French Prime Minister François Bayrou wants to scrap two public holidays to reduce the budget deficit in 2026. The far-right politician Marine Le Pen threatens to send the prime minister away if he does not adjust his plans.
Bayrou announced on Tuesday that he wants to save a total of 44 billion euros. “Everyone will have to contribute to this,” he said. He called the French debt “a deadly danger”. Europe requires member states to keep the budget deficit below 3 percent of GDP. Last year, France had almost double that.
Bayrou proposes to scrap two public holidays, including Easter Monday and May 8, the day France commemorates the end of World War II. According to the prime minister, there are “simply too many public holidays in May”.
Furthermore, the prime minister wants to keep government spending in 2026 equal to that of 2025. This means that spending on social security and tax benefits will not be adjusted for inflation. He also wants to cut three thousand government jobs in the coming years.
Because Bayrou leads a minority cabinet, he must convince opposition parties to agree to the savings. If that fails, parliament can pass a vote of no confidence. In December, the previous prime minister, Michel Barnier, resigned after such a vote of no confidence. Disagreement over the budget was also the cause then.
Bayrou, a center politician, receives fierce criticism from left and right. Le Pen, the leader of the far-right Front National, threatens to send the prime minister away via a vote of no confidence if he does not change his plans. The socialist party leader Olivier Faure called Bayrou’s proposals “not a recovery plan, but a demolition plan”.