All French 16-year-olds will wear a uniform and salute the flag under a national service scheme that will start trials in June, the government said yesterday.
Three thousand girls and boys from 13 regions will take part in the first test of Universal National Service, a much softer version of the compulsory military service that President Macron promised in his 2017 election campaign.
President Chirac ended conscription in 1997. As a candidate, Mr Macron said: “Each young French person will experience military life, even briefly . . . to allow our democracy to be more united and increase the resilience of our society.”
In response to resistance from the armed forces, which regarded the scheme as a costly distraction from their job, Mr Macron’s government