Additional information about gender quotas

Constitutional quota regulations were proposed in 1996 and 2000, but not passed.

A federal popular initiative was proposed in 1996 to amend the constitution in order to promote "the equitable representation of women in federal bodies". The proposals included various provisions for the different federal authorities, the National Council, the Council of States, The Federal Council and the Federal Tribunal.

For the National Council, it was proposed that the difference between the number of women and men representing each canton could not be greater than one. For the Council of States, it was proposed that each canton elects two MPs, one women and one man. The Federal Council, composed of seven members, would have at least three women.

'The Swiss parliament has approved a government proposal calling for better representation of women at the top echelons of large publicly-traded companies. It requires companies to set aside at least 30% of positions in the boards of directors and 20% in the executive boards for women over the next five and ten years respectively. '(Swissinfo, 2019)