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A Guide to living and working in Switzerland
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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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