The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER, german: Eidgenössisches Departement für Wirtschaft, Bildung und Forschung; french: Département fédéral de l'économie, de la formation et de la recherche; it, Dipartimento federale dell'economia, della formazione e della ricerca) is one of the seven departments of the federal government of

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, headed by a

Member of the Swiss Federal Council Member may refer to: * Military jury, referred to as "Members" in military jargon * Element (mathematics), an object that belongs to a mathematical set * In object-oriented programming, a member of a class ** Field (computer science), entries in ...

. The department was renamed from Federal Department of Economic Affairs (FDEA) effective on 1 January 2013 based on decisions taken by the Federal Council in 2011.

Organisation

The department is composed of the following offices: * General Secretariat, including the

Federal Consumer Affairs Bureau Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

FCAB (responsible for

consumer affairs Consumer protection is the practice of safeguarding buyers of goods and services, and the public, against unfair practices in the marketplace. Consumer protection measures are often established by law. Such laws are intended to prevent business ...

) and the Swiss

civilian service Alternative civilian service, also called alternative services, civilian service, non-military service, and substitute service, is a form of national service performed in lieu of military conscription for various reasons, such as conscientious ...

agency ( ZIVI). * State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO): Responsible for national and international

economic policy The economy of governments covers the systems for setting levels of taxation, government budgets, the money supply and interest rates as well as the labour market, national ownership, and many other areas of government interventions into the e ...

, trade negotiations and labour policy. *

State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation The State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation SERI within the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research EAER is the federal government's specialised agency for national and international matters concerning ed ...

(SERI). * Federal Office for Agriculture (FOAG): Responsible for

agricultural policy Agricultural policy describes a set of laws relating to domestic agriculture and imports of foreign agricultural products. Governments usually implement agricultural policies with the goal of achieving a specific outcome in the domestic agricultu ...

and for

direct payments The Direct Payments scheme is a UK Government initiative in the field of Social Services that gives users money directly to pay for their own care, rather than the traditional route of a Local Government Authority providing care for them. The Cabin ...

to Swiss farmers. * Federal Veterinary office (FVO): Responsible for

animal welfare Animal welfare is the well-being of non-human animals. Formal standards of animal welfare vary between contexts, but are debated mostly by animal welfare groups, legislators, and academics. Animal welfare science uses measures such as longevity ...

and health, the safety of food of animal origin and the implementation of the

CITES convention CITES (shorter name for the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, also known as the Washington Convention) is a multilateral treaty to protect endangered plants and animals from the threats of interna ...

. * Integration Office (see FDFA above) *

Federal Office for National Economic Supply Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

(FONES): Manages emergency supplies of essential goods and services. *

Federal Housing Office Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

(FHO): Responsible for

housing policy Public housing is a form of housing tenure in which the property is usually owned by a government authority, either central or local. Although the common goal of public housing is to provide affordable housing, the details, terminology, d ...

. The following independent authorities are affiliated to the FDEA for administrative purposes: *

Price Supervisor A price is the (usually not negative) quantity of payment or compensation given by one party to another in return for goods or services. In some situations, the price of production has a different name. If the product is a "good" in the c ...

: Price

ombudsman An ombudsman (, also ,), ombud, ombuds, ombudswoman, ombudsperson or public advocate is an official who is usually appointed by the government or by parliament (usually with a significant degree of independence) to investigate complaints and at ...

and responsible for the supervision of regulated prices. *

Competition Commission The Competition Commission was a non-departmental public body responsible for investigating mergers, markets and other enquiries related to regulated industries under competition law in the United Kingdom. It was a competition regulator under t ...

: Swiss

competition regulator A competition regulator is the institution that oversees the functioning of the markets. And the Law in which it takes cognizance of situations having any type of impediments and distortions on the markets and correct them is the competition law ...

. *

Swiss Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internatio ...

(SFIVET): Provides training for

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an ind ...

professionals.

Names of the department

*1848–1872: Department of Trade and Customs *1873–1878: Department of Railway and Trade *1879–1887: Department of Trade and Agriculture *1888–1895: Department of Industry and Agriculture *1896–1914: Department of Trade, Industry and Agriculture *1915–1978: Department of Economic Affairs *1979–2012: Federal Department of Economic Affairs *2013–present: Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research

List of heads of the department

Notes and references

External links

* {{Portal bar, Politics, Economy, Education, Switzerland Federal departments of Switzerland

Organisation

Names of the department

List of heads of the department

See also

Notes and references

External links