Federal Council recommends councils reject initiative for citizen service
Published: Wednesday, Oct 16th 2024, 10:00
Volver a Live Feed
The Federal Council recommends that the National Council and Council of States reject the popular initiative "For a committed Switzerland (Service-citoyen initiative)" without a counter-proposal. It adopted this message on Wednesday. The population should only be obliged to provide services that are necessary for Switzerland's security.
The popular initiative submitted on October 26 last year demands that Swiss citizens perform a service for the community and the environment, a kind of civic service. This could either be service in the army or another, equivalent and recognized militia service.
The Federal Council acknowledges the initiative's concern to promote the individual and collective responsibility of Swiss citizens for society through compulsory services, according to a statement issued by the national government on Wednesday. However, the population should only be obliged to provide services to the extent that society is dependent on the deployment of the army, civil defense and civilian service.
If the initiative is accepted, at least twice as many people would be recruited for a service every year than is the case today, and the types of service would be massively expanded, particularly to include those without a security connection. The Federal Council does not believe that society has a need for this.
The Federal Council argues that the introduction of a "service for the benefit of the general public and the environment" would also result in twice as many workers being withdrawn from the labor market compared to today. This would place a heavy burden on the economy and would make little sense from an economic point of view.
The initiators received a great deal of support when they submitted their petition: According to the Sotomo research institute's generation barometer, 74% of the population were in favor of a service citoyen for all.
©Keystone/SDA
Spanish 
English 
German 
French 
Arabic