France, Bayrou announces cuts to two public holidays for financial consolidation

The French Prime Minister, François Bayrou, announcing his plan for spending cuts in view of the 2026 financial manoeuvre, proposed the abolition of 'two public holidays', citing 'as examples', 'Easter Monday' and '8 May' (the so-called Victory Day over Nazi Germany during World War II), while saying he was 'ready to accept or examine others'. Bayrou announced today the broad outlines of the 2026 manoeuvre, with a 40 billion effort to restore France's battered public finances.

The French government 'wants to change things' in order to restore the country's public accounts, regardless of the 'risks of censure' invoked by Marine Le Pen's Rassemblement national and the other opposition parties, guaranteed the premier, presenting the plan of some 44 billion in savings for 2026. The government,' Bayrou clarified, 'is not trying to save itself. It is not trying to last. It wants to change things and this regardless of the risks'. At a press conference, the Matignon incumbent recalled that he 'has no majority'. And he said he was "at the mercy of the oppositions", starting with the Rassemblement national, the first party in the Zational Assembly, and which last year already brought down the government of former premier Michel Barnier. "We know that the path is difficult that the road is narrow, but that the path exists," Bayrou pointed out.

Among the measures announced today, the PM confirmed the freezing of state expenditure for 2026, starting with social benefits and pensions in 2026, which will therefore not be adjusted for inflation but will remain at the 2025 level (bringing savings of EUR 7 billion).

 "We are at a critical juncture in our history," Bayrou warns again, referring to a French debt that is now close to 114% of GDP, the third heaviest in the eurozone after Greece and Italy. "We must never forget the history of Greece. Every second France's debt increases by EUR 5,000,' he warned.

The goal is to bring the deficit down to 4.6 per cent of GDP next year from 5.8 per cent in 2024 and to 2.9 per cent in 2029, but the road is all uphill. While President Emmanuel Macron intends to increase the defence effort by about EUR 7 billion in 2026 and 2027.