Pascal Couchepin (born 5 April 1942) is a Swiss politician who served as 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 ...

from 1998 to 2009. A member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD), he was

President of the Swiss Confederation The president of the Swiss Confederation, also known as the president of the Confederation or colloquially as the president of Switzerland, is the head of Switzerland's seven-member Federal Council (Switzerland), Federal Council, the country's ...

twice, in 2003 and 2008. Couchepin headed the

Federal Department of Economic Affairs 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, Dipart ...

from 1998 to 2002 and

Federal Department of Home Affairs The Federal Department of Home Affairs (FDHA, , french: Département fédéral de l'intérieur, links=no, , rm, ) is a department of the federal administration of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss ministry of the interior. As of 2012, it is ...

from 2003 until 2009.

Biography

Couchepin holds a

DEA The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA; ) is a United States federal law enforcement agency under the U.S. Department of Justice tasked with combating drug trafficking and distribution within the U.S. It is the lead agency for domestic en ...

's degree in

Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...

from the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzer ...

. He is a father of three (two daughters and a son) and has two grandchildren. He was elected to the

Swiss Federal Council The Federal Council (german: Bundesrat; french: Conseil fédéral; it, Consiglio federale; rm, Cussegl federal) is the executive body of the federal government of the Swiss Confederation and serves as the collective head of state and governme ...

on 11 March 1998 as a member of the

Free Democratic Party of Switzerland french: Parti radical-démocratique it, Partito Liberale Radicale rm, Partida liberaldemocrata svizra , logo = Free Democratic Party of Switzerland logo French.png , logo_size = 200px , foundation = , dissolution = ...

from the

canton of Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the Sw ...

. Previously, he had been Deputy Mayor (1976) and Mayor of Martigny (from 1984), as well as elected to the National Council from 1979 to 1998. Bundesrat der Schweiz 2008 Teil 2

In 1998 he took over the

, in which position he fought against the government contributing any money to the $1.25 billion settlement between Swiss banks and

Holocaust survivors Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Axis powers, its allies before and during World War II in Europe and North Africa. There is no unive ...

. He was quoted as saying that "there is no reason for the Swiss Government to pay anything", as a government commission had shown "we did what was possible in the hard times of the war." In 2003 he moved to the

. He was the

President of the Confederation The president of the Swiss Confederation, also known as the president of the Confederation or colloquially as the president of Switzerland, is the head of Switzerland's seven-member Federal Council, the country's executive branch. Elected by ...

in 2003. On 13 December 2006, he was elected Vice President of the Federal Council for 2007; on 12 December 2007 was elected President of the Confederation for 2008. During the

Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy The Regensburg lecture or Regensburg address was delivered on 12 September 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI at the University of Regensburg in Germany, which sparked international reactions and controversy. The lecture entitled " Faith, Reason and the U ...

, also known as the 2006 Regensburg lecture, he stated the Pope's speech was "intelligent and necessary." On 12 June 2009, Couchepin announced his resignation from the Federal Council effective 31 October 2009. This led to an election to fill his vacated seat. Pascal Couchepin is a member of the

Global Leadership Foundation The Global Leadership Foundation (GLF) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization consisting of a network of former heads of state/government and other distinguished leaders (GLF Members), who seek to assist developing countries in improving gov ...

, an organisation which works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law. It does so by making available, discreetly and in confidence, the experience of former leaders to today's national leaders. It is a not-for-profit organisation composed of former heads of government, senior governmental and international organisation officials who work closely with heads of government on governance-related issues of concern to them.

References

External links

*
Pascal Couchepin
i
History of Social Security in Switzerland
* * , - , - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Couchepin, Pascal 1942 births Living people People from Martigny Free Democratic Party of Switzerland politicians Members of the Federal Council (Switzerland) Mayors of Martigny Swiss Roman Catholics University of Lausanne alumni

Biography

See also

References

External links