Universal national service abolished in committee by the Assembly and the Senate

Universal national service abolished in committee by the Assembly and the Senate
Universal national service abolished in committee by the Assembly and the Senate

The Assembly and the Senate voted on Wednesday, in their respective Finance committees, for the elimination of the Universal National Service (SNU) in the State budget, with elected officials being critical of the experimentation of this system desired by Emmanuel Macron, and on its estimated cost.

Two chambers, two majorities, but the same result. In the Assembly, it was the left which took the scalp of the SNU. “It’s time to give up” ce “presidential gadget” Who “doesn’t work” et “is expensive”, judged the environmentalist deputy Jean-Claude Raux, joined by the socialist Pierrick Courbon for whom this “budgetary heresy” a “missed its target”.

Present in large numbers, the elected representatives of the New Popular Front therefore adopted an amendment reallocating to the amateur sports sector all of the 128 million euros earmarked for the SNU in 2025. A symbolic victory due to the very weak presence of elected Macronists and right-wing, as noted by the LFI president of the commission, Eric Coquerel: “If it passes so easily (and) not by one or two votes, it’s because there is a part of the commission that is not there.”

Without consequence at this stage, since the discussion in the hemicycle will start from the government's initial copy – provided that the “revenue” part of the budget is not rejected before, which would send the text directly to the Senate.

No “sufficient added value”

The upper house, however, adopted a similar position at the start of the evening: meeting behind closed doors, its Finance Committee indeed voted for a reduction of 100 million euros in SNU credits. Decision taken unanimously minus two abstentions, socialist senator Eric Jeansannetas, youth credits rapporteur, told AFP.

This amendment will be presented again in public session during the examination of the “expenditures” part of the budget by the Senate at the beginning of December.

“After five years of experimentation, it does not appear that the SNU provides sufficient added value […] to justify its continued deployment,” estimates Eric Jeansannetas in his report presented on Wednesday and consulted by AFP.

The elected official from Creuse also observes that “for the first time since the start of the SNU experiment, the objectives are standing still” and therefore wonders “if the objective of (its) generalization to an entire age group is still relevant”.

Severe assessment drawn up by the Court of Auditors

The Minister of Sports and Youth Gil Avérous had already admitted Monday on Sud Radio that he had not “no means for a generalization of the SNU” in his budget. “In 2025, it will not be, in 2026 I cannot imagine that it could be,” he said. “There are no plans to remove it,” he however underlined, calling for “requestion” a device ” broken-down “.

In September, the Court of Auditors drew up a harsh assessment of the SNU, with estimated costs of between 3.5 and 5 billion euros per year.

Campaign promise of the Head of State, the SNU, launched in 2019, was to be generalized at the start of the 2026 school year, according to the promises of previous Prime Minister Gabriel Attal. It includes a “mission of general interest” and a “cohesion stay” including sporting, cultural and intellectual activities, with days beginning with the “lifting of colors” (flag and national anthem) and wearing a uniform.

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