Regulars at the fancy hotel: this is where the lobbyists trap our politicians

Lobbyists of all stripes experience a boom in the three-week sessions. It is an opportunity for them to convince parliamentarians of their concerns and positions.

Regular guests in the chic hotel

This happens not only in the lobby of the Federal Palace, but also around the parliament building. Sometimes during the lunch break or after the meeting in the evening. The transparency platform Lobbywatch has been documenting these events for several years. She counted 40 events for the current fall session. Eight of them alone take place in the noble Hotel Bellevue Palace.

Certain associations and interest groups are regular guests there with their lunches and dinners for MPs. Economiesuisse, the public transport information service (Litra), the chemical and pharmaceutical association Scienceindustries and Suissedigital feed parliamentarians there in almost every session.

Lobbying in the private restaurant

Other lobbying hotspots in Federal Bern include the Hotel Schweizerhof, the casino, the private restaurant Clé de Berne, run by the lobbying firm Furrer Hugi, and the Raiffeisen Forum, the pub for so-called public affairs of the banking group of the same name.

The topics of the lobbying events are always a good indication of which topics companies and associations would like to bring into politics. What stands out in the fall 2023 session: There are hardly any events on the topics that an SRH survey identified in July as the “biggest challenges for politics”: climate change, health costs and immigration are only marginally a problem.

The Organization of Swiss Abroad is concerned about “health insurance for Swiss abroad” (during a breakfast on September 13 at the Federal Palace). Raiffeisen and the Swiss Climate Foundation organize their lunch event with Federal Councilor Albert Rösti under the motto “Climate crisis: SMEs don’t maneuver, they act!”. Otherwise: silence on the issues that concern the population.

Energy drives lobbyists

The big topic of the lobby events in the autumn session is energy: “Is the energy supply guaranteed in winter?” was the question in the series of energy events in the Raiffeisen Forum. It is organized by no fewer than seven lobby associations (from Avenergy to Swiss-Eole to the Association of Swiss Electricity Companies).

“How much and what kind of energy will Switzerland have to import in the future?”: The Hydrogen/Power-to-X Parliamentary Group wants to clarify this question. However, the Parliamentary Group for Renewable Energy seems to have found an answer: “With electrical and thermal storage for security of supply”.

After this tour d’horizon of lobbying events during the autumn session, a small prediction can be made: the new parliament will be very intensively concerned with energy issues shortly after the elections. The lobbies will take care of that.