Alain Berset, councillor of states, Speaker of the Council of States 2008/2009 

 

 

 
 

Personal data

   Born in Fribourg on 9 April 1972; place of origin Misery-Courtion (canton of Fribourg)
Married to Muriel Zeender, 3 children
PhD in Economics and BSc in Political Science
     
 

Education

   PhD in Economics (2005), University of Neuchâtel
BSc in Political Science (1996), University of Neuchâtel
     
 

Professional experience

   since 2008: Self-employed consultant on strategy and public relations
since 2003: Member of the Council of States for the canton of
Fribourg
2002 -2003: Strategic consultant to the Department of Economic Affairs of the
canton of Neuchâtel
2000 - 2001: Guest researcher at the Hamburg Institute for Economic Research
(Germany)
1996 - 2000: Assistant lecturer and researcher at the Institute for Regional
Economics, University of Neuchâtel.
     
 

Political mandates

   Elected to the Council of States in December 2003
Vice-President of the Social Democratic parliamentary group since December 2005
Member of the Constituent Assembly of canton Fribourg and President of the Social Democrat parliamentary group in the Constituent Assembly from 2000 to 2004
Member of the Belfaux communal parliament (canton of Fribourg) from 2001 to 2003
     
 

Other Activities

   since 2005: President of the Swiss Association for the Promotion of AC/PGI, Bern
President of the Tenants’ Federation of French-speaking Switzerland, Lausanne
since 2004: President of the “Les Buissonnets” Foundation for people with disabilities, Fribourg
     
 

Some Recent Publications

  

Berset A, Levrat C. (2007) Changer d’ère, pour un nouveau contrat gouvernemental, Ed. Favre, 159 p.

Berset A. (2007) “Ciel, le Parlement a démantelé mon projet de loi; les aléas de la phase parlementaire”, in Fluckiger A., Guy-Ecabert C, Guider les parlements et les gouvernements pour mieux légiférer, Ed. Schulthess, pp. 137-145

Berset, A., Crevoisier, O. (2006) “Circulation of Competencies and Dynamics of Regional Production Systems”, International Journal of Multicultural Societies, vol.8, no.1, pp. 61-83.

Berset A. (2005) Transformation des systèmes locaux d'emploi et compétitivité des
régions: le rôle des migrations internationales, thesis for doctorate in economics Editions universitaires, 204 p.

(complete list: www.berset.ch)
     
 

Political affiliation

   Social Democrats
     
 

Languages

   French (mother tongue), German, English, [Spanish, Portuguese]