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Whether it is forest care, the military or community service, every young person in Switzerland must contribute to the community and the environment. This is what the Service Citizen Initiative, filed last October, demands. She wants to start the debate about the conscription system.
But: while no less than 74 percent of the population in a Sotomo survey supported a Citoyen service for everyone, the Federal Council wants nothing to do with it. And he doesn’t want a counter-proposal either.
To fill the gaps in the army and civil defense, he prefers to stick to his own plans: at the end of this year he wants to decide on two new service models. Even all women can be held responsible.
Compatible with the ban on forced labor?
The Federal Council recognizes the aim of the initiative to “promote the individual and collective responsibility of Swiss citizens for society”. Civilian service would be performed as military service or in the form of another equivalent and legally recognized militia service.
Nevertheless, the state government rejects the referendum for several reasons. The initiative also leaves open the question to the Federal Council whether the army and civil defense will have sufficient staff in the future and whether conscription is compatible with the ban on forced labor.
The Federal Council puts forward economic reasons in advance
In addition: The Citoyen service would result in a significant extension of working days and working areas. It remains unclear whether the introduction of conscription would be compatible with the current requirement of relative labor market neutrality. The Federal Council estimates that the economic impact would be “significant” because the increased number of people required to serve in the military would roughly double the cost of income replacement.
In any case, the Federal Council does not consider it appropriate to remove twice as many personnel from the economy without their activities being directly related to a proven need for security. The Federal Council therefore mainly cites economic reasons that speak against a civilian service.
The responsible Ministry of Defense must prepare the message to Parliament by mid-October.
Source:Blick
I am Liam Livingstone and I work in a news website. My main job is to write articles for the 24 Instant News. My specialty is covering politics and current affairs, which I’m passionate about. I have worked in this field for more than 5 years now and it’s been an amazing journey. With each passing day, my knowledge increases as well as my experience of the world we live in today.
