Carlo Schmid-Sutter (born 11 March 1950 in

Heiden, Switzerland Heiden is a village and a municipality in the canton of Appenzell Ausserrhoden in Switzerland. Its Biedermeier village around the church square is listed as a heritage site of national significance. History Heiden is first mentioned in 1461 ...

) is a Swiss

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. Since 1984, he has been member of the cantonal government of

Appenzell Innerrhoden Canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden ( ; ; ; ), in English sometimes Appenzell Inner-Rhodes, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of five districts. The seat of the government and parliament is Appenzell. It is ...

. Schmid was a member of the

Swiss Council of States The Council of States is a house of the Federal Assembly of Switzerland, the other house being the National Council. As the powers of the houses are the same, it is sometimes called perfect bicameralism. It comprises 46 members. Twenty of t ...

from 1980 to 2007, and president of that chamber in 1999/2000. From 1992 to 1994, he presided the

Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland The Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland (, CVP), also called the Christian Democratic Party (, PDC), Democratic People's Party (, PPD) and Swiss Christian Democratic Party (, PCD), was a Christian democracy, Christian democratic Li ...

(CVP/PDC). In this function, Schmid got caught-up in one of the most important referendums in contemporary Swiss politics: the vote on membership in the European Economic Area which was refused in 1992 by a slight majority of voting Swiss citizens. As chairman of the CVP-PDC, Carlo Schmid had to defend a position which went against his personal (Europe-skeptical) convictions. The party effectively supported the positive attitude towards the EEA taken by the government majority in which it was proportionally represented. In what can be considered an acknowledgement of his long career in Swiss federal politics, but also as a reverence of his most conservative colleagues in parliament, Schmid received 11 votes to succeed

Joseph Deiss Joseph Deiss (born 18 January 1946) is a Swiss economist and politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1999 to 2006. A member of the Christian Democratic People's Party (CVP/PDC), he first headed the Federal Departmen ...

in the Swiss Federal Council elections of 14 June 2006 although he did not officially stand for the office.

External links

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Official website
* Members of the Council of States (Switzerland) Presidents of the Council of States (Switzerland) Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland politicians 1950 births Living people People from Appenzell Ausserrhoden Candidates for the Federal Council (Switzerland) 20th-century Swiss politicians 21st-century Swiss politicians {{Switzerland-politician-stub