An ecological civic service (SNE) to encourage young people to do their universal national service (SNU).
This is the objective stated by Gabriel Attal during his general policy speech on Tuesday January 30.
The government will launch an
“ecological civic service”
in 2027, open to 50,000 young people
“ready to make a concrete commitment to the fight for the climate”
, announced the Prime Minister in the hemicycle of the National Assembly.
“Succeeding in the ecological transition is the challenge of our generation
,” declared Gabriel Attal.
The head of government is also aware that environmental issues are at the heart of the concerns of a large part of French youth.
“Building a popular ecology means responding to the aspirations of our youth
,” he added.
And it is on this ecological enthusiasm that the Prime Minister wants to rely in order to revive interest in the SNU, which is still struggling to attract a large audience.
“Our youth want to get involved, participate, help.
She already does it a lot.
She sometimes wonders how to be useful for the planet.
This is why we will launch (this) service
,” explained Gabriel Attal.
Field actions
The president of Young People with Macron (JAM), Ambroise Méjean, had already mentioned the creation of an ecological civic service in the columns of Le
Parisien
in May 2023. The stated objective, he announced at the time, was already to “
get (more) young people on board”
to
“generalize the SNU”
.
As a reminder, the SNU today allows young people aged 15 to 17 to carry out a cohesion stay for twelve days, followed by a mission of general interest.
According to Ambroise Méjean, the ecological civic service would be part of the SNU's cohesion stay.
“Half of the twelve days would be devoted to ecology through training and field activities
,” he declared at the time.
“Every generation would be trained in the ecological transition, relying on recognized experts.
We would be the first country in the world to do that!”
, he enthused.
Read also Generalization of the SNU: the executive takes its time in the face of a flammable project
These field actions would consist of
“participation in the decontamination of forests, beaches or rivers, in the fight against events caused by climate change, floods, fire…”
All while keeping the initial format of the SNU:
“To keep the original spirit and its objective of social diversity, of citizenship training, it’s obligation or nothing
,” Ambroise Méjean finally detailed to Le
Parisien
.
Gabriel Attal's cabinet has, for the moment, not been able to detail the measure announced by the head of government during his general policy speech.