Arms: Federal Council wants to ease export rules

The Federal Council has come out in favour of the revision of the War Material Act, the text that Swiss citizens will vote on on 29 November. The government is calling for it to be approved, in order to strengthen Switzerland's defence industry and safeguard jobs in the sector. This position officially opens the campaign ahead of the vote, which is exactly two months away.

Current rules and proposed changes

Today the law bans the export of Swiss war material to countries involved in conflicts, whether internal or international. According to Bern, since the start of the war between Russia and Ukraine, this rule has made the Swiss arms industry unattractive to foreign buyers, exposing it to strong economic and competitive pressure.

The centre-right majority in parliament therefore wants to give the government more room for manoeuvre on arms exports and re-exports. The stated goal is to make it easier for Western countries to transfer war material bought in Switzerland on to third countries.

As a counterweight, the revision would also give the Federal Council a right of veto and the power to require that weapons remain in the buying country, when there are concerns about security or neutrality policy. In exceptional circumstances, to protect foreign policy or security interests, the government could depart from the current authorisation criteria, while staying within the international obligations Switzerland has already signed up to.

The Federal Department of Economic Affairs, Education and Research (EAER) states, in a press release, that the reform will give the Federal Council greater foreign policy flexibility in exceptional crises, and will strengthen the arms industry as a foundation of national defence. Addressing parliament, the President of the Confederation and economy minister Guy Parmelin said the new regime would always be applied in strict compliance with Swiss neutrality and international law.