Pascal Couchepin

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Pascal Couchepin
Member of the Swiss Federal Council
Incumbent
Assumed office  1998
Preceded by	Jean-Pascal Delamuraz
Born	April 5, 1942
Political party	FDP/PRD

Pascal Couchepin (born April 5, 1942) is a Swiss politician who has been a member of the Swiss Federal Council since 1998.

He was elected to the Swiss Federal Council on March 11, 1998 as a member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD) and French speaking Valais. During his office time he has held the following departments:

• Federal Department of Economic Affairs (1998 - 2002)
• Federal Department of Home Affairs (Swiss interior minister, 2003-present)

He was the President of the Confederation in 2003. On 13 December 2006, he was elected vice-president of the Confederation for 2007; if tradition holds, he will be elected president again in 2008.

Previously, he had been Deputy Mayor (1976) and Mayor of Martigny (since 1984) and, from 1979 to 1998, member of the National Council.

Couchepin holds a law degree from the University of Lausanne, is father of three children (2 girls and a boy) and has two grandchildren.

As of March 14 2007, he is the Vice-President of Switzerland for 2007. It is expected that he will assume the presidency for 2008.

[edit] External links

• Official biography
• Profile of Pascal Couchepin with election results on the website of the Swiss Federal Council.
• Pascal Couchepin in German, French or Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
• Biography of Pascal Couchepin on the website of the Swiss Parliament. (French)
• Works by and about Pascal Couchepin in the German National Library catalogue

Preceded by Jean-Pascal Delamuraz	Member of the Swiss Federal Council Since 1998	Succeeded by None (Incumbent)
Preceded by Kaspar Villiger	President of the Confederation 2003	Succeeded by Joseph Deiss