The Parliamentary Services (Swiss Federal Parliament)

What The Parliamentary Services (Swiss Federal Parliament) does

The Parliamentary Services (Parlamentsdienste / Services du Parlement) is the administrative support body of the Swiss Federal Assembly (Bundesversammlung / Assemblée fédérale), the bicameral legislature of the Swiss Confederation. Established as part of the modern Swiss federal state in 1848 and operating under the Federal Constitution of 18 April 1999 (in force since 1 January 2000), the institution serves the United Federal Assembly, which comprises the 200-member National Council and the 46-member Council of States. Its core function is to provide administrative, technical, documentary, and informational support to members of Parliament and to publish the official record of legislative proceedings.

The institution's primary 'products' are a suite of public-facing digital platforms: Curia Vista, a parliamentary business information system tracking bills, motions, committee proceedings, and votes; the Official Bulletin (Amtliches Bulletin / Bulletin officiel), the verbatim record of parliamentary debates; a Live+ streaming service for plenary sessions; the Parliamentary Library and its catalog; and a multilingual web presence available in German, French, Italian, and Romansh. These platforms are built around public transparency, document archival, and legislative workflow rather than commercial delivery, and the institution does not engage in market-facing product development.

The Parliamentary Services is not a commercial enterprise. It is funded entirely through federal budget appropriations allocated by Parliament as part of the standard Swiss federal budget cycle, with no pricing model, no customers in the commercial sense, and no revenue-generating products. Its 'end users' are Swiss citizens and the elected members and committees of the two chambers it serves. This makes the institution unsuitable for conventional commercial benchmarking but provides absolute durability of funding tied to the federal budget process and the constitutional standing of the legislature it supports.

Name

The Parliamentary Services (Swiss Federal Parliament)

Legal name

Swiss Federal Parliament (Bundesversammlung / Assemblée fédérale / Assemblea federale / Assemblea federala)

Website

https://parlement.ch

Company type

Private

Founded year

1848

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Parliamentary Services is the administrative body of the Swiss Federal Assembly, providing digital platforms (Curia Vista, Official Bulletin, Live+ streaming) and operational support to the bicameral legislature and, indirectly, Swiss citizens.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Bern

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

The Parliamentary Services operates the official Swiss Parliament digital platform providing public access to legislative information and proceedings. Core offerings include the Curia Vista database of parliamentary business, the Official Bulletin transcripts, a Parliamentary Voting Database, multilingual live streaming of sessions, and a Parliamentary Library for research support. Supporting services include a Media Library, Notifications subscription system, Freedom of Information Act request portal, and a Lexicon of Parliamentary Terms.

Product overview

The Swiss Federal Parliament operates a unified digital platform providing citizens access to parliamentary proceedings and services. The core offering consists of Curia Vista (parliamentary business database), the Official Bulletin (session transcripts and records), and a Parliamentary Voting Database. Supporting services include a Parliamentary Library for research support, Media Library for photos and videos, live streaming of sessions in four national languages, a notifications service for updates, a Freedom of Information Act request system, and a Lexicon of Parliamentary Terms with over 500 definitions. The platform is publicly accessible and designed to support transparency and citizen engagement with the legislative process.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Curia Vista Comprehensive searchable database of parliamentary business items, including official proposals, motions, and parliamentary affairs. Available to the public and parliamentarians for tracking legislative activity.
• Official Bulletin Official publication containing transcripts and records of National Council and Council of States sessions, including speeches, votes, and proceedings. Searchable by council member.
• Parliamentary Library Research support service providing access to parliamentary documents, archives, and specialized research assistance for parliamentarians and the public.
• Media Library Collection of parliamentary photos, videos, and webcam streams documenting parliament activities and sessions.
• Live Streaming Live broadcast service for National Council and Council of States sessions with audio support in German, French, Italian, and Romansh.
• Notifications Service Subscription-based notification system allowing users to receive updates on parliamentary activities, sessions, and selected business items, including RSS feeds.
• Lexicon of Parliamentary Terms Reference resource containing over 500 terms relating to Swiss parliament and its organs, providing definitions and explanations of parliamentary procedures and structures.
• Freedom of Information Act Service Service enabling citizens to request access to government documents and information under Switzerland's Freedom of Information Act.
• Parliamentary Voting Database Database of parliamentary votes allowing users to search and analyze voting patterns of council members.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss Parliament maintains an active delegation to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, participating in global parliamentary cooperation, human rights advocacy, and inter-parliamentary dialogue on international issues
• OSCE Parliamentary AssemblycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss Parliament participates in the OSCE PA with activities including presentations, timetables, and legal basis documentation for parliamentary observation and security cooperation
• NATO Parliamentary AssemblycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss Parliament maintains a delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly despite Switzerland not being a NATO member, participating in parliamentary activities related to security and defense cooperation
• Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of EuropecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss Parliament delegation participates in the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly with activities including presentations, timetables, legal basis, videos, and ongoing cooperative programs
• French-Speaking Parliamentary AssemblycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss Parliament maintains delegation to the Assemblée parlementaire de la Francophonie with presentations, timetables, activities, and legal basis documentation
• EFTA-EU DelegationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss Parliament maintains active delegations for relations with the European Free Trade Association and European Union, with portraits, calendars, activities, and legal basis documentation
• German BundestagmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBilateral delegation (Del-D) maintaining relations with the German Bundestag including joint activities, cooperation programs, and legal basis documentation
• French ParliamentmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBilateral delegation (Del-F) maintaining relations with the French Parliament including joint activities, cooperation programs, and legal basis documentation
• Italian ParliamentmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBilateral delegation (Del-I) maintaining relations with the Italian Parliament including joint activities, cooperation programs, and legal basis documentation
• Landtag of LiechtensteinmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBilateral delegation (Del-FL) maintaining relations with the Landtag of Liechtenstein including joint activities, cooperation programs, and legal basis documentation
• Austrian ParliamentmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBilateral delegation (Del-A) maintaining relations with the Austrian Parliament including joint activities, cooperation programs, and legal basis documentation
• PD-OECD (Parliamentary Dimension of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss Parliament participates in the OECD Parliamentary Dimension with legal basis documentation and joint activities related to economic cooperation and development
• Albania (Parliamentary Technical Cooperation)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss Parliament provides parliamentary technical cooperation assistance to Albania supporting democratic institution building and parliamentary capacity development
• Mongolia (Parliamentary Technical Cooperation)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss Parliament provides parliamentary technical cooperation assistance to Mongolia supporting democratic institution building and parliamentary capacity development
• North Macedonia (Parliamentary Technical Cooperation)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss Parliament provides parliamentary technical cooperation assistance to North Macedonia supporting democratic institution building and parliamentary capacity development
• Kosovo (Parliamentary Technical Cooperation)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSwiss Parliament provides parliamentary technical cooperation assistance to Kosovo supporting democratic institution building and parliamentary capacity development

