National service: towards a new French (and European) model

Ten countries in the European Union currently have compulsory military service for men (Austria, Cyprus, Croatia, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark and Sweden - the last two countries also have compulsory service for women). However, the schemes are very different particularly in terms of the proportion of young people concerned, which varies from almost 80% of young men in Greece to less than 8% of men and women in Sweden.

Six countries (France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, Luxembourg and the Netherlands) offer a civil and voluntary service, within a wide range of participation levels. Recent developments in the geopolitical context, in particular, have led several European countries (Germany, Belgium, Poland and the United Kingdom) to reopen the debate on whether military service should be reintroduced.

The service was suspended in France in 1997, there have been a number of voluntary schemes, civilian (universal national service - SNU - and civic service, which involved 40,000 and 88 000 young people respectively in 2023) and military (adapted military service in overseas France and voluntary military service in mainland France, chosen by around 6,000 and 1,000 young people each year).

This note first presents an overview of the existing systems in Europe and current debates, then analyses several possible development options for France. It explores four scenarios along two axes (civilian or military service, voluntary or compulsory commitment): a "boosted" SNU, a universal civilian service, a voluntary military service and the return of compulsory military service. It also presents two hybrid scenarios, combining a common base for all and individual options.

The first hybrid scenario would be based on compulsory civilian service for all (a twelve-day cohesion stay as in the current SNU, followed by a five-month civic service-type mission) and a three-month voluntary military service. Assuming that 600,000 young people (i.e. 75% of an age group) perform civilian service each year, and 60,000 extend this with voluntary military service, the cost would be €4.95 billion per year (excluding the cost of new infrastructure).

The second hybrid scenario would be based on compulsory service for all, with civilian and military options: after a twelve day mutual period, a second compulsory period would offer a choice between five months' civilian service and three months' military service. If 20% of the 600,000 young people opted for military service and 80% for civilian service, the associated cost would be around €5.2 billion (excluding the cost of new infrastructure).

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The Note flash is published under the editorial supervision of the Chief Commissioner 
of France Stratégie. The opinions expressed are those of the authors 
and are not intended to reflect the position of the French government.