French prime minister calls for scrapping of two public holidays in austerity budget
Among other measures he called on the French to "work more" and suggested abolishing two of France's 11 annual public holidays (or 13 for people who live in the historic Alsace Lorraine region).
He called on the "whole nation to work more" and said he would be suggesting the abolition of two
jours fériés
- as examples, he cited May 8th (VE Day) and Easter Monday, but insisted "these are proposals".
According to a Senate report published last September, cancelling one public holiday would generate €2.4 billion a year.
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At present France has 11 public holidays a year ranging from the secular such as the July 14th
Fête nationale
and VE Day to the historic Catholic holidays like Ascension and Assumption.
Those living in the Alsace Lorraine area get two extra holidays - St Stephens Day on December 26th and Good Friday (the Friday before Easter) - for historic reasons relating to their change in ownership between France and Germany.
The most recent public holiday to be scrapped was Pentecost - which was axed as an official '
jour férié
' in 2005 but now
has an ambiguous status
in which some workers get the day off and others don't.
The idea of scrapping a holiday in order to save money was considered but rejected by Bayrou's predecessor Michel Barnier.
Bayrou was presenting the outline of his plan to save €40 billion - the debates on the Budget will then begin in parliament in the autumn with the state spending plan normally passed before the parliamentary session ends for Christmas.
The public holiday changes would be part of the full Budget presented to parliament for debate.
However MPs could bring down another government if enough of them vote instead for a motion of no-confidence in Bayrou over the spending plans.
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