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National

Federal Council

  • French: Conseil fédéral
  • German: Bundesrat
  • Italian: Consiglio federale
  • Romansh: Cussegl federal

Governs Switzerland

Official website (admin.ch) Report a problem with this page

Source: fedlex.admin.ch, checked

At a glance

What it's for

Seven members of equal standing govern together as a collegial body. The presidency rotates every year and gives its holder no extra powers. The Federal Council as a whole is the collective head of state, while each member also heads a federal department.

Federal Constitution Art. 174-177

Who it answers to

The United Federal Assembly elects the members for four years after each National Council election. The Federal Council cannot be dismissed by a vote of no confidence and cannot dissolve parliament.

Federal Constitution Art. 168, 169, 175

Coming up

Who sits on it

Sourced · checked

Sources for who sits on it

  • President of the Swiss Confederation fedlex.admin.ch · checked
  • Guy Parmelin as President of the Swiss Confederation admin.ch · checked
    ws.parlament.ch · checked
  • Vice-President of the Federal Council admin.ch · checked
  • Ignazio Cassis as Vice-President of the Federal Council admin.ch · checked
  • Member of the Federal Council fedlex.admin.ch · checked
  • Albert Rösti as Member of the Federal Council ws.parlament.ch · checked
  • Beat Jans as Member of the Federal Council ws.parlament.ch · checked
  • Elisabeth Baume-Schneider as Member of the Federal Council ws.parlament.ch · checked
  • Guy Parmelin as Member of the Federal Council ws.parlament.ch · checked
  • Ignazio Cassis as Member of the Federal Council ws.parlament.ch · checked
  • Karin Keller-Sutter as Member of the Federal Council ws.parlament.ch · checked
  • Martin Pfister as Member of the Federal Council ws.parlament.ch · checked
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What it can do

  • Highest governing and executive authority

    Federal Constitution Art. 174: the Federal Council is the highest governing and executive authority of the Confederation and acts as a collegial body (Art. 177).

  • Government planning and implementation

    Federal Constitution Art. 180 and 182: the Federal Council sets government objectives, plans and coordinates state activity, issues ordinances and ensures the implementation of legislation.

  • Foreign affairs

    Federal Constitution Art. 184: the Federal Council is responsible for foreign relations, subject to the Federal Assembly's participation rights, and signs and ratifies treaties.

  • Administration and finances

    Federal Constitution Art. 178 and 183: the Federal Council directs the federal administration, which is organised in departments, and draws up the budget and accounts.

Sourced · checked

Sources for what it can do

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Sources

  • fedlex.admin.ch · checked Federal Chancellery / Fedlex, Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 101), read 2026-10-12: existence, powers and composition of the Federal Assembly, National Council, Council of States, Federal Council and Federal Supreme Court (Art. 148-191); websites from parlament.ch, admin.ch, bk.admin.ch and bger.ch. For: Federal Council
  • fedlex.admin.ch · checked Federal Constitution (SR 101), read 2026-10-12, with admin.ch and parlament.ch descriptions. For: What it's for, Who it answers to
  • fedlex.admin.ch · checked Federal Constitution (authentic German, French, Italian texts; Romansh translation), read 2026-10-12; party names from parlament.ch web service MemberCouncil (Party names, DE/FR), read 2026-10-12. For: Federal Council in French, Federal Council in German, Federal Council in Italian, Federal Council in Romansh
  • fedlex.admin.ch · checked Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 101), read 2026-10-12: the article cited in each description. For: Highest governing and executive authority, Government planning and implementation, Foreign affairs, Administration and finances
  • fedlex.admin.ch · checked Federal Chancellery / Fedlex, Federal Constitution of the Swiss Confederation (SR 101), read 2026-10-12: sizes and selection of the offices (Art. 149, 150, 152, 168, 175, 176, 188). Federal Supreme Court size from Federal Supreme Court Act (SR 173.110) Art. 1. For: President of the Swiss Confederation, Member of the Federal Council
  • admin.ch · checked Swiss Federal Administration (admin.ch), Bundespräsidium 2026, read 2026-10-12: "Vizepräsident des Bundesrates ist 2026 Ignazio Cassis." Office per Federal Constitution Art. 176(2). For: Vice-President of the Federal Council, Ignazio Cassis as Vice-President of the Federal Council
  • ws.parlament.ch · checked Federal Assembly, Parliament web service MemberCouncil / MemberCouncilHistory, read 2026-10-12: member, party, canton, start date (DateJoining); Federal Council start dates from contiguous MemberCouncilHistory entries; departments from admin.ch (Members of the Federal Council). For: Albert Rösti as Member of the Federal Council, Beat Jans as Member of the Federal Council, Elisabeth Baume-Schneider as Member of the Federal Council, Guy Parmelin as Member of the Federal Council, Ignazio Cassis as Member of the Federal Council and 3 more
  • admin.ch · checked admin.ch, Federal Presidency (President of the Swiss Confederation in 2026 is Guy Parmelin, elected 2025-12-10), read 2026-10-12. For: Guy Parmelin as President of the Swiss Confederation
  • admin.ch · checked improvements:data-hygiene: office_id cleared (was Member of the Federal Council, a display workaround); the vote is filed under the Federal Council, which sets federal popular votes For: Referendum, November 29, 2026
  • admin.ch · checked Federal Chancellery, Popular vote on 29 November 2026 (read 2026-10-12, en/de/fr pages): date and the four proposals with titles For: Referendum, November 29, 2026
  • admin.ch · checked Federal Chancellery, AHV-Zusatzfinanzierung (read 2026-10-12): Bundesbeschluss vom 19. Juni 2026, VAT +0.4 points, recommendations For: Referendum, November 29, 2026
  • admin.ch · checked Federal Chancellery, Kriegsmaterialgesetz (read 2026-10-12): amendment of 19 Dec 2025, referendum taken, recommendations For: Referendum, November 29, 2026
  • so.ch · checked Canton of Solothurn, convocation for 29 Nov 2026: full titles with decree dates (cross-check) For: Referendum, November 29, 2026
  • swissinfo.ch · checked swissinfo.ch, "Parmelin to step down and make way for new blood", 2026-10-02, read 2026-10-12: resignation effective 2026-12-31, election due 2026-12-09. For: By-election, December 9, 2026

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