Switzerland to change from ICOS Observer to Member

21 April 2022

Switzerland seeks parliamentary permission to change its status from ICOS Observer to Member. The country has been part of ICOS since the very beginning, since ICOS’s establishment in 2015. Until now, Switzerland’s legislation has made it challenging for it to be a member of European organisations such as ERICs (European Research Infrastructure Consortia), in essence allowing the country an Observer status only. However, now the Swiss Government, called Federal Council, has asked the Parliament to agree on full membership in ICOS, along with five other European research infrastructures. In the case of ICOS, this means e.g. voting rights in the General Assembly, the highest decision-making body of ICOS. Switzerland has currently two ICOS stations, Davos and Jungfraujoch, both of them Class 1 (the highest standard). 

Read more in the press release by the Swiss Federal Council. 

Read more about ICOS Switzerland

Picture of an observation station on a snowy mountaintop and a station in a green forest
The Ecosystem observation station in Davos, Switzerland and the Atmosphere station in Jungfraujoch, Switzerland. Picture from Davos by Matthias Paintner.