The Council of States wants to facilitate arms exports
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The export of Swiss war materiel is to be made easier. On Wednesday, the Senate decided to give prior authorisation to applications from 25 Western countries. The Senate also wants to allow these countries to re-export Swiss equipment without authorisation.
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In 2022, the counter-proposal to a popular initiative against arms exports to countries facing civil war, known as the “corrective initiative”, came into force. Currently, all sales are prohibited if a country is involved in a conflict or seriously violates human rights.
Parliament wanted a more flexible approach, and the government proposed a time-limited derogation to allow exceptions to the authorisation criteria.
Swiss arms industry to be saved
But rightwing Senators want to go further. The defence technological and industrial base, which is important for Switzerland’s security, must be maintained, said committee rapporteur Brigitte Häberli-Koller of the Centre party. Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark have made it clear that they will no longer place orders with Switzerland, which they consider not flexible enough.
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Arms trade: Swiss neutrality as business strategy
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Switzerland’s share of the international arms trade is small. But the idea of a neutral nation profiting from war has long been controversial.
Instead of a derogation, the Senate wanted the law to specify that requests from the countries listed in the Ordinance on War Materiel would be authorised a priori. This would include 17 EU members, as well as the United States, Canada, Australia, Japan, New Zealand and Argentina. This change was opposed by leftwing Senators, to no avail. “The risk with this reform is that it will undermine Swiss neutrality,” warned Social Democrat Senator Daniel Jositsch.
Re-exports to be reviewed
The Senators also took the opportunity to return to the issue of re-exports. Radical party Senator Thierry Burkart proposed that countries on the aforementioned list should be able to transfer the war materiel they have received to another country without Switzerland’s agreement. This possibility would not be retroactive and would therefore not apply to Ukraine for the time being, explained Economics Minister Guy Parmelin.
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European nations snub Swiss-made weapons over Ukraine restrictions
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European countries are increasingly avoiding or halting arms purchases from Switzerland, chafing at restrictions linked to the country’s neutrality.
Here again, the leftwing opposed the proposal without success. “If we take this step, Swiss munitions will end up all over the world, including in conflicts,” warned Jositsch.
The matter now goes to the House of Representatives.
Adapted from French by DeepL/ac
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