Formed in 2011, the OECD Global Parliamentary Network is a platform for parliamentary officials from OECD countries to share their knowledge and experience. The network's annual plenary meeting took place in Paris from 11 to 13 March. With industrial policy experiencing a renaissance worldwide, this year's meeting was largely devoted to the growth of industrial policy measures and strategies. The agenda also included the economic outlook, energy market trends identified by the International Energy Agency and value chains for critical minerals.
The delegation also met with the experts responsible for Switzerland at the OECD Economics Department. They discussed the current economic situation and key structural issues addressed in the OECD country report on Swiss economic policy, which is currently being prepared and will be published in autumn 2026.
On the sidelines of the parliamentary network meeting, the delegation held bilateral talks on issues of central importance to the Swiss parliament, particularly in the area of tax policy. The focus was on implementing global minimum taxation as part of the 'side-by-side' package agreed with the US in January. Other topics of discussion included current trade policy developments, such as the future of multilateral approaches, the importance of bilateral free trade agreements, critical trade dependencies and supply security risks, and the competitiveness of Swiss agriculture. Energy and supply security was also discussed, in particular the prospects for renewable energies and nuclear energy, the supply of strategic minerals and geopolitical factors influencing the energy markets.