Prime Minister Francois Bayrou has unveiled sweeping austerity measures, including the possible removal of two public holidays, to address France’s deepening fiscal crisis.
French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou on Tuesday announced plans to scrap two public holidays as part of a €43.8 billion ($50.88 billion) budget tightening effort, even as his minority government faces the threat of collapse from opposition parties.
“Everyone will have to contribute to the effort,” Bayrou declared while outlining proposals that include freezing non-defence spending in 2026 and reducing the civil service by not replacing one in every three retiring workers.
President Emmanuel Macron tasked Bayrou with repairing France’s public finances after a snap legislative election last year resulted in a hung parliament too divided to manage ballooning state spending and a surprise shortfall in tax revenues.
A long-time advocate for fiscal discipline, Bayrou has warned that serious sacrifices are now inevitable, though defence spending will still rise next year.
“It’s the last stop before the cliff, before we are crushed by the debt,” Bayrou told lawmakers, cabinet members and journalists, invoking the memory of Greece’s debt crisis to stress the urgency of reform.
“It’s late but there is still time,” he said, adding that France was “addicted to public spending” and needed a cultural shift.
The austerity package includes freezing pensions at their 2025 levels and capping other welfare and health expenditures. Two public holidays—possibly Easter Monday and May 8, which commemorates the end of World War II in Europe—are among the proposed cuts.
Bayrou, a seasoned centrist politician, now faces the challenge of convincing France’s fractured parliament to tolerate his cost-cutting measures. If he fails, he could face a no-confidence vote, similar to the one that brought down his predecessor over the 2025 budget.
A fresh political crisis could prompt further credit rating downgrades and raise the already soaring cost of interest payments, which are expected to exceed €60 billion and become the largest single drain on the national budget.
A no-confidence motion is expected to materialise only after the detailed budget bill is presented to parliament in October.
Faridah Abdulkadiri
Follow us on:
