The features are: (i) The Federal Council has seven members elected by the Federal Assembly after each general election to the National Council. (ii) Members are elected for a term of four years. (iii) Care must be taken to ensure appropriate representation of geographical and language regions. (iv) The President and Vice-President of the Federal Council are elected by the Federal Assembly from its members for a one-year term, with re-election for the following year not permitted for the President. (v) Members act both collectively and individually. (vi) All seven members have co-equal authority. The President is only a primus inter pares (first among equals) and performs ceremonial duties. (vii) Members are not members of the Federal Assembly but participate in deliberations without voting rights and cannot be removed by no-confidence motion or impeachment. (viii) The Federal Council is non-partisan, composed of members from different political parties but not working on party lines.