Council of the Swiss Abroad campaigns for clear objectives and more respect

More than 90 delegates gathered for the Council meeting in Brunnen, on the shores of Lake Lucerne. Swissinfo / Melanie Eichenberger

Whether it was the relationship between members and the committee, the theme of the 2027 congress, or the diaspora’s contribution to Switzerland: during a marathon session, members of the Council for the Swiss Abroad, part of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad, held lively discussions.

Ninety-three delegates from around the world travelled to Central Switzerland to take part in this year’s second meeting of the Council of the Swiss Abroad (CSA), a meeting whose packed agenda led to lengthy discussions and significant time overruns.

Right from the start of Friday’s session, it became clear that relations between the Executive Committee, or rather the Secretariat, and the CSA were not entirely free of tension. Filippo Lombardi, President of the Organisation of the Swiss Abroad (OSA), opened the meeting with a speech aimed at defending the OSA and its staff.

He referred to the numerous staff changes and absences within the OSA Secretariat. This, he said, had led to various delays in the work intended for the Council. With fewer than ten staff members in the Secretariat, the organisation relies on constructive cooperation with the CSA.

At the same time, the Executive Committee expressed its irritation at the letters, emails and critical statements issued by members of the Council which had been circulating. Lombardi expressly defended the staff and called for respectful behaviour. “It’s the tone that sets the mood,” he said, calling for objective discussion and respect for the staff. His appeal was met with a standing ovation from the majority of the Council.

Organs of the OSA

OSA Steering Committee: this 11-member body acts as the organisation’s board of directors or foundation board; it is chaired by Filippo Lombardi, President of the OSA. It acts on behalf of the Council of the Swiss Abroad.

OSA Secretariat: it manages the OSA’s operational activities, such as marketing, communications and advisory services, under the leadership of the OSA Director, Daniel Hunziker. It acts on behalf of the OSA Executive Committee.

Council of the Swiss Abroad: a parliament comprising 140 representatives from different regions of the world, as well as 20 members resident in Switzerland.

Lombardi also dismissed any suggestion of an existential crisis within the organisation. The OSA, which is celebrating its 110th anniversary this year, is overseen and funded by the foreign ministry and reports to it annually. Parliament, too, has demonstrated its confidence in the organisation by rejecting, at the start of the year, the cuts planned as part of the government’s budgetary relief programme.

Finally, the committee received the support of the Council, with three delegates taking the floor to explicitly express their confidence in it.

Theme of next congress fails to convince

Due to the decline in the number of participants and the reduction in funding from sponsors, the OSA decided in 2024 that the Congress of Swiss Abroad would take place only once per legislative term. The next edition will take place in 2027.

The Secretariat informed the Council that the congress would be held from August 20-22, 2027, at the Lausanne Hotel School. However, the proposed theme, water, met with little enthusiasm among the assembly.

Numerous contributions questioned this choice. Several delegates asked the committee to select a theme that was more relevant to Swiss citizens living abroad and more closely aligned with their everyday lives – particularly in view of the federal elections in autumn 2027, which will take place just a few weeks after the congress.

Compromise on OSA objectives

In a motion, several delegates called on the committee to clarify the objectives for the legislative period. “We want clear, measurable goals, accompanied by a timetable,” said Daniel Heusser, delegate for China and co-signatory of the proposal.

The CSA’s delegate for China, Daniel Heusser. Auslandschweizer-Organisation

While Lombardi showed understanding for the request, he pointed out, on the one hand, that a timetable had already been set for each objective, and he expressed doubts as to the feasibility of the specific details put forward.

Several voices in the assembly spoke out in support of the motion. “I am an entrepreneur and I set KPIs [key performance indicators] every day,” said Simon Michel, a parliamentarian for the Radical-Liberal Party and member of the Council’s Internal Affairs Committee. “Don’t worry, we won’t chop your head off if you don’t meet them.”

Carlo Sommaruga, a Social Democrat parliamentarian sitting on the OSA committee, provided the solution to a lively and heated discussion. He proposed that the Council “supplement the legislative assembly’s objectives with indicators tailored to our remit”, a proposal which the co-signatories accepted. The CSA will approve the document at its November meeting.

Highlighting the contribution of Swiss citizens abroad

“We pay tax on our property in Switzerland, we pay withholding tax on our second pillar pensions, we do not benefit from the Swiss National Bank’s profits, and much more besides!” Ruth Perracini-Liechti, CSA delegate for Costa Rica, wanted the CSA to demonstrate, using facts and figures, what Swiss citizens abroad contribute to the country.

Filippo Lombardi referred to the postulate tabled by Carlo Sommaruga in the Senate in December 2025, which calls for an evaluation report on the Swiss Abroad Act. This will be drafted by the Consular Directorate of the foreign ministry.

Marianne Jenni, director of the Consular Directorate, who was present at the meeting, explained that the report would include as many statistics and figures as possible, but that it would not be possible to quantify the financial contribution made by Swiss citizens abroad.

To address this shortcoming, the CSA decided to endorse Perracini-Liechti’s proposal, subject to the condition that the study could be entrusted to an institute or a university, as the OSA does not have the necessary financial resources to carry it out.

>> Delegates responded to the criticism that they were ‘freeloaders’:

A wealth of information and motions

The afternoon was devoted to examining the delegates’ motions and the information provided by various institutions.

A representative from the Federal Chancellery provided an update on the progress of e-voting in Switzerland and tempered the hopes of the Swiss delegates present regarding the possibility of e-voting being rolled out across the whole of Switzerland in the near future.

The foreign ministry was represented by the Consular Division. As the OSA is largely funded by contributions from the foreign ministry, its representatives regularly brief the CSA on activities and projects concerning Swiss citizens abroad. Marianne Jenni, in particular, presented the “Young Swiss Abroad” project. Switzerland aims in this way to better inform young Swiss citizens abroad about their rights and obligations in order to prevent them from losing their nationality.

>> Learn more here:

Although the sitting was initially marked by tensions and heated debates, calm was restored towards the end of the day. The motions, the number of which has risen significantly during the current parliamentary term, were dealt with one after the other, and the sitting finally drew to a close without further disruption.

Edited by Samuel Jaberg. Translated from French, sub-edited by ts