Hans Schaffner
Encyclopedia
Hans Schaffner was a Swiss
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
politician and member of the Swiss Federal Council (1961-1970).
He was elected to the Swiss Federal Council
Swiss Federal Council
The Federal Council is the seven-member executive council which constitutes the federal government of Switzerland and serves as the Swiss collective head of state....
on June 15, 1961 and handed over office on January 31, 1970. He is affiliated to the Free Democratic Party
Free Democratic Party of Switzerland
The Free Democratic Party was a classical liberal political party in Switzerland. It was one of the major parties in Switzerland until its merger with the smaller classical liberal Liberal Party, to form FDP.The Liberals on 1 January 2009....
. After receiving a degree in law, he entered the federal civil service as the head of the Division in charge of wartime economy (1941). In 1954, he became Director of the Trade Division of the Economic Affairs Department. With the president of the Board of Trade Reginald Maudling, he was during a meeting of non EEC countries in the Alabama Room in Geneva, one of the initiators of the European Free-Trade Association (EFTA) in December 1958.
During his time in office he held the Department of Economic Affairs
Department of Economic Affairs
The Department of Economic Affairs could refer to:*Department of Economic Affairs - A government body in the UK in the 1960s.*Federal Department of Economic Affairs - A government body in Switzerland....
and was President of the Confederation in 1966. During that year, Switzerland became a member of GATT. He prepared mesasures in favour of agriculture, a new law about labour relations and measures against inflation. After retirement, he held positions in several Boards of directors (Sandoz, Rieter, Câbleries de Cossonay). He fought for liberal and free-trade values.