Urban Ahlin has been a member of the Swedish Riksdag (parliament) for the Social Democratic Party since 1994. Between 2002 and 2014, he was, among other things, party spokesman on foreign policy and chairman, then deputy chairman of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He was elected speaker of the Riksdag on 29 September 2014 after the parliamentary elections in that year.
The Swedish parliament, the Riksdag, is a single-chamber parliament with 349 directly elected members.
During his visit to Switzerland, Urban Ahlin and his delegation had talks with the president of the National Council, Stéphane Rossini, and the president of the Council of States, Claude Hêche, as well as with Federal Councillor Johann N. Schneider-Ammann, head of the Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER). The delegation’s itinerary also included a visit to the Innovation Park and the Rolex Learning Center at the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne.
Bilateral relations between Sweden and Switzerland
Relations between Sweden and Switzerland are excellent. This year, Sweden recently celebrated the 100th anniversary of the opening of its embassy in Bern. The two countries conduct their bilateral relations primarily within international organisations, including the UN, where they work closely together on questions such as the rule of law, democracy and human rights.
In Bern, the talks focused on current themes such as implementing the Swiss popular initiative against mass immigration and dealing responsibly with refugees. The Swedish delegation took the view that in view of Sweden’s ageing population, the influx of migrants was to be seen more as an opportunity and that the successful integration of migrants was therefore crucially important.
Another topic of discussion was the impact of the strong franc on Switzerland’s economy. Like the Swiss franc, the Swedish krona has strengthened significantly in the wake of steadily increasing demand. In this context, competitive devaluations among leading currencies and the introduction of negative interest rates by both countries’ central banks were also discussed.
The president of the Council of States, Claude Hêche, explained to the Swedish visitors the characteristics of the Swiss system of a semi-professional parliament and its two-chamber system.
The talks with Federal Councillor Schneider-Ammann focused on the creation of a framework that would promote innovation and sustainable economic growth, as well as on Switzerland’s participation in the EU’s research programmes in implementation of the common research and innovation policy.