Federal Council opens consultation on ERI Dispatch for 2025-2028
Bern, 02.06.2023 - On 2 June 2023, the Federal Council opened the consultation on the Dispatch on Education, Research and Innovation for 2025-2028 (ERI Dispatch). Planned expenditures have been set at CHF 29.7 billion. The Confederation’s ERI policy is intended to create sustainable prospects for individuals, society and the economy. The aims, measures and funding will be implemented over a longer period and will be evenly balanced between the different ERI policy fields. The consultation will run until 24 September 2023.
One of Switzerland's key recipes for success has been its sustained long-term and reliable financial investment in favour of education, research and innovation. An interim assessment of the 2021-2024 funding period shows that the Swiss ERI system is in good shape overall and internationally competitive. In the ERI Dispatch for 2025-2028, the Federal Council has reiterated its stated goal for the 2021-2024 funding period, namely that of ensuring that ‘Switzerland retains its leadership position in education, research and innovation.'
In order to achieve this goal, the Federal Council proposes allocating a total of CHF 29.7 billion to the ERI sector for 2025-2028. On 10 March 2023, the Federal Council decided upon an annual growth rate of nominally 2% for this policy field as part of its decisions on the federal multi-year financial resolutions. With its decisions to balance the budget, it also noted that the financial situation of the federal budget remains difficult. Overall, the ERI sector should be spared a ‘stop-go' policy. Whether the spending volume set in the ERI Dispatch can be reached, however, will depend on the state of federal finances over time.
In the 2025-2028 funding period, the Federal Council will address major challenges. This includes providing reliable support to the cantons for VET, professional education and higher education in order to provide the necessary skilled workers on the labour market. The ETH Domain will also be provided with a solid increase of its funding. An additional priority area is continuing education and training, which is important to enable lifelong learning.
As a prime location for economic and research activities, Switzerland faces increased international pressure. The Federal Council will reinforce Swiss competitiveness through extra funding for its bodies for research and innovation, e.g. the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) and the Swiss Innovation Agency (Innosuisse), which award funding on a competitive basis. This will benefit higher education institutions, SMEs, start-ups and other stakeholders.
The Federal Council will submit the ERI Dispatch with twelve financial proposals to the Swiss Parliament after the consultation period. These are intended to finance policy measures in the areas of VET and CET, professional education and higher education as well as support for research and innovation. The ERI Dispatch does not include budget allocations relating to international agreements or budget requests submitted separately to the Swiss Parliament (e.g. for Switzerland's contribution to EU framework programmes for research and innovation, or for transitional measures until Switzerland recovers associated country status). Policy research funding (i.e. research commissioned and/or conducted by the Federal Administration) is also excluded from the scope of the ERI Dispatch and is directly requested by the corresponding administrative unit. Alongside its financial requests for the next four-year funding period, the Federal Council has also requested specific legislative amendments.
This is the first time that an ERI Dispatch has been submitted for consultation. The Federal Council is expected to pass the 2025-2028 ERI Dispatch to the Swiss Parliament at the end of February 2024.
Address for enquiries
GS-EAER Communication,
info@gs-wbf.admin.ch, +41 58 462 20 07
Publisher
The Federal Council
https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start.html
Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research
http://www.wbf.admin.ch
Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research
http://www.wbf.admin.ch
