Editing Pascal Couchepin (section)

==Biography==
Couchepin holds a [[DEA (former French degree)|DEA]]'s degree in [[Law]] from the [[University of Lausanne]]. He is a father of three (two daughters and a son) and has two grandchildren.

He was elected to the [[Federal Council (Switzerland)|Swiss Federal Council]] on 11 March 1998 as a member of the [[Free Democratic Party of Switzerland]] from the [[canton of Valais]]. Previously, he had been Deputy Mayor (1976) and [[List of mayors of Martigny|Mayor of Martigny]] (from 1984), as well as elected to the [[National Council (Switzerland)|National Council]] from 1979 to 1998.

[[File:Bundesrat der Schweiz 2008 Teil 2.JPG|thumb|left|2008 Swiss Federal Council]]
In 1998 he took over the [[Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research|Federal Department of Economic Affairs]], in which position he fought against the government contributing any money to the [[World Jewish Congress lawsuit against Swiss Banks|$1.25 billion settlement]] between Swiss banks and [[Holocaust survivors]]. He was quoted as saying that "there is no reason for the Swiss Government to pay anything", as a government commission had shown "we did what was possible in the hard times of the war."<ref>[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A04E0DC1E3AF935A2575BC0A96E958260 New York Times]</ref> In 2003 he moved to the [[Federal Department of Home Affairs]]. He was the [[President of the Swiss Confederation|President of the Confederation]] in 2003. On 13 December 2006, he was elected vice president of the Federal Council for 2007; on 12 December 2007 was elected President of the Confederation for 2008.

During the [[Regensburg lecture|Pope Benedict XVI Islam controversy]], also known as the 2006 Regensburg lecture, he stated the Pope's speech was "intelligent and necessary."<ref>[http://fr.news.yahoo.com/17092006/5/le-ministre-suisse-de-l-interieur-defend-beno-t-xvi.html "Le ministre suisse de l'Intérieur défend Benoît XVI"]{{dead link|date=November 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, ''[[Associated Press]]'', 17 September 2006 {{in lang|fr}}</ref> On 12 June 2009, Couchepin announced his resignation from the Federal Council effective 31 October 2009.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/internal_affairs/Couchepin_throws_in_the_towel.html?siteSect=1511&sid=10816993|title=Couchepin throws in the towel|date= June 12, 2009|work=[[Swissinfo]]|access-date=2009-06-12}}</ref> This led to an [[2009 Swiss Federal Council election|election to fill his vacated seat]].

Pascal Couchepin is a member of the [[Global Leadership Foundation]], an organisation which works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets, human rights and the rule of law. It does so by making available, discreetly and in confidence, the experience of former leaders to today's national leaders. It is a not-for-profit organisation composed of former heads of government, senior governmental and international organisation officials who work closely with heads of government on governance-related issues of concern to them.