Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research EAER
The EAER is where the federal government’s expertise on economic affairs and trade policy is concentrated. You can follow our strategy for employment, growth and prosperity in Switzerland and for securing sustainable development. Furthermore, the EAER combines education, research and innovation – three areas that are crucial for our society and for Switzerland’s economic performance.
News
Press releases
Sanctions: Measures against persons, groups, businesses and organisations associated with ISIL (Da’esh) and Al-Qaida
The UN sanctions committee has amended the list of sanctioned individuals, companies and organizations. The SESAM database has been updated accordingly.
Consumer sentiment slightly higher than a year ago
In May 2025 the consumer sentiment index stood at –37 points. This is 1.5 points higher than in May 2024. The following sub-indices were higher than in May 2024: past financial situation, financial outlook and moment to make major purchases. The following sub-index is lower than a year ago: economic outlook.
Federal Council appoints two new members to ETH Board
On 6 June the Federal Council appointed Martin Keller and Matthias Leuenberger to the ETH Board. Martin Keller will take office on 1 August, succeeding Christiane Leister, who passed away at the beginning of March. From 1 January 2026 Matthias Leuenberger will succeed Susan Gasser, whose term of office comes to an end in December. Martin Keller has many years of experience in corporate management and development and Matthias Leuenberger in leading positions in the pharmaceutical industry, making them ideal new members of the ETH Board.
Novel manufacturing technique for piezoelectric thin films: Better electronics – due to perfect timing
When fractions of a second make all the difference: Empa researchers developed a process for manufacturing advanced thin films in which sophisticated timing enables high-quality functional layers at low process temperatures. The new method has applications in the semiconductor industry as well as in future quantum and photonics technologies.
Ukraine: Switzerland updates its sanctions listings
Switzerland is adopting the listings decided by the EU inits 17th sanctions package in response to Russia's ongoing war against Ukraine. The amendments will come into force on 3 June.
SECO: Ordinance on Measures Connected with the Situation in Ukraine
On 2 June 2025 the Federal Department of Economic Affairs EAER has amended annexes 1, 2, 8, 29 and 33 of the ordinance. 17 persons and 58 organizations were added to annex 8. In addition, 189 ships were added to annex 33 and 31 companies to annex 2. Furthermore, additional goods were added to annex 1 and the existing exemption in annex 29 was extended until June 28, 2026. The measures come into force on 3 June 2025 at 23:00.