Commission agrees to the commitment of civilians in civil defense
Published: Tuesday, Jun 25th 2024, 18:00
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Persons liable for civilian service should be obliged to perform part of their service with the civil defense. The responsible Council of States committee agrees to amend the Civil Protection Act accordingly.
The Security Policy Committee of the Council of States (SIK-S) approved the Federal Council's proposals by 12 votes to 1, as reported by the parliamentary services on Tuesday. The aim of the amendment to the law is to increase the number of civil defense personnel.
It should now be possible for those obliged to perform civilian service to do part of their service in the civil defense of a canton with a shortage of personnel. The civil defence organizations would no longer be able to provide their services if the problem of understaffing was not addressed, according to the majority.
Civil defense deployments are reasonable for civilian service members who do not perform military service for reasons of conscience. The majority does not agree that this could undermine civilian service. The cantons would have to exhaust all possibilities to recruit more civil defense personnel before they could fall back on civilians.
The opposing minority, on the other hand, believes that civilian service should remain voluntary. Services provided by civilians contribute significantly to national cohesion. The Council of States is expected to decide on the bill in the fall.
The civilian service association Civiva rejects the change. There are already opportunities to deploy civilian service members for civil defense, it wrote in response to the Commission's decision. With the amendment to the law, the civilian service would lose deployment days, for example in the healthcare sector, at schools and in social institutions.
©Keystone/SDA
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