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The French president said that while he does not want to reinstate mandatory military service, he wants to see more young people volunteering.
ADVERTISEMENTFrench President Emmanuel Macron has urged young volunteers to “reinforce” army ranks in an address to French military personnel.During a speech at the Army Digital and Cyber Support Command in western France on Monday, in which he also called on European governments to increase their defence spending, Macron urged the government and armed forces to draft proposals detailing how more young volunteers could be mobilised — if needed — by May. “We need to do a better job of identifying volunteers, their competences, their professional progression, as well as training them and mobilising them when needed”, Macron told the audience.”I met with the first young people who participated in the national youth service, and had the pleasure and delight at being reunited here again months later.”He said the effort was “not about reestablishing a mandatory military service, but about getting willing young people to learn from our armies and to reinforce their ranks, while putting their desirable skill sets to use”. A military service programme was one of the president’s campaign promises during his 2017 presidential bid, and was first to set to be “a period of universal military service” undertaken within three years of members’ 18th birthdays.The original initiative was revised after criticism from the army and public, but was launched on a trial basis in 2019 in a different form as the Service National Universel, or SNU.Former Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced in January 2024 that it would be rolled out to all 15-17 year-olds by the start of the 2026 academic year.But the national youth service has come under heavy fire for its cost, and the French Senate last week voted to cut virtually its entire €100 million budget — funnelling at least €80 million of it into France’s sports budget, which has gone into decline since the end of the Olympic Games.Socialist Senator Éric Jeansannetas stated that “after five years of experimentation, the SNU does not provide sufficient added value compared with other youth involvement policies to justify its continued deployment”.Marie Barsacq, the French Minister for Sport and Youth, opposed the amendment, saying it was “inappropriate to sacrifice the SNU in favour of sport”.France aims to have 210,000 active servicemen and 80,000 reservists by 2030, in line with the 2024-2030 military programming law. Macron said that the legislation, which was adopted in July, sets a budget of €413.3 billion for the armed forces and “provides for two active members of the armed forces, for every reservist”.
