French President Emmanuel Macron announced plans on Thursday to set up a new voluntary youth military service reaching 50,000 troops within a decade to help France respond to "accelerating threats" in the world.
According to Reuters, the scheme aims to attract 3,000 people in 2026, who will only ever serve on French soil, rising to 10,000 by 2030.
"My ambition for France is to reach 50,000 youth by 2035, depending on evolving threats," Macron said.
‘Necessary effort’
The French President said the voluntary scheme will be open to 18 and 19-year-olds, who would be paid, and would last 10 months. The scheme, costing an estimated 2 billion euros was "a significant and necessary effort,” said Macron.
"France cannot remain idle," Macron said during a speech at the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade in Varces, in the French Alps.
He said the plan was "inspired by practices of our European partners ... at a time when all our European allies advance in response to a threat that weighs on us all."
Macron said the scrapping of obligatory national service in 1996 was a correct move and ruled out a return to conscription.
"This hybrid army model corresponds to the threats and risks ahead, bringing together national service youth, reservists, and the active army."
Macron aides told Reuters that France intends to secure 100,000 reservists by 2030, up from around 47,000 as things stand. Its total military force would then be around 210,000 by 2030.
‘Prepare for lives to be lost’
Last week, France’s armed forces chief General Fabien Mandon sent shockwaves across the country when he said France needed to prepare for potential loses against Russian aggression.
"What we lack ... is the strength of character to accept suffering in order to protect who we are," he said, adding France must "accept losing its children".
Macron immediately rejected any notion of sending French youth to fight in Ukraine, but Cedric Perrin, president of the French Senate's foreign affairs, defence and armed Forces committee, defended Mandon.
"His remarks were taken out of context ... but if being a bit blunt is necessary to make the French understand the situation we are in, then he was right to do it," Perrin told Reuters.
Europe taking measures
The French decision on voluntary enlistment follows moves by a number of other European states like Germany and Denmark who have launched similar projects.
Earlier this month, Germany announced plans to reintroduce a form of voluntary military service, aiming to bolster its armed forces amidst shifting security challenges. The planned scheme would invite young volunteers instead of reinstating compulsory conscription, marking a significant shift in national defence policy. Authorities hope the new service will help expand manpower while preserving the voluntariness of military commitment.
Broader efforts to beef up armed forces come on the back of increasing tensions between European countries and Russia, as the Ukraine war slogs on, and uncertainty prevails over the robustness of NATO solidarity, specifically US President Donald Trump’s willingness to enforce security guarantees, such as NATO’s Article 5 on collective defence.
Sources: Reuters, Deutsche Welle