The French government appears to be on the verge of collapse as the embattled Prime Minister François Bayrou faces a no-confidence vote he is likely to lose. This follows his proposal to cut Easter Monday and May 8 as Federal Holidays, meaning the French will have to work two additional days that were previously paid. Protests have already begun and are only expected to increase.
Chaos in France as locals reject plans to work 2 more days to boost economy | World | News– www.express.co.uk
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The French public have overwhelmingly opposed plans to rescue the Government’s finances by abolishing two national holidays. Prime Minister François Bayrou proposed the sacrifice of France‘s Easter Monday and May 8 holidays as part of a wider effort to restore public finances. The official suggested that forcing citizens to work on the two days, of the 11 holidays observed by the French public every year, could save €4.2 billion and contribute to wider savings of €44 billion he hopes to achieve in the 2026 Budget.
However, polling carried out by Odoxa and published in Le Parisien this week shows a stark contrast in public opinion, with 84% overwhelmingly opposed to the proposals. They were almost equally against the abolition of just one holiday, with 83% expressing similar hostility to the idea. “The French don’t want it,” Gaël Sliman, president of Odoxa said. “They value their work-life balance, and this measure is seen as an act of violence and a prejudice.”
The study, based on 1,004 people representative of the French population over 18, also found that 80% considered the abolition of public holidays to be a “disguised tax” and 66% did “not see the link between working more and improving France’s debts and deficits”.
Likely French government collapse raises stakes of planned national shutdown – Politico
Excerpt:
A major test looms for France following the likely collapse of French Prime Minister François Bayrou’s government on Sept. 8.
Increasing numbers of people appear to be heeding the calls of a murky, leaderless crusade for a national shutdown on Sept. 10. The movement, initially made up of a constellation of anonymous anti-government accounts of varying political affiliations, began earlier this summer, reaching the general public as anger grew over Bayrou’s plans to lop €43.8 billion from the 2026 budget and slash two bank holidays without offering wage compensation.
Bayrou is expected to lose his job after announcing on Monday that he would convene lawmakers for an extraordinary session to hold a high-stakes confidence vote on Sept. 8 over his unpopular spending plans. Barring a major shift, France’s minority government is unlikely to survive the vote.
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