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PARIS: French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou said Tuesday (Jul 15) that he wants to reduce the number of public holidays as part of an urgent plan to tackle what he called the "curse" of the country’s rising debt.
Presenting his 2026 budget outline, Bayrou proposed scrapping two of France’s 11 public holidays, suggesting Easter Monday and May 8, the latter marking the end of World War II in Europe.
UNDER PRESSURE TO CUT DEFICIT
France is under EU pressure to bring its public deficit back under control and reduce its national debt.
Bayrou said France currently borrows each month to pay pensions and civil servant salaries, a situation he described as "a curse with no way out".
He had previously indicated that France needed to improve its budget position by €40 billion (US$46.5 billion) in 2026. That figure has since grown, after President Emmanuel Macron called for an additional €3.5 billion in military spending next year amid rising global tensions.
France's defence budget for 2025 stands at €50.5 billion.
Bayrou said the government aims to cut the budget deficit from an estimated 5.4 per cent in 2025 to 4.6 per cent in 2026, and to meet the EU-mandated 3 per cent target by 2029.
To meet this goal, spending increases will be frozen across all areas — including pensions and healthcare — except for debt servicing and the defence sector, Bayrou said.
"We have become addicted to public spending," he said. "We are at a critical juncture in our history."
French far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon speaks during the May Day demonstration, Thursday, May 1, 2025 in Paris. (Photo: AP/Thibault Camus)
GREECE AS A WARNING
Bayrou cited Greece as a warning, recalling how spiralling deficits nearly forced it out of the eurozone after the 2008 financial crisis.
"We must never forget the story of Greece," he warned.
France's national debt is currently 114 per cent of gross domestic product, far exceeding the 60 per cent ceiling set under EU fiscal rules. Only Greece and Italy carry higher debt levels in the EU.
The government plans to reduce the number of civil servants by 3,000 next year and shut down what Bayrou called “unproductive agencies working on behalf of the state.”
Bayrou also said wealthier citizens would be asked to contribute more.
"The nation's effort must be equitable. We will ask little of those who have little, and more of those who have more," he said.
Cutting two public holidays would generate “several billions of euros” in additional revenue, Bayrou said.
POLITICAL BACKLASH
The proposal quickly drew criticism across the political spectrum. Jordan Bardella, leader of the far-right National Rally, called the move “a direct attack on our history, our roots and on labour in France.”
Jean-Luc Melenchon of the left-wing France Unbowed party demanded Bayrou’s resignation, saying “these injustices cannot be tolerated any longer.”
