Macron restores compulsory military service in France

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The French government on Wednesday announced a plan to bring back compulsory national service for all 16-year-olds – a move to carry out one of President Emmanuelle Macron's ideas during his election campaign.

Macron, the first French president not to have done military service, vowed to reinstate the practice to promote a sense of civic duty and national unity among French youth. Macron was 18 when military service was scrapped in 1996.

French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with veterans at a ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at the Arc de Triomphe monument in Paris, France, May 8, 2018. /VCG Photo

Nevertheless, the announced plan is a watered-down version of Macron's original proposal. Back in 2017, he pledged to give all young people "a direct experience of military life with its know-how and demands," but now the government has decided to trial a softened program called the Service National Universel (Universal National Service) in 2019.

The program includes two parts: a mandatory one-month placement with a focus on civic culture and a voluntary placement of at least three months and up to a year, in which participants will serve in an area linked to defense and security or do more voluntary work.

"There are different conditions that will be put in place, people who can do longer periods, according to their desires, whether in the associative field, in the military, in the civic field, or in the health sector," said government spokesman Benjamin Griveaus.

October 17, 2017: Members of a French military medical unit carry an injured soldier towards a NH 90 Caiman helicopter during the regional anti-insurgent Operation Barkhane in Inaloglog, Mali. /VCG Photo

According to a BBC report, 14 youth organizations in France expressed their objection to the "inconsistencies" in the plan because they do not want to be forced to take part.

"Choosing a commitment is just as important as the commitment itself, if not more so," they said, asking for freedom of choice.

But about 60 percent of the population supported compulsory military service, according to a YouGov poll carried out in March.

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