Federal Council recommends rejection of the initiative on naturalisation

The Swiss Federal Council recommended rejecting the popular initiative “For a Modern Citizenship Law (Initiative for Democracy)”, which seeks to transfer naturalisation authority from the cantons to the Confederation and grant the right to Swiss citizenship after five years of legal residence under certain conditions. The Federal Council considers that the initiative would create a uniform naturalisation procedure across Switzerland, reducing cantonal and communal autonomy and it is a substantial infringement on cantonal powers and the federalist system of citizenship, which currently involves three levels of authority (federal, cantonal, communal). The Federal Department of Justice and Police is preparing a report by November 2025 and has reviewed studies on optimizing naturalisation procedures, focusing on transparency, efficiency, and quality of interviews. Future measures to improve naturalisation will be considered after the completion of these studies and parliamentary reports.