Politics Commission agrees to civilian service commitment in civil defense

Persons performing alternative civilian service should be able to be obliged to perform part of their service with 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 did not agree that this could undermine civilian service. The cantons would have to exhaust all possibilities to recruit more civilian guards before they could fall back on civilians.

The dissenting minority, on the other hand, believes that civil defense missions should remain voluntary for those obliged to perform civilian service. 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 amendment. There are already opportunities to use civilian service members for civil protection, 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.