectors, which are
slightly less profitable, are jewelry, the
negotiation of precious stones, lace and leather
work.
Foodstuff production is also
very important, the Nestle group is the leading
producer in the world in this sector.
The industrial sector employs
33% of the working population for 30.5% of the
GNP.
The building sector is still
profiting from major railway works, the bilateral
agreement with the European Union concerning land
transport compels Switzerland to develope its
railways. Housing developement is taking off again
after a long period of stagnation.
The majority of the
enterprises in Switzerland are healthy, even if the
sectors of textile, building and international
negotations present a slight risk.
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