French Prime Minister François Bailloux has proposed reducing two public holidays, including increasing defense spending while reducing overall spending.
Bayrou proposed Easter on May 8th and August 8th x to commemorate the Allied victory at the end of World War II in Europe.
He said that various bank holidays have transformed the month of May into Swiss cheese full of Gruyères-holes, but he added that he is open to other proposals.
Bayrou is at risk of voting for the budget in Congress in the fall, and his government could eventually collapse.
However, on Tuesday he stressed that France (the second eurozone economy) is “in fatal danger” to be crushed by debt.
Standing in front of the lecturer, decorated with the words “Moment of Truth,” Bayrou outlined a series of bold measures that he said he should manage his annual fiscal deficit for over an hour.
These include a freeze on public spending for next year, ending tax credits for the wealthy, and a decrease in the number of civil servants.
The budget also needs to consider President Emmanuel Macron will increase France’s defence spending by 3.5 billion euros (£3 billion) next year, and an additional 3 billion euros in 2027.
However, the proposal to cut back on two May holidays was the most eye-catching proposal. Bayrou said on Monday Easter “there is no religious significance,” saying the whole country must work and produce more.
His idea quickly made headlines and drew criticism from several sides.
The far-right National Rally (RN) party dammed it as an attack on French history and French workers, but Green Party leader Marington Delier lamented that the day commemorating the victory over Nazism is no longer a holiday.
Encouraged after his speech by a reporter, Bayrou said his proposal was “basic arithmetic.”
“If you want to stay on the course, you need to find more than 400 billion euros,” Bayrou said that France, 43.8 billion euros, needs to cut to cut from the budget, and that he will increase by 5,000 euros per second.
The French government is aiming to lower the deficit from 5.8% last year to less than 4.6% next year and to less than 3% by 2029, Bayrou said.
The centristic prime minister who fought has been working since December, following Michel Bernier’s short-lived premiership.
Barnier’s government used enforcement power to push forward his own bill that attempted to curb the French deficit through a budget that was even more stringent than Bayrou.
The move turns out to be unacceptable to national assembly and left-wing parties. All this voted against Bernier, causing the government to collapse through a no-confidence vote for the first time since 1962.
The same factions are threatening to do it again when Bayrou’s budget is voted in the fall.
Radical’s left Frenchman Jean Louc Mellenchon said Bowed Unbowed (LFI) must expel PM, but RN leader Marine Le Pen has vowed to defeat him if he “favours the French, workers and pensioners instead of reducing waste” and does not modify his plans.”
However, Bayrou said he “wanted to change things” because his government “wanted to change things”, and despite the risk of a no-confidence vote, he “will do so.”
Since last summer’s surprise snap election, the French parliament has been split deep into three blocks that have resisted working together. Another election could lead to a similar deadlock.
If Bayrou’s government collapses, President Macron will need to choose a successor or appoint an unelected technocratic government.
His own popularity is less than 25%, and he is hoping he will resign earlier than the end of his second term in 2027 – he has been consistently resisting.
