France’s Prime Minister François Bayrou proposed the elimination of two public holidays as part of a budget squeeze of 43.8 billion euros outlined on Tuesday, even with opposition parties threatening to overthrow his minority government.
“Everyone will have to contribute to the effort,” said Bayrou, presenting proposals that include the freezing of defense -related spending next year and not replacing one in three civil servants when they retire.
France President Emmanuel Macron left Bayrou the task of fixing public finances with the 2026 budget, after his own initiative to convene a legislative election last year resulted in a parliament too torn to deal with the country’s growing expenses and a surprising fiscal deficit.
Bayrou, who has long been a debt hawk, tried to warn the French that great sacrifices are inevitable, although defending spending could increase next year.
“It’s the last stop before the cliff, before we are crushed by debt,” Bayrou said in a speech to members of Parliament, Cabinet members and journalists.
He said that the French should not forget the experience of Greece, which has undergone a total indebtedness crisis for over a decade and needed several international rescues and years of rigid austerity policies to rise.
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“It’s late, but there is still time,” said Bayrou, adding that France is addicted to public spending and needed to change.
The squeeze will involve freezing pensions at the same level as they were in 2025, and other expenses with social assistance and health will also be limited. Two public holidays can also be eliminated-possibly Easter Monday and May 8th, which celebrates the end of World War II in Europe.
Bayrou, a centrist political veteran, needs to persuade the rows of the opposition in the fractured French parliament to at least tolerate their cuts, or will risk facing a motion of distrust such as that toppled its predecessor in December because of the 2025 budget.
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If it fails, a new political crisis may trigger more relegations from credit ratings and increase the cost of interest payments, which should already become the largest drain in the budget, over 60 billion euros.
Any risk of a motion of distrust would probably only consolidate itself when a detailed budget project is presented to Parliament in October.
By announcing a new increase in defense spending on Sunday, Macron asked legislators not to call another motion of distrust, saying that the December motion had harmed companies and delayed the development of defense by delaying the 2025 budget.
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Left parties will probably not like social security cuts, while the far right warns that a wide freezing of spending is unfair to French citizens and could lead them to oppose Bayrou plans.
In the last two years of its second term, the dramatic deterioration of public finances can stain Macron’s legacy.
A political outsider, he was first elected in 2017 with the promise of breaking the division between right and left and modernizing the second largest economy in the eurozone with tax cuts and reforms favorable to growth.
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However, successive crises-from protests, Covid-19, and uncontrolled inflation-showed that he failed to change the country’s excessive spending habit.
Bayrou aims to reduce the budget deficit of 5.4% of GDP this year to 4.6% in 2026, ultimately aimed at the 3% Limit limit of the EU up to 2029.
With interest payments and can become the biggest budgetary expense, financial markets and classification agencies are eager to see if Bayrou will be able to approve their plans in Parliament without triggering another political collapse.
