How Switzerland wants to change conscription and why it is causing resistance

The Swiss parliament wants to make it more difficult to switch from military to civilian service.

The goal of the measure, adopted against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, is to bolster army numbers.

The political left is against the reform, fearing it could be a first step towards scrapping civilian service entirely.

Read more about the situation in Switzerland in the article by Samuel Jaberg of SwissInfo: Switzerland needs more soldiers: how the country is closing loopholes for 'alternative service'.

In Switzerland, military service is compulsory for citizens. Civilian service is an alternative to military service.

Civilian service in Switzerland allows individuals to avoid conscription into the armed forces. In order to be eligible, applicants must meet three criteria. They must be deemed fit for military service; have a conflict of conscience; and be willing to serve for one-and-a-half times longer than they would in the army.

Those performing civilian service are put to work in areas of public interest. Like their military peers, they receive compensation for loss of income during their service.

In 2025 a record 7,211 people were accepted for civilian service in Switzerland. A third of applications were submitted after the basic recruit training. The number of service days completed – nearly 1.9 million – was also at its highest level since civilian service was introduced in 1996.

This trend does not fit the government’s plans.

Parliament wants to reduce admissions to civilian service by over 40%, from 7,200 to 4,000 a year.

Overall, the goal is to make alternative civilian service less attractive.

Among the six measures designed to reduce the appeal of civilian service is the introduction of a kind of refresher course, to be completed annually from the year following admission to civilian service.

The goal is to bring the conditions closer into line with those imposed on their army peers.

Also, civilian service placements requiring medical, dental or veterinary studies will no longer be permitted – this is to make serving in the army more attractive for doctors.

During the parliamentary debates, Economics Minister Guy Parmelin said civilian service had "become a problematic mass phenomenon, contrary to the original objective". He stressed that civilian service should remain an "exceptional" solution for those experiencing a conflict of conscience.

Supporters of the reform believe it will close this channel of manpower loss for the army.

In January an alliance of parties and associations submitted a referendum backed by 57,000 signatures against the tightening of the eligibility criteria for civilian service as decided by parliament in September 2025.

With the title "Save Civilian Service", the referendum is supported above all by the left-wing Social Democratic Party, the left-wing Green Party and the Protestant Party.

They argue that civilian service personnel carry out their duties in sectors where staff shortages are the most acute. If their numbers were reduced by 40%, these services would simply not be replaced, critics warn.

The opponents point out, the army is far from short of soldiers. By law, the armed forces must have 100,000 personnel, with a maximum threshold set at 140,000. Yet current numbers exceed this limit by 5%.

Regardless of the outcome of the vote on 14 June 2026, debate over the conditions of civilian service in Switzerland is unlikely to end.