French PM may scrap two public holidays to reduce country's crippling debt

Source: The Guardian

French PM may scrap two public holidays to reduce country’s crippling debt

François Bayrou says Easter Monday and VE Day could become normal workdays as critics call plan ‘a direct attack on France’

Jon Henley in Paris
Tue 15 Jul 2025 13.22 EDT
Last modified on Tue 15 Jul 2025 14.29 EDT

France’s prime minister, François Bayrou, has proposed scrapping two public holidays as part of radical measures aimed at reducing the country’s ballooning deficit, boosting its economy and preventing it being “crushed” by debt.

Outlining the 2026 budget on Tuesday, Bayrou suggested Easter Monday and 8 May, when France commemorates Victory Day, marking the end of the second world war, although he said he was open to other options.

The centrist prime minister said: “The entire nation has to work more so that the activity of the country as a whole increases, and so that France’s situation improves. Everyone will have to contribute to the effort.”

France is under pressure to bring its public deficit, running at 5.8% of GDP, under the 3% figure required by EU rules, and to rein in €3.3tn of public debt – on which the annual interest, of €60bn, could soon become its biggest budget outlay.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jul/15/france-public-holidays-easter-ve-budget-economy-debt