The Mission of Switzerland to the EU organises, on a regular basis, events and topical conferences, alone or in conjunction with other organisations. Please find set out below the various activities organised in Brussels.

30.05.2012: The Rudra Béjart school will perform at the Théâtre National in Brussels upon the invitation of H.E. Bénédict de Cerjat (Ambassador of Switzerland to the Kingdom of Belgium and Head of the Mission of Switzerland to NATO) and H.E. Jacques de Watteville (Ambassador of Switzerland to the European Union). This event has been organised with the support of Zurich Insurance Group and Switzerland Cheese Marketing.

Fritz Zurbrügg und Lucio Pench ©DFAE

 A few days before the euro-area Member States signed the intergovernmental “Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance”, the Mission of Switzerland to the EU organised a very topical debate on fiscal rules, how to design and implement them. The fifth edition of the Partners in Dialogue put the spotlight on the challenge for many European countries in putting into place credible fiscal rules, with contributions from Lucio Pench, Director for Fiscal Policy at the European Commission (DG ECFIN), Fritz Zurbrügg, Head of the Swiss Federal Finance Administration, Rolf Widmer, Finance Minister of the Swiss Canton of Glarus, and André Sapir, Professor for Economics at ULB and former economic advisor to the Commission President. The discussion focused on existing models of fiscal rules, their flexibility, scope and depth, on the effect of fiscal rules on the markets and political decision-making, and on the overall question of what complementary structures – like transfer payments - have to be present in order for fiscal discipline to work.
Details of these discussions are available on the internet site:  Partners in Dialogue

On 31 January 2012, Swiss Education Briefing, co-organised by SwissCore and the Mission of Switzerland, investigated the vital contribution dual education can make in servicing business and labour market needs, as well as in reducing youth unemployment. Switzerland has a long experience with such a dual education system which combines a well established professional education curricula embedded in the business environment, a quality academic education, and numerous bridges to combine both. Stefan Wolter, Director of the Centre for Research in Economics of Education at University of Bern and Valentin Vogt, President of the Swiss Employers Confederation and Chairman of Burckhardt Compression presented the Swiss model of dual education and specified the needs and commitment of businesses and employers to vocational education and training. Hélène Clark, Director for Lifelong Learning: policies and programme, at the Directorate-General for Education and Culture (EAC) of European Commission, reflected on the lessons that Europe as a whole can learn from Switzerland, and placed the contribution of vocational and professional education and training into the context of the demographic changes and the changing requirements of the labour market.

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The four speakers, Swiss and European, were called upon to reply to the question: “Does the risk of a black-out in Europe exist this winter?”. This was the bold question which moderator Claas Tatje put to panellists Claude Turmes and Filippo Lombardi, members of the European and Swiss parliaments respectively, and to Jean-Arnold Vinois, representative of the European Commission, and Thomas Tillwicks, member of the Board of Directors of swissgrid, the enterprise which manages the Swiss energy distribution network. The discussions held in the evening of 30 November 2011 focused on the security of the energy supply and highlighted in particular the crucial role of the infrastructures. The audience of nearly 100 persons was captivated by the discussion of the continental electricity-supply network’s capacity to adapt to a voluntary reduction in the electricity produced by nuclear power plants in the wake of Fukushima. The energy experts from the EU-Member States, the representatives of the European institutions and those of the Swiss and European media examined with interest both the impact that an increased utilisation of renewable energies would have on the supply network, and the possible solutions for storing these alternative sources of energy.

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On the occasion of a visit to Brussels upon the invitation of the European Parliament, Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey, after an address to the Foreign Policy Commission, inaugurated the first “Soirée Suisse”. The event, which was organised by the Mission of Switzerland to the EU on 11 October 2011 with the support of Presence Switzerland, is the first of its kind to take place in the European capital.

A select public made up of notable personalities from the European Union savoured vintage wines from the Canton of Valais. The buffet, which gave pride of place to traditional foods, provided the some 400 guests the opportunity to sample more than 25 sorts of Swiss cheese. The Jeux d’Hiver venue chosen for the event, a popular Brussels nightlife spot reminiscent of a Swiss chalet, lent itself particularly well to hosting the event. The evening was a subtle mixture of tradition and modernity, and the interior, decorated in a playful manner, enabled the guests to discover the Swiss font “Helvetica” while laughing good-naturedly about Swiss stereotypes.

 Photo Gallery of the "Soirée suisse" (fr)

Danièle Rod (Mission of Switzerland), Dirk Helbing (EPFZ), Maria da Graça Carvalho (MPE) and Dieter Imboden (SNSF) ©SwissCore

On 11 October 2011, the “Swiss Science Briefing” event, co-organised by SwissCore and the Mission of Switzerland, brought together Dieter Imboden, President of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF), Switzerland’s leading institution for the promotion of scientific research, Dirk Helbing, Professor of Sociology at the Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (EPFZ), and Maria da Graça Carvalho, Member of the European Parliament and former Portuguese Minister of Science, Innovation, and Higher Education. The main question was to find out who – representatives of the world of politics or members of the scientific community – should have the final say on the direction to be taken in the domain of research.

The “Partners in Dialogue” programme continued on 27 June 2011 with a discussion between Jonathan Faull, Director General at the European Commission, Thomas J. Jordan, Vice-president of the Governing Board of the Swiss National Bank, Tobias Guldimann, Chief Risk Officer and member of the Executive Board of the Credit Suisse Group AG and Wolf Klinz, Member of the European Parliament. The discussion centred on regulation of the international financial markets and the coordination measures necessary at international and European level, against the backdrop of draft legislation being proposed by the European Commission and discussions taking place in Switzerland on strengthening the stability of the financial sector. Details of these discussions “Facing the challenges of the crisis: how should systemic risks in the banking sector be managed?” are available on the internet site:  Partners in Dialogue

Energy efficiency was at the heart of discussions at the Mission of Switzerland on 12 April 2011. Various speakers came to present Swiss and European projects targeted at encouraging private and public parties to voluntarily reduce their energy consumption. The objective of this event, organised jointly with the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation (CEN/CENELEC) was to facilitate the sharing of ideas and to provide a platform for original and innovative initiatives which could find an application on the continent.

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On the occasion of the second “Partners in Dialogue” evening, the emphasis was on transport policy in complement to the publication of the white paper on European transport policy. Andreas Meyer, CEO of the Federal Railways, Gregor Saladin of the Swiss Federal Office of Transport, European Deputy Eva Lichtenberger as well as Jean-Eric Paquet, Director of the European Commission, debated piggyback transport services, the Gothard tunnel and European Commission transport strategy. Details of the discussions on the topic “Green, efficient and affordable transport in Europe: how to take up the challenge ?” are available on the internet site:  Partners in Dialogue

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In 1960, Switzerland opened its Mission to the European Communities in Brussels, a jubilee which was celebrated on 15 November 2010 in the presence of Federal Councillor, Micheline Calmy-Rey, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. In a speech made before an invited audience of 350 persons, Mrs Calmy-Rey gave a positive report of the ties that unite Switzerland and the EU and talked about the evolution of these relations.

The first round table discussion which launched the “Partners in Dialogue” evening debates dealt with direct democracy on the occasion of discussions on the regulations relating to the European Citizen’s Initiative. Some 70 guests attended the debate between the Vice President of the European Parliament, Diana Wallis, Swiss national councillors, Luzi Stamm and Andreas Gross and European Deputy György Schöpflin on the possibilities arising from direct democracy as well as its advantages and limitations. Details of the discussions “Right of initiative, citizens' participation and direct democracy: hindering or empowering democratic principles?” can be found on the internet site:  Partners in Dialogue