Ultimately, all young people aged 15 to 17 should be able to participate: the universal national service (SNU), set up from 2019, should allow young people to undertake a “cohesion stay”, which would bring together students from all backgrounds and all regions, around the values of citizenship and commitment, before carrying out a mission of general interest – often within a uniformed force or in an association.
Five years later, the Court of Auditors notes « l’absence d’horizon clair » et “insufficient planning of the resources needed to scale up”. Management problems, both at the level of central administrations and in the field, have generated additional costs and an overload of work for agents, which worry the Court of Auditors in the context of an increase in workload still planned, until generalization: the 2023-2027 public finance programming law provides for the financing of the SNU up to 150,000 young people, in 2027, while Emmanuel Macron has affirmed his desire to generalize the SNU from 2026.
The first problem of the SNU is the lack of clarity of its objectives, which have “multiplied over the course of its implementation”. The establishment of the SNU was, moreover, done “with almost constant legislation” : The project was never debated in Parliament, “neither in its principles nor in its modalities”. Faced with the poor readability of the system, young people have come each year in fewer numbers than expected. In 2023, there were around 40,000 of them on the twelve-day cohesion stays, out of 64,000 expected. On the other hand, according to work carried out by the National Institute for Youth and Popular Education (Injep), the satisfaction of young participants is very high (96% in 2023).
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The device also suffers from tracking issues, “while it is a priority policy of the government”recalls the Court of Auditors. Its political monitoring has evolved over time, since the SNU was first supported by a State Secretariat for Youth attached to the Ministry of National Education, then by a State Secretariat for Youth and the SNU under the dual supervision of National Education and the Army.
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On the ground, the government did not want management with popular education associations, the project having to remain “regal”. But he ran into the ” limit “ skills of the decentralized services of the State. “Associations, particularly those for popular education, have been essential relays”recalls the Court of Auditors, which insists on their “growing mobilization on the SNU”which, in return, “raises the question of their ability to pursue their other missions”The training and number of supervisors could also become a real concern in the context of a generalisation, since welcoming more reluctant young people could cause more disciplinary situations, warns the financial jurisdiction.
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