NRP 80: Closing conference of the research project ‘Swiss pandemic governance’
At the closing conference of the research project ‘Swiss pandemic governance’, representatives from academia and politics discussed lessons learned from the pandemic and proposals for a crisis management based on the constitution.
On 30 January 2026, the research project 'Improving Swiss Pandemic Governance – How to Strengthen Democracy, Federalism and Human Rights Implementation in Times of Crisis', carried out as part of the NRP 80, hosted its closing conference in Fribourg. The aim of the project is to examine the legal framework for pandemic management and to develop proposals for improving crisis governance in Switzerland.
Federal Chancellor Viktor Rossi opened the conference with his personal reflections on the Covid-19 crisis and on what it means to deal with successive crises. The researchers led by Prof. Eva Maria Belser, Prof. Andreas Stöckli and Prof. Bernhard Waldmann from the Institute of Federalism of the University of Fribourg then presented the key findings of their research in the form of a draft amendment to the Federal Constitution aimed at enhancing crisis resilience, as well as a thesis paper.
According to the research group, the Covid-19 pandemic has exposed shortcomings in the constitutional and legal framework for crisis governance. Although the Federal Council and Parliament have already amended several laws in the wake of the crisis, further adjustments are required. The aim must be to enact laws that make the use of emergency law the exception. At the same time, it must be ensured that an institutional framework is in place to safeguard the principles of the political system (democracy, the rule of law, federalism), even when emergency law is required to manage a crisis. This would necessitate a revision of the Federal Constitution.
The theses were then discussed in four round-table discussions. These were further enriched by contributions from speakers with practical experience. Speakers included the Director of the Federal Office of Public Health, Anne Lévy, the President of the Federal Electricity Commission (ElCom), Werner Luginbühl, the Deputy Director of the Federal Office of Justice, Susanne Kuster, the Secretary General of the Cantonal Council of Zurich, Moritz von Wyss, and the President of the Government of the canton of Graubünden, Martin Bühler. The research group will reflect on the insights gained from the discussions and the valuable feedback from practitioners.