News

During its meeting on 5 December 2025, the Federal Council adopted the dispatch on amending the Insurance Oversight Act. With this proposal, the Federal Council wishes to strengthen Switzerland as a reinsurance location.

As part of the Schengen Association Agreement, Switzerland has decided to adopt an amendment to a European Union (EU) regulation aimed at reintroducing the visa requirement for third countries in certain circumstances. These circumstances may include exceeding migration thresholds, threats to public order and security, or human rights violations.

On 5 December, the Federal Council extended the agreement between Switzerland and the United Kingdom on the mutual recognition of conformity assessments. At the same time, three further product sectors from the trade agreement were incorporated. This maintains facilitated market access, meaning that additional product testing by a British conformity assessment body is still not necessary when exporting to the United Kingdom.

In 2025, more than 2 in 5 people use artificial intelligence (AI) to create content, texts or images. This figure rises to 4 in 5 among 15–24 year olds. The population is also increasingly exposed to fake news, hate speech and online scams. These are the main results from the latest Federal Statistical Office (FSO) Survey on the Use of ICT in Households and by Individuals.

The ETH Board was gratified to note that more than half of the newly appointed professors were women. This means that the two Federal Institutes of Technology are on course to achieve the long-term goal of increasing the proportion of women professors. At its meeting of 3/4 December 2025, the ETH Board discussed the next steps of the organisational development project “FIT for the Future”. In addition, it bade farewell to its long-standing member Susan Gasser at the end of her term of office, and to Peter Allenspach, a member of the PSI Board of Directors.

On Thursday, the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) held the third Swiss CommUNITY Day on Data at Forum Fribourg, in collaboration with Digital Public Services Switzerland and the Fribourg cantonal statistics and data service (SSD). Data platforms were at the heart of this year’s event, which brought together members of the various FSO partner committees. The day yielded a productive exchange of best practice on the various aspects of data platforms, including infrastructure, security, interoperability and the use of AI.

At its meeting of 3/4 December 2025 and upon application of the President of ETH Zurich, Professor Joël Mesot, and the President of EPFL, Professor Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, the ETH Board appointed a total of seven women and eleven men as professors and awarded the title of professor to seven individuals. It also took note of the resignations of nine professors (two women and seven men) and thanked them for their services. In the last 12 months, the ETH Board has made a total of 28 new appointments for women and 24 for men; the proportion of women among these new appointments thus amounts to 54%.

For several weeks now, cyclones and torrential rain have been causing major damage in many countries in South and South-East Asia. The situation is particularly serious in Sri Lanka, which has launched an appeal for international aid. The Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) is deploying specialists and equipment to meet needs in the region, particularly in the field of water and sanitation.

The Federal Office for Defence Procurement armasuisse has completed the evaluation for a new service pistol and selected a type. The model SIG Sauer P320 has been selected as the new pistol. The manufacturer has assured that production will be set up in Switzerland. This complies with the Armament Policy Strategy of the Federal Council to retain and set up security-relevant industrial capabilities in Switzerland.

Address by Federal Councillor Ignazio Cassis, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) and incoming OSCE chairperson-in-office in Vienna – Check against delivery

The Swiss economy must be able to recruit the skilled workers it requires. At its meeting on 19 November, the Federal Council therefore decided to leave unchanged the quotas for third-country nationals in gainful employment, service providers from the EU/EFTA and UK nationals in 2026. The Ordinance on Admission, Period of Stay and Employment (ASEO) will be amended accordingly and enter into force on 1 January 2026.

On Tuesday, 2 December 2025, a number of interventions on suspicion of insider trading took place in Switzerland, Germany and the United Kingdom as part of several criminal proceedings conducted by the Office of the Attorney General of Switzerland (OAG). The criminal proceedings are being conducted against five individuals who are alleged to have exploited confidential and price-sensitive information relating to a listed international Swiss company.