MORITZ LEUENBERGER, NEW PRESIDENT OF THE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BERN 000008

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PINR ECON SZ
SUBJECT: MORITZ LEUENBERGER, NEW PRESIDENT OF THE
SWITZERLAND


1.(U) Moritz Leuenberger, Federal Councilor and Minister of
Environment, Transport, Energy & Communications, assumed the
presidency of the Swiss Confederation on January 1 for the
2006 calendar year. Under Switzerland's constitutional
system, the seven members of the Federal Council rotate into
the presidency for a term of one year. As president, federal
councilors perform ceremonial functions at home and abroad,
but otherwise maintain their normal portfolios. Leuenberger,
a Social Democrat and longest-serving member of the Federal
Council, last served as president in 2001. He succeeds
Defense Minister Samuel Schmid in this position.

Significance for the United States
--------------

2.(SBU) A serving president is first among equals on the
Federal Council, so few expect the direction of Swiss policy
to change appreciably during Leuenberger's term. Still, a
Swiss president can use his formal agenda-setting privileges
and informal authority to steer matters in a particular
direction. Samuel Schmid did this during his tenure, when in
May of 2005 he convened an extraordinary meeting of the
Federal Council to review Swiss relations with the United
States. The outcome was on the whole positive. Schmid's
Defense Ministry compiled a list of modest security measures
for increased cooperation on Afghanistan, Iraq and Eastern
Europe. The Department of Economic Affairs garnered Swiss
government support to propose a bilateral Free Trade
Agreement with the United States. The Justice Department
moved incrementally to broaden law enforcement cooperation.
And, not to be outdone, the Department of Foreign Affairs,
upon the initiative of State Secretary Michael Ambuehl,
pushed for its own "bilateral framework" for cooperation on
security, democracy and human rights, and humanitarian
assistance. (Comment: FM Micheline Calmy-Rey, also a
socialist, was initially reticent about placing any emphasis
on the U.S.-Swiss bilateral relationship, but swiftly jumped
on the band wagon when she realized the remainder of the
Federal Council supported it. End comment.)

3.(SBU) As a Social-Democrat (SP),Leuenberger is not likely
to invest his own energy in the U.S.-Swiss bilateral
relationship. The SP leadership supports eventual Swiss
membership in the European Union; Leuenberger is likely to
focus his energies there. That said, Leuenberger -- more a
pragmatist than ideologue -- is unlikely to get in the way of
modest improvements in U.S.-Swiss cooperation favored by his
colleagues. The most significant such measure might be a
Free Trade Agreement, which Leuenberger is thought to
generally favor.

4.(SBU) Reinforcing low expectation of a "Leuenberger
imprint" on Swiss policy over the coming year is his very
low-key, even bland personality. He is also expected to step
down from the Federal Council after the end of his
presidency, meaning the jockeying is already beginning within
the SP to find a replacement. Leuenberger has also been
under steady attack from the right-populist Swiss People's
Party (SVP),which at one point claimed that Leuenberger was
too overwhelmed with his regular portfolio to assume the
presidency. Conventional wisdom has it that SVP leader and
current Justice Minister Christoph Blocher want to take over
Leuenberger's department after he retires in order to carry
out reforms which the SP has been reluctant to make: the
weaning of Swisscom and the Swiss Post from public financial
support, the reduction of red tape, and removal of old-line
statist functionaries from the department's bureaucracy.

Biographical Notes
--------------

5.(U) Born September 21, 1946 in Biel, Canton of Bern,
Leuenberger has spent the majority of his life a resident of
Zurich. He studied law at the University of Zurich 1966-1970
and received his degree and admission to the Zurich bar in

1972. He conducted his own law practice from 1972-1991 and
led the Swiss Tenant's Association, 1986-1991.

6.(U) A member of the Social Democratic Party (SP) from 1969,
he led the Zurich SP chapter, 1972-1980; was a Zurich
Municipal Council member, 1972-1983; was elected to the
National Council (lower house of parliament),1979-1995; and
served as Zurich cantonal Justice & Home Affairs chief,
1991-1995.

7.(U) In 1995, the SP placed Leuenberger on the slate to
assume one of the two SP position on the Federal Council.
Leuenberger took the Environment, Transport, Energy &
Communications. He served as President, under Switzerland's
rotating system, in 2001 and, now, in 2006.


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8.(U) Leuenberger is married to the architect Gret
Loewensberg, and has two grown sons.
Urban