Macron national service dream is dismissed as ‘big teenagers’ party’

A SCALED-down version of Emmanuel Macron’s plan to restore compulsory national service will be tested next year, but military involvement will be minimal after army chiefs dismissed the scheme as an extravagant folly.

The top brass feared the original plan for young people to serve in the armed forces for a month would stretch the defence budget while bringing little benefit. They were also concerned that officers would be distracted from protecting France from terrorism and fighting Islamists in Africa.

Mr Macron first mooted the idea in an apparent attempt to woo Right-wing voters during last year’s election campaign, when security was a major concern after a string of terror attacks. But he has since shifted the focus to community rather than military service.

Generals welcomed the decision to transfer oversight of the project to the education ministry, leaving military involvement minimal and the defence budget largely unaffected.

France abolished military service under Jacques Chirac in 1997, but about 3,000 teenagers will take part in the month-long trial during the school holidays next year. They will live together for two weeks, but instead of lodging in former army barracks, they will go to holiday camps and school dormitories.

The scheme will be extended gradually to include all 16-year-olds by 2026.

They will learn first aid, how to use a compass, read maps and react to natural disasters. A spokesman said: “This will bring together teenagers from different backgrounds and give them a shared experience that will help to forge a sense of national identity and responsibility.” The cost would be “far less” than an estimate of £1.5billion per year reported by French newspapers in June, he added.

Opposition politicians scoffed at Mr Macron’s scheme. Lydia Guirous, of the centre-Right Republicans, said: “When this government proposes something, the mountain often gives birth to a mouse.” She said the government should focus on fulfilling its pledge to reduce unemployment, which had risen slightly in the third quarter of this year, official figures showed.

Generals described the scheme as an expensive folly even before Mr Macron was elected. A Senate report a month after the election said it would be “a colossal effort in terms of human resources, which we fear would absorb the energy of the armed forces.”

The reduced military component had ended up far from Mr Macron’s original pledge to give all young people a taste of life in the armed forces. But Gabriel Attal, the junior defence minister in charge of the project, insisted it remained faithful to the vision.

“This is not a return to military service, but soldiers will participate fully to provide a national framework that facilitates the inclusion of all,” he said.

Olivier Vial, head of the conservative students’ union UNI, criticised the scheme’s lack of focus. He told Le Figaro: “The risk is that it will turn into a huge party for teenagers… while diluting the resources that could have gone into the reserve armed forces.”

The Left-wing sixth formers’ union Fidl said compulsory service was unacceptable. Marouane Majrar, its vicepresident, said: “Commitment should be voluntary. If not, it becomes naff.”