Overview
- Emmanuel Macron said on RTL he will detail the transformation of the Service national universel on Thursday during a visit to the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade in Varces, Isère.
- He emphasized that the forthcoming volunteer program does not involve sending French youth to fight in Ukraine.
- Reports describe a voluntary course of roughly ten months with monthly pay of about €900–€1,000, focused on military and technical training that channels participants toward the operational reserve rather than external operations.
- Government scenarios foresee a phased rollout starting with about 2,000–3,000 volunteers in 2026, targeting around 10,000 per year by 2030 and up to 50,000 annually by 2035.
- Financing and legal integration remain undecided, with ministers citing pending arbitrages and the project not yet included in the current military programming law as the SNU’s structures are wound down from January 1, 2026.