- The Federal Council should be able to deviate from the approval criteria for exports of war material in exceptional cases.
- After the Council of States, the National Council also wants to adapt the War Materials Act accordingly.
- In the large chamber, the bourgeois majority prevailed – against the fierce resistance of the council left.
Weapons, ammunition and other military equipment from Switzerland have a good reputation abroad. Last year, Switzerland exported war material worth a record almost a billion francs. The Swiss weapons industry has a long tradition. And the dilemma also goes back a long way: How much arms export should neutral Switzerland afford with its humanitarian tradition?
The conservative majority in the National Council found that the Federal Council should be able to decide this question more on a case-by-case basis. “The Federal Council should be able to decide relatively quickly in exceptional situations – without consulting Parliament,” demanded Aargau FDP National Councilor Maja Riniker. «The world we live in today requires a quick reaction from time to time. The Federal Council should definitely be able to have this authority again.”
In fact, the Federal Council currently has little leeway. Almost two years ago, under pressure from a popular initiative from center-left circles, parliament wrote clear principles into the law. Weapons exports are prohibited if:
- the destination country is involved in an internal or international armed conflict.
- the destination country seriously and systematically violates human rights.
The proposal now: The Federal Council should be able to deviate from this in exceptional circumstances, especially if the protection of the country’s foreign or security policy interests requires this.
Opponents criticize “undemocratic” decision
More leeway for the Federal Council: that goes too far for the Greens, the Green Liberals and the SP. They fear that this would also make arms exports to dictatorships like Saudi Arabia possible. “This removes the criteria of war material legislation from democratic control,” criticized Zurich SP National Councilor Priska Seiler Graf. “That creates a loophole for the Federal Council – and I don’t think that’s a good thing.”
The bourgeois majority prevailed. The new leeway for the Federal Council in arms exports will now be written into law and then come back to parliament. It is quite certain that in the end the voters will decide on the more flexible rules for the export of war material “Made in Switzerland”.