Economy Minister Keller-Sutter takes over the presidency of the Federal Council
Published: Wednesday, Dec 11th 2024, 13:50
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Finance Minister Karin Keller-Sutter will be President of the Swiss Confederation in 2025. The Liberal Democrat, who is said to play a leading role in the national government, has two intensive years behind her in the Department of Finance. Her presidential year will be dominated by the debate on savings at the federal level.
The federal budget was still in balance at the beginning of 2023, but a difficult situation and deficits running into the billions were already looming. She was not afraid of making herself unpopular, said the now 60-year-old St. Gallen Liberal Democrat when she took over the Federal Department of Finance (FDF) from Ueli Maurer at the beginning of 2023, with a view to restructuring the federal finances.
The Federal Council has adopted key figures for a future savings program. Keller-Sutter will have to face the foreseeable intense debates in her presidential year. The Federal Council wants to cut federal spending by CHF 3.6 billion from 2027 and by CHF 4.6 billion by 2030.
The proposal that more tax should be paid on capital withdrawn from the second and third pillars of the pension scheme than is currently the case has also been the subject of much discussion. The details of the savings program will be known when the consultation process begins.
Drumbeat
At Keller-Sutter's start as Finance Minister, however, the focus was less on the federal treasury and more on the major bank Credit Suisse, which had fallen into a tailspin due to the loss of trust among its clients. The bank had repeatedly suffered massive outflows of money. The bombshell came on the evening of March 19, 2023.
Surrounded by representatives from the Swiss National Bank, the financial market supervisory authority Finma and the big banks UBS and CS, Keller-Sutter and President Alain Berset announced the bank merger, which had been forced through by politicians and regulators, to the media on Sunday evening. This was preceded by days of marathon negotiations.
The merger of the two financial institutions, which are considered to be of global systemic importance, was welcomed abroad. The federal government granted state default guarantees under emergency law.
Then came the disillusionment: the National Council refused to subsequently support the federal government's guarantees, which had no consequences. The councillors also decided to have the deal investigated by a Parliamentary Investigation Committee (PUK). The investigation report is not yet available. In the end, the Confederation generated income of around CHF 200 million from the guarantees.
The lever in your hand
Keller-Sutter, a trained conference interpreter and translator, has been a Federal Councillor since 2019; she began her time in government in the Federal Department of Justice and Police (FDJP). It sometimes annoys her that the FDJP is reduced to the topic of asylum, said Keller-Sutter on leaving the department at the end of 2022.
The FDJP is an interesting cross-sectional department and the Federal Office of Justice (FOJ) is an important lever. Under Keller-Sutter's aegis, for example, company law was modernized. The law now includes provisions on excessive remuneration and gender benchmarks for management boards.
Keller-Sutter was also able to record successes with the No to the SVP Limitation Initiative and the Yes to the Anti-Terrorism Act, which gives the authorities more tools to combat dangerous individuals. Opponents had expressed concerns about human rights and the rule of law.
Marriage for same-sex couples
Under her leadership, the longstanding fight to open up marriage to same-sex couples also came to an end. On the other hand, she lost the vote on the so-called burqa initiative. Parliament passed the law implementing the initiative of the SVP-affiliated Egerkingen Committee in September 2023.
With regard to corporate responsibility, the majority of the cantons followed parliament and the government in 2021 and rejected a broadly supported popular initiative; however, the initiative narrowly achieved a popular majority. The Federal Council's decision in June 2024 to double down on reporting was not enough for the Coalition for Corporate Responsibility. A civic committee is also calling for an internationally coordinated corporate responsibility law.
She also had to pass on the e-ID dossier - a first attempt failed before the people under Keller-Sutter - to her successor in the department. The way was paved for a new start even before Keller-Sutter left the FDJP. The plan is to introduce the e-ID in 2026.
At the second attempt
Keller-Sutter was elected to the Federal Council as the successor to the Bernese Liberal Democrat Johann Schneider-Ammann. It was her second attempt to be elected to the national government. In 2010, when it came to succeeding Hans-Rudolf Merz, she was defeated by Schneider-Ammann and Jean-François Rime (SVP).
Keller-Sutter's political career was otherwise straightforward. In 1992, she was elected to the local parliament for the FDP in her home town of Wil SG. In 2000, she became a member of the St. Gallen cantonal government and headed the Department of Security and Justice for twelve years.
She gained national prominence in the areas of asylum and hooligans and as President of the Conference of Cantonal Justice and Police Directors (KKJPD). Keller-Sutter became a member of the Council of States in 2011. Before her election to the Federal Council, she presided over the small chamber. On December 11, Parliament elected her President of the Swiss Confederation.
©Keystone/SDA
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