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• European Parliament: The directly elected legislative body of the European Union, operating as a larger supranational parliament with multilingual proceedings, live streaming, committee structures, and delegations. Highly comparable to the Swiss Federal Parliament in function, scope of legislative activity, and digital transparency infrastructure, but operating at the EU rather than national level.
• U.S. Congress: The bicameral federal legislature of the United States, with the Library of Congress and Congressional Research Service functioning as its parliamentary services analog. Provides a much larger but functionally comparable legislative infrastructure with public bill tracking, committee records, and streaming, though at a substantially larger scale.

Direct peers

• UK Parliament: The bicameral legislature of the United Kingdom (House of Commons and House of Lords), operating comparable parliamentary services, Hansard transcripts, live streaming, select committees, and a well-developed public-facing digital platform — directly comparable to the Swiss Federal Parliament in legislative function.
• Austrian Parliament: The bicameral legislature of Austria, listed as a bilateral partner (Del-A delegation). Operates a comparable parliamentary services model, public stenographic protocols, plenary streaming, and committee oversight architecture to the Swiss Federal Parliament.
• German Bundestag: The lower house of the German federal parliament and an explicit bilateral partner of the Swiss Federal Parliament (Del-D delegation). Operates with comparable plenary streaming, plenary protocols, committee systems, and a Parliamentary Services-style administrative arm supporting members across all federal states.
• Italian Parliament: The bicameral legislature of the Italian Republic, with both chambers maintaining public databases, streaming, and parliamentary services. Listed as an explicit bilateral partner of the Swiss Federal Parliament (Del-I delegation), making it a directly comparable peer in legislative function and multilingual continental European practice.
• French Parliament (National Assembly): The lower house of the French Parliament and a bilateral partner of the Swiss Federal Parliament (Del-F delegation). Provides direct comparability as a neighboring national legislature with live streaming, public session records, and committee-based legislative work in a similar civil-law tradition.
• Canadian Parliament: The bicameral federal legislature of Canada (Senate and House of Commons), with the Library of Parliament providing research and parliamentary services analogous to Switzerland's Parliamentary Services. Operates comparable committee structures, Hansard transcripts, and bilingual digital proceedings.

Emerging players

• Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU): The global inter-parliamentary organization explicitly partnered with the Swiss Federal Parliament through an active delegation. Provides a comparable parliamentary cooperation and capacity-building platform, focused on international parliamentary dialogue, human rights, and democratic institution building rather than domestic legislation.
• Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe: An inter-parliamentary body of the Council of Europe in which the Swiss Federal Parliament holds an active delegation. Operates a similar committee and plenary structure with public records, legal basis documentation, and videos, providing a peer benchmark for the Swiss parliament's international cooperation work.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ParlCH
• YouTubeyoutube.com/ParlCH
• Facebookfacebook.com/345958796467
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-parliamentary-services-swiss-federal-parliament-
• Instagraminstagram.com/parlch

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Subsidiaries3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Parliamentary Services (Swiss Federal Parliament)