Brussels – In Germany, the youth mobilisation against conscription has begun. On Friday, 5 December, German students will boycott school to demonstrate against the controversial conscription law. The protest will coincide with discussions in the Bundestag, where German MPs will debate the issue. “We don’t want to become cannon fodder,” is the slogan of the protesters ready for the “Schulstreik”, the student strike that will climax on Friday.
In recent months, laws providing for the enrolment of 18-year-olds have become topical again across Europe. Not only has Berlin taken up the topic, but also Paris and Rome are taking the first steps towards new enlistment channels. The act of protest could be just the first of a long phase of opposition capable of involving European youth across the board.
The characteristics of the law
Student activism aspires to scupper the possible passage of the law announced a few weeks ago in the Bundestag. However, the students’ ambition runs into a political wall. The legislative initiative has the support of the main government forces. Both the CDU, the party to which Chancellor Friedrich Merz belongs, and the SPD, to which Boris Pistorius, the Minister of Defence, belongs, have called for its activation by the end of the year.
The idea is to establish a complete registry of all males born in 2008 (those who will turn 18 in 2026) and subject them to mandatory medical examinations to assess their fitness for service. For women, this process will be entirely voluntary. Once registration is finalised, those who wish may enlist for a voluntary military service lasting a minimum of six months, renewable up to 23. During the service period, the gross salary will be €2,600.
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(Source: Imagoeconomica)
The draft lottery
“Society wants a lot from us, but gives us little in return,” one student told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. This is the sentiment among young people, who are especially afraid of the possible “conscription lottery“. Indeed, enrolment will be voluntary if the 20,000 recruit ceiling is reached. Otherwise, according to the first drafts of the law circulated, there will be a lottery. The lottery, in any case, is only an option. The SPD has opposed the initiative of a compulsory or hybrid draft; if the recruits is fewer than expected, it will be up to the Bundestag to decide how to proceed.
“We cannot let our fate depend on our luck. We want to decide what our future will be, reads the youth sites supporting the strike. In the same vein, Sahra Wagenknecht, former MEP and founder of the far-left party “For Reason and Justice“(BSW), expressed herself on X: “With the possible lottery procedure, the federal government is playing Russian roulette with the prospects and, perhaps soon, with the lives of young people. The only institutional response to the students so far came from the Ministry of Education, which stated: ‘Those who participate in the strike will be considered unexcused absentees.'”
Young people need good education and no standing still. We support the #Schulstick against the #Compulsory military service! The federal government is scaring an entire generation. More and more parents and grandparents are also worried. With the possible lottery procedure, the federal government is playing… pic.twitter.com/12fwO8uOFy
– Sahra Wagenknecht (@SWagenknecht) December 2, 2025
Italy, France, and the rest of Europe
Germany’s rearmament ambitions are to double its military strength between personnel and reserves, i.e., to increase from the current 250,000 soldiers to 500,000, effectively becoming the largest army in the Union. Different ambitions, those of France and Italy. Paris plans to enlist around 3,000 troops next year, but this should rise to 50,000 by 2035. A time-diluted intention to be met, for now, only with volunteers.
Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, after meeting with his Parisian counterpart Catherine Vautrin, announced a similar proposal. The Italian hypothesis is that of an auxiliary reserve composed of ten thousand soldiers for support tasks on national territory: logistics, emergencies, cyber-defence, and non-directly operational activities abroad. Following the same script are the laws of Belgium and the Netherlands, intent on recruiting volunteers when reaching the age of eighteen. To the east of the Union, compulsory programmes already exist in Lithuania, Latvia, Sweden, and Finland. The few states that do not seem to entertain the idea of increasing staffing levels are Spain and, outside the EU, the United Kingdom.
English version by the Translation Service of Withub
