On Monday, parliament approved two bills aimed at strengthening civil protection.
Civil servants may be required to spend a maximum of 80 days in a civil protection organisation that is permanently understaffed. Left-leaning political parties denounced the measure as an attack on civilian service.
Cantons would have to exhaust all the means at their disposal to fill their staffing gaps before resorting to people now obliged to perform civilian service.
It is also planned to extend the obligation to serve in civil protection to certain persons liable for military service and to former members of the armed forces.
The House of Representatives also raised the maximum age for service to 40, compared with 38 in the Federal Council’s version and 36 at present. The Senate approved this on Monday.
Translated from French with DeepL/mga
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