They were right to give the Statue of Liberty to us.

They certainly don't deserve it, themselves.

Not least because it appears he can do this by decree, all on his own.

France is bringing back mandatory national service for all 16-year-olds

French President Emmanuel Macron is bringing mandatory national service back to France.

The service program, called the universal national service, will require every French citizen to participate when he or she turns 16 years old.

The aim of the service program is to "encourage the participation and commitment of every young person in the life of the nation, to value citizenship and the feeling of belonging to a community gathered around its values, to strengthen social cohesion and boost the republican melting pot," according to a statement from the Elysee Palace.

. . . .

The service program will start at the beginning of the 2019 school year, an official with France's Education Ministry said. 

The Elysee Palace said a working group hopes to make formal recommendations to Macron on how to specifically implement the service program by the end of the year.

. . . .

Macron, who didn't serve in the armed forces, first brought up the idea for a revival of a national service program during a speech in March 2017, although his original vision was much more militaristic.

"Through a direct experience of the military life, its know-how and its requirements, every young French person will go to meet their fellow citizens, will experience social diversity, and republican cohesion for a month," he said. 

"It will help young people to prepare their entry into professional life as well as into their life as citizens. "

A YouGov poll in February 2018 showed that 60% of French people favored a compulsory national service of between three and six months.

Mandatory military service in France ended in 1997.