Former Swiss State Secretary Blankart dies aged 84
Franz Blankart, pictured in Bern in 1996, was a key Swiss trade negotiator.
Keystone / Str
Franz Blankart, who brokered numerous deals between Switzerland and the European Economic Community (EEC), passed away on Sunday afternoon.
This content was published on
1 minute
Keystone-SDA/sm
The diplomat held senior posts during his more than 30-year career in the foreign and economics ministries and was involved in numerous negotiations.
Born in Basel in 1936, he began his career as a Swiss embassy attaché in The Hague in 1965 and retired as head of the foreign trade office in 1998.
In the 1970s, Blankart took part in the negotiations for Switzerland to join the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) before taking over as head of the Integration Office (1973-80). Later he was ambassador to the Geneva-based EFTA and the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT).
In 1984 he was appointed government delegate for trade agreements. He led two particularly important negotiations: the Uruguay Round negotiations at the GATT (1987-93) as well as the negotiations for Switzerland’s accession to the European Economic Area treaty (1990-92), which Swiss voters rejected at the ballot box.
Blankart had a varied academic background, having studied philosophy, German literature, art history, economics and law.
He also taught in Geneva at the University Institutes of European and International Studies (1974-2002) and was president of the Fondation en faveur de l’Art chorégraphique and the Prix de Lausanne ballet competition.
More
More
Prix de Lausanne 2021 to be held via video
This content was published on
The Covid-19 pandemic has forced the Prix de Lausanne international ballet competition to change format: the 2021 edition will take place by video.
Swiss football boss wants crackdown on individual hooligans
This content was published on
The head of the Swiss Football League says he prefers a harsher approach to individual hooligans rather than collective punishment measures affecting all fans.
Amherd: Council of Europe is ‘as urgently needed as ever’
This content was published on
The Swiss government emphasised on Sunday the vital role of the Strasbourg-based Council of Europe, 75 years after it was founded.
Swiss minister: Italy will back Switzerland in EU talks
This content was published on
Bern can count on the backing of Italy as it re-enters talks with the European Union on future relations, Viola Amherd says.
Student protestors at University of Lausanne continue pro-Palestine sit-in
This content was published on
Since Thursday, a hall on campus has been occupied by students calling for a boycott of Israeli academic institutions and a ceasefire in Gaza.
This content was published on
Swiss public broadcasters RTS and SRF are drastically reducing their communications via the social network X (formerly Twitter).
Israel: president of Swiss universities rejects academic boycott
This content was published on
Luciana Vaccaro, president of Swissuniversities, the umbrella group of Swiss universities, is not in favour of an academic boycott of Israeli universities.
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.
Read more
More
Do the WTO and the 1972 Free Trade Agreement guarantee Swiss access to the EU market?
This content was published on
The FTA and the WTO are both important for trade relations – but they also have their limitations, our fact check reveals.
This content was published on
In a syndicated interview with the Tages-Anzeiger and Der Bund newspapers, Blankart who served as personal aide to Foreign Minister Pierre Graber at the time, called the charges a “fantasy”. “It cannot be that there was no written evidence for something so important,” he said. “And even if there were no records I would have…
This content was published on
The official who led Swiss negotiations over the European Economic Area (EEA) talks to swissinfo about the likely impact on Switzerland of a larger EU. On May 1, as the EU grew to include ten new members (eight of them from the former Soviet Bloc), Switzerland was still locked in negotiations with Brussels over a…
This content was published on
But these diplomats hardly ever appear on the photographs. They work behind the scenes. Unlike other countries, Switzerland doesn’t have special training schools for diplomats. However, this doesn’t prevent them from having top-notch negotiators – as the bilateral accords between Switzerland and the EU demonstrate. “It is totally accepted, indeed respected that a country like…
You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here . Please join us!
If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.