# Parmelin begins new Swiss presidency with tariffs and EU talks on his agenda
Event date: 2026-01-01
Guy Parmelin is set for a second stint as Swiss president after winning 203 of 210 valid votes in the Federal Assembly, a result Swissinfo described as the best presidential showing in four decades. In an interview that accompanied the election, Parmelin laid out a message built around stability, negotiation and a belief that Switzerland needs more than one major partner in a turbulent world.
Parmelin said his ministry, which spans agriculture, education, research, economic affairs and industrial relations, has put him in front of almost every parliamentary committee. That, he suggested, is part of why he remains so popular in parliament. He also said he had always intended to serve the full legislative period, while leaving open the possibility that health problems could alter any politician's timetable.
The interview was shaped by the crises Parmelin says Switzerland has lived through: Covid-19, the war in Ukraine, the Credit Suisse collapse and US tariffs. He argued that the best outcome for Switzerland and the wider world would be renewed stability that lets the global economy recover and gives exporters better conditions. On the tariffs dispute, he said the government, not the private sector, must do the negotiating, even if businesses help prepare the ground.
Parmelin also signaled that Switzerland cannot rely on one relationship alone. He called the United States indispensable while also stressing ties with the European Union, China and trade partners such as India. He said Switzerland had three major partners that complement one another and that diversification was the lesson of the crisis of multilateralism. That line was especially important because his second turn in the presidency will also involve presenting the government's position in Brussels on a new EU agreement package.
In other words, the second presidency is less about ceremony than about messaging. Parmelin is using the office to argue that Switzerland can defend its interests by keeping channels open with Washington, Brussels and Beijing at the same time. The interview suggests he sees the coming year as one in which the country's diplomacy and export economy need to move together, not separately.
Parmelin's interview also gives a window into how Bern wants to handle the next round of EU talks. He said the government had already prepared a draft mandate and consulted relevant committees and cantons, because Switzerland wants to turn the non-binding declaration into a legally binding agreement. That procedural detail matters: it shows the presidency is being used to signal discipline, not improvisation. At the same time, his comments about diversifying partnerships are a reminder that he sees the United States, the EU, China and India as parts of the same strategic balancing act, not separate files. The federal role may be ceremonial, but Parmelin is using it to frame policy choices and to argue that Switzerland can defend its interests only by staying connected to several powers at once.
