Flavio Cotti (18 October 193916 December 2020) was a Swiss politician who served as member of the Federal Council from 1986 to 1999. He was a member of the Christian Democratic People's Party from the

canton of Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts and its capital city is Bellinzo ...

. In the 1990s, Cotti led the Swiss government's unsuccessful attempts to further Switzerland's political integration into the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. He was President of the Confederation in 1991 and 1998 and headed the departments of

Home Affairs An interior ministry or ministry of the interior (also called ministry of home affairs or ministry of internal affairs) is a Ministry (government department), government department that is responsible for domestic policy, public security and law e ...

and

Foreign Affairs ''Foreign Affairs'' is an American magazine of international relations and foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy published by the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonprofit organization, nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership or ...

Early life and political career

Cotti was born in Muralto. After studies of law in

Fribourg or is the capital of the Cantons of Switzerland, Swiss canton of Canton of Fribourg, Fribourg and district of Sarine (district), La Sarine. Located on both sides of the river Saane/Sarine, on the Swiss Plateau, it is a major economic, adminis ...

, he practised law in Locarno and pursued a political career in his native

Ticino Ticino ( ), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino, is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eight districts ...

. In 1962, he headed the newly founded ''Partito popolare democratico ticinese''. In 1981 he was elected president of the cantonal Christian Democratic Party, and served as president of the national party from 1981 to 1984. Cotti was a member of the cantonal parliament from 1962 to 1975. He was elected to the cantonal government of Ticino in 1975. In 1983, he was elected to the national parliament's lower house, the National Council.

Federal Council

Cotti was elected to the

Federal Council of Switzerland The Federal Council is the federal Cabinet (government), cabinet of the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. Its seven members also serve as the collective head of state and Head of government, government of Switzerland. Since World War II, the F ...

on 10 December 1986, succeeding Alphons Egli, and resigned on 30 April 1999. During his time in office he headed the

Federal Department of Home Affairs The Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA, , , , ) is a department of the federal administration of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss ministry of the interior. Since 2024, it is headed by Federal Councillor Élisabeth Baume-Schneider. Or ...

(1987–1993) and the

Federal Department of Foreign Affairs The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA, , , , ), so named since 1979, is one of the seven Departments of the Swiss government federal administration of Switzerland, and corresponds in its range of tasks to the ministry of foreign affa ...

(1994–1999). He was President of the Confederation twice, first in 1991 and then again in 1998. Cotti's political philosophy was one of optimistic

globalism Globalism has multiple meanings. In political science, it is used to describe "attempts to understand all of the interconnections of the modern world—and to highlight patterns that underlie (and explain) them". While primarily associated wit ...

, and he liked to be seen as a visionary and as an '' homme des lettres''. A convinced

Europhile A Europhile is a person who is fond of, admires, or loves European culture, society, history, food, music etc.European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

– a move that backfired a few months later when Swiss voters rejected membership in the

European Economic Area The European Economic Area (EEA) was established via the ''Agreement on the European Economic Area'', an international agreement which enables the extension of the European Union's single market to member states of the European Free Trade Asso ...

, blocking further Swiss integration with the EU. In this and other areas, Cotti's visions proved incompatible with Switzerland's complicated and slow consensus politics, which earned him the nickname of "minister of announcements" (''Ankündigungsminister''). As Switzerland's foreign minister since 1994, Cotti helped salvage Switzerland's relationship with the EU by negotiating and concluding a series of treaties that now govern Swiss–EU relations. He led Swiss negotiations to settle claims of Holocaust survivors against Switzerland and Swiss banks. He was a strong advocate of Switzerland's accession to the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, which voters only agreed to after his time in office in 2002. Cotti also prominently represented the country abroad, gaining international recognition as the first Swiss president of the

OSCE The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the pr ...

Post-ministerial life

After retiring from politics, Cotti served in leading advisory positions in major Swiss companies, including on the board of

Credit Suisse Credit Suisse Group AG (, ) was a global Investment banking, investment bank and financial services firm founded and based in Switzerland. According to UBS, eventually Credit Suisse was to be fully integrated into UBS. While the integration ...

. Cotti died from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

on 16 December 2020, at the age of 81, during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland The COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). The virus was confirmed to have spread to Switzerland on 25 February 20 ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotti, Flavio 1939 births 2020 deaths Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) Presidents of the Swiss Confederation Interior ministers of Switzerland People from Ticino Swiss Roman Catholics Foreign ministers of Switzerland Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in Switzerland 20th-century Swiss politicians