Overview
- Lawmakers approved the measure on October 24 with a 84–11 vote and 30 abstentions in the 151-seat parliament.
- Service consists of two months of basic training, mandatory for medically fit men aged 18 to 30 with €1,100 pay, while women may volunteer.
- Authorities will summon those born in 2007 for medical exams by year’s end, with plans for up to five cohorts of about 800 each, totaling as many as 4,000 trainees annually.
- Conscientious objectors may choose three months of civil protection training with reduced compensation or four months of civic service, and those refusing all service receive no pay.
- The move fits a wider defense buildup that has reached NATO’s 2% spending guideline, added 12 Rafale fighters, and anticipates delivery of 50 Leopard tanks next year.