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; it, Dipartimento federale dell'economia, della formazione e della ricerca) is one of the seven
departments
Department may refer to:
* Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility
Government and military
*Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
of the federal government of
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, headed by a
Member of the Swiss Federal Council
Member may refer to:
* Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon
* Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set
* In object-oriented programming, a member of a class
** Field (computer science), entries ...
.
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.
Organisation
The department is composed of the following offices:
* General Secretariat, including the
Federal Consumer Affairs Bureau FCAB (responsible for
consumer affairs
Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...
) and the Swiss
civilian service
Alternative civilian service, also called alternative services, civilian service, non-military service, and substitute service, is a form of national service performed in lieu of military conscription for various reasons, such as conscientious ...
agency (
ZIVI).
* State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO): Responsible for national and international
economic policy
The economy of governments covers the systems for setting levels of taxation, government budgets, the money supply and interest rates as well as the labour market, national ownership, and many other areas of government interventions into the ec ...
, trade negotiations and
labour policy
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the lab ...
.
*
State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI).
*
Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG): Responsible for
agricultural policy and for
direct payments The Direct Payments scheme is a UK Government initiative in the field of Social Services that gives users money directly to pay for their own care, rather than the traditional route of a Local Government Authority providing care for them. The Cabin ...
to
Swiss farmers.
*
Federal Veterinary office (FVO): Responsible for
animal welfare
Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevit ...
and health, the safety of food of animal origin and the implementation of the
CITES convention.
* Integration Office (see FDFA above)
*
Federal Office for National Economic Supply (FONES): Manages emergency supplies of essential goods and services.
*
Federal Housing Office (FHO): Responsible for
housing policy.
The following independent authorities are affiliated to the FDEA for administrative purposes:
*
Price Supervisor: Price
ombudsman
An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...
and responsible for the supervision of regulated prices.
*
Competition Commission
The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...
: Swiss
competition regulator
A competition regulator is the institution that oversees the functioning of the markets. And the Law in which it takes cognizance of situations having any type of impediments and distortions on the markets and correct them is the competition law ...
.
*
Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training
Swiss may refer to:
* the adjectival form of Switzerland
* Swiss people
Places
*Swiss, Missouri
*Swiss, North Carolina
*Swiss, West Virginia
*Swiss, Wisconsin
Other uses
*Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports
* Swiss Internationa ...
(SFIVET): Provides training for
vocational education
Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an i ...
professionals.
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
See also
*
Swiss University Conference
Notes and references
External links
*
{{Portal bar, Politics, Economy, Education, Switzerland
Federal departments of Switzerland