1. Alain Berset left office on 31 December 2023, and was succeeded by Beat Jans on the Federal Council.
14 Facts About Alain Berset
1. 2.
On 25 June 2024, Alain Berset was elected Secretary General of the Council of Europe, and assumed his role on 18 September 2024 succeeding Marija Pejcinovic Buric.
3.
Alain Berset defeated Belgian candidate Didier Reynders and Estonian candidate Indrek Saar.
4.
Alain Berset studied political science and economics at the University of Neuchatel, where he received a master's degree in political science in 1996 and a PhD in economics in 2005 with a dissertation about the role of international migration upon local working conditions.
5.
Alain Berset is married to Muriel Zeender Alain Berset and is the father of three children.
6.
Alain Berset worked as an assistant lecturer and researcher at the Institute for Regional Economics of the University of Neuchatel from 1996 till 2000, when he moved to the Hamburg Institute for Economic Research for a year.
7.
Alain Berset served on the Belfaux communal parliament from 2001 to 2003.
8.
Alain Berset was a member of the parliamentary assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe.
9.
Alain Berset was one of the Social Democratic Party's two candidates officially put forward to succeed the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, Micheline Calmy-Rey, who had announced her resignation from the Federal Council.
10.
Alain Berset became head of the Federal Department of Home Affairs as its former head Didier Burkhalter became head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.
11.
On 1 January 2017, Alain Berset became Vice-President of the Federal Council under President Doris Leuthard, whom he succeeded on 1 January 2018.
12.
On 1 January 2022, Alain Berset became again Vice-President of the Federal Council, under President Ignazio Cassis; on 7 December 2022, he was elected President, succeeding Cassis on 1 January 2023.
13.
On 14 June 2022, Alain Berset was cleared in a parliamentary investigation into the alleged abuse of state resources.
14.
Alain Berset is the author of several books and some 30 articles on economic development, migration, and regional development.