Private agency Movetia to become a public-law institution
Published: Thursday, Sep 26th 2024, 09:50
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The National Council wants to turn Movetia, the agency for educational mobility, into a public-law institution. In doing so, it is opposing the Council of States. It had found that Movetia was fulfilling its tasks well as a private organization.
The National Council approved the Movetia Act on Thursday by 124 votes to 53, with five abstentions. Now it's the Council of States' turn again. If it does not approve the bill again, the project is off the table.
Movetia promotes and supports national and international exchange, mobility and cooperation activities for young people and adults. In 2022, Movetia supported over 35,000 exchanges in Switzerland and abroad. With its new legal form, Movetia would be compatible with a renewed association to the EU exchange program Erasmus-Plus.
The Federal Council wants to turn it into a public-law institution by adapting its legal form and management structure. This should allow the Confederation's corporate governance principles to be better taken into account. The bill is a consequence of recommendations made by the Swiss Federal Audit Office (SFAO).
In the eyes of the Council of States, Movetia has proven itself as a foundation. In addition, it is a joint task between the Confederation and the cantons. In the event of a transfer, the cantons would only have three members on the Board of Directors. This would not be compatible with cantonal school sovereignty.
The SVP would not have wanted to support the bill in the National Council. Spokesman Roman Hug (GR) said that Movetia does not perform a purely federal task. Shifting the balance from the cantons to the federal government would not be appropriate. And the role conflicts criticized by the SFAO could be resolved without a new structure.
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