Proposals / Economy / Amendment to the War Material Act
Referendum · Confederation (CH)
Amendment to the War Material Act
Amendment of 19 December 2025 to the Federal Act on War Material (War Material Act, WMA). The Federal Council is given the power to derogate from the authorisation criteria for foreign transactions in exceptional circumstances (new Art. 22b). Parliament added two points that the Federal Council had not proposed: the exclusion criterion of armed conflict does not apply to countries for which the Federal Council provides exemptions from the individual licence requirement (Art. 22a para. 2bis), and the Federal Council may require a non-re-export declaration if foreign, neutrality or security policy reasons so require; for supplies of individual parts and assemblies into international value chains, it is in principle waived (Art. 18). The amendment is subject to an optional referendum (referendum deadline 17 April 2026); the vote will take place on 29 November 2026. A popular majority decides.
Machine translation · German original
Änderung vom 19. Dezember 2025 des Bundesgesetzes über das Kriegsmaterial (Kriegsmaterialgesetz, KMG). Der Bundesrat erhält die Kompetenz, bei ausserordentlichen Umständen von den Bewilligungskriterien für Auslandsgeschäfte abzuweichen (neuer Art. 22b). Das Parlament hat zwei Punkte hinzugefügt, die der Bundesrat nicht beantragt hatte: Das Ausschlusskriterium des bewaffneten Konflikts gilt nicht für Länder, für die der Bundesrat Ausnahmen von der Einzelbewilligungspflicht vorsieht (Art. 22a Abs. 2bis), und der Bundesrat kann eine Nichtwiederausfuhr-Erklärung verlangen, wenn aussen-, neutralitäts- oder sicherheitspolitische Gründe es erfordern; bei Zulieferungen von Einzelteilen und Baugruppen in internationale Wertschöpfungsketten wird grundsätzlich darauf verzichtet (Art. 18). Die Änderung untersteht dem fakultativen Referendum (Referendumsfrist bis 17. April 2026); abgestimmt wird am 29. November 2026. Es entscheidet das Volksmehr.
Each impact is stated in its own unit. schwur.ch does not combine them into an overall score.
- Export controls for war material
Armed conflict no longer rules out exports to certain countries
No figuredescribed qualitatively, evidence linkedConfidence 0.7 · high5 pieces of evidence - Export controls for war material
Federal Council may derogate from the export criteria in exceptional circumstances
No figuredescribed qualitatively, evidence linkedConfidence 0.7 · high11 pieces of evidence - Re-export of war material
Non-re-export declaration only when needed, in principle none for supplied components
No figuredescribed qualitatively, evidence linkedConfidence 0.7 · high6 pieces of evidence - Parliament & separation of powers
Parliament is informed within 24 hours, derogating ordinances are time-limited
No figuredescribed qualitatively, evidence linkedConfidence 0.7 · high7 pieces of evidence - Neutrality & war material
What continues to apply: the law of neutrality, Article 22 and embargoes
No figuredescribed qualitatively, evidence linkedConfidence 0.7 · high13 pieces of evidence - No figuredescribed qualitatively, evidence linkedConfidence 0.7 · high9 pieces of evidence
- Security policy cooperation
Relations with security partners and offset transactions
No figuredescribed qualitatively, evidence linkedConfidence 0.7 · high8 pieces of evidence
Legal impacts
- Procedural change
Derogating ordinances apply for a maximum of four years, extendable once
WMA Art. 22b Abs. 3 · linked to 1 impact
- Shift of competence
Federal Council given power to derogate from the authorisation criteria
WMA Art. 22b Abs. 1 · linked to 3 impacts
- Procedural change
Security policy committees informed within 24 hours
WMA Art. 22b Abs. 2 · linked to 1 impact
- Legislative change
Conflict criterion does not apply to countries with exemptions from the individual licence requirement
WMA Art. 22a Abs. 2bis · linked to 3 impacts
- Legislative change
Non-re-export declaration: discretionary provision and waiver for supplies of components
WMA Art. 18 · linked to 2 impacts