Two chambers, two majorities, but the same result. The Assembly and the Senate voted, on Wednesday, October 30, in their respective finance committees, to eliminate the Universal National Service (SNU) from the State budget, while elected officials criticized the experimentation of this desired system by Emmanuel Macron . and about its estimated cost.
In the Assembly, it was the left that obtained the relegation of the SNU. “It’s time to give up” This “presidential gadget” WHO “not working” AND “it’s expensive”judged in particular the environmentalist deputy Jean-Claude Raux, who was joined by the socialist Pierrick Courbon, for whom this “budget heresy” has “missed his goal”. The elected representatives of the New Popular Front, present in large numbers, adopted an amendment that reallocates to the amateur sports sector all of the 128 million euros allocated to the SNU in 2025.
A symbolic victory due to the very weak presence of macronist and right-wing elected officials, as pointed out by the president of the LFI commission, Eric Coquerel: “If everything goes so easily [et] not because of one or two votes, it is because there is a part of the commission that is not there. » Without consequences at this point, since the discussion in the chamber will begin from the initial copy of the government – provided that the party “recipes” of the budget is not rejected beforehand, which would send the text directly to the Senate.
Without “sufficient added value”
The Upper House, however, adopted a similar position at the beginning of the evening: meeting behind closed doors, its finance committee voted in favor of a reduction of 100 million euros in SNU appropriations. The decision was made unanimously with at least two abstentions, socialist senator Eric Jeansannetas, rapporteur for youth credits, told AFP.
This amendment will be presented again in public session during the Senate’s consideration of the “spending” portion of the budget in early December. “After five years of experimentation, it does not seem that the SNU provides enough added value (…) to justify its continued deployment”estimates Jeansannetas in his report presented on Wednesday and consulted by AFP.
The Creuse elected official also notes that “For the first time since the start of the SNU experiment, the targets remain still” and that’s why you ask “if the objective of [sa] generalization to an entire age group is still relevant ». The Minister of Sports and Youth, Gil Avérous, had already admitted on Monday on Sud Radio that there was no “There are no means for a generalization of the SNU” in your budget.
“In 2025 it won’t be, in 2026 I don’t imagine it could be”said. “There are no plans to eliminate it”stressed however, asking “application” a device “decomposed”.
In September, the Court of Auditors prepared a harsh evaluation of the SNU, with estimated costs of between 3,500 and 5,000 million euros per year.
The campaign promise of the Head of State, the SNU, launched in 2019, was to be generalized at the beginning of the 2026 school year, according to the promises of the previous prime minister, Gabriel Attal. Includes a “mission of general interest” and a “cohesion stay” including sports, cultural and intellectual activities, with days that begin with the “raising of colors” (flag and national anthem) and wearing a uniform.
