GREECE AS A WARNING
Bayrou cited Greece as a warning, recalling how spiralling deficits nearly forced it out of the eurozone after the 2008 financial crisis.
“We must never forget the story of Greece,” he warned.
France’s national debt is currently 114 per cent of gross domestic product, far exceeding the 60 per cent ceiling set under EU fiscal rules. Only Greece and Italy carry higher debt levels in the EU.
The government plans to reduce the number of civil servants by 3,000 next year and shut down what Bayrou called “unproductive agencies working on behalf of the state.”
Bayrou also said wealthier citizens would be asked to contribute more.
“The nation’s effort must be equitable. We will ask little of those who have little, and more of those who have more,” he said.
Cutting two public holidays would generate “several billions of euros” in additional revenue, Bayrou said.
POLITICAL BACKLASH
The proposal quickly drew criticism across the political spectrum. Jordan Bardella, leader of the far-right National Rally, called the move “a direct attack on our history, our roots and on labour in France.”
Jean-Luc Melenchon of the left-wing France Unbowed party demanded Bayrou’s resignation, saying “these injustices cannot be tolerated any longer.”
