Latest news with #austerity
Russia Today
4 days ago
- Business
- Russia Today
France wants to nuke citizens' holidays to fund a fantasy war with Russia
The day after French President Emmanuel Macron said that, in the year 2027 alone, he would blow another roughly €60 billion on weapons for some fantasy war with Russia that France isn't even in, the French prime minister proposed axing some statutory holidays in an effort to balance the books. Dude just hit a third rail and electrocuted his political career. There are two things the French hold sacred. The first is their sprawling social safety net, which they fund with sky-high taxes and from which they get diminishing returns. And the other is their numerous beloved paid vacation days. Macron's handpicked prime minister, longtime establishment centrist fixture François Bayrou, has chosen to mess with the one thing that unites the nation more than even football: their time off. Why would he want to do that? So the French can work more. So the activity generated can be taxed. Because the government is super broke. Bayrou says that he has to find another €44 billion in the state's couch cushions to keep France's ballooning debt and borrowing costs from setting off more investor panic and bond-dumping. Normally, the government doesn't even touch the budget until September, when legislators return from their sacred summer break, which of course they're not being asked to sacrifice in the interests of austerity. But Bayrou says that he wants to get a head start because the public needs time to digest his 'let's cancel holidays' pitch. Or maybe he just needs a running start at the cliff that he's about to hurl himself off. Because both the anti-establishment right and left will almost certainly vote non on his holiday cuts, possibly triggering a no-confidence vote. Or rather, another one. He's survived eight so far. But with a proposal so ludicrously unpopular, this cat's ninth political life may be about to bite the dust. It's been a year since the last election, so France could legally have another one anytime now. Which would make it three elections in as many years. And it's not like those are free either, by the way. So here he is, Prime Minister Bayrou, waxing all poetic about national sacrifice, while at the same time proposing to axe the Easter Monday state holiday in April, and the one that falls on France's WWII Victory Day on May 8: 'I think this is the last station before the cliff and the crushing by the debt. We must call it by its name. It is a mortal danger for a country,' Bayrou said. Hear that, Frenchies? Accept his proposal or the country gets fatally knifed. No mention of cutting anything else from the budget, huh? Not a whiff of trimming that €170-billion deficit from any of the other more glaring bloated line items? He said that he has zero interest in messing with Macron's new 5% of GDP for NATO defense spending, despite France not actually being in a war. 'We planned to double the budget by 2030, we are actually going to double it by 2027,' Macron had just announced. 'To this end, a review of the military planning law will be presented in the autumn. And I call on the National Assembly to vote on it,' he said. Look, I'm no Inspector Clouseau, but I think I just may have an idea of where they can find a super big line item so they don't have to keep nickel and diming French workers. As one might imagine, this is going over like canned Cheez Whiz with the average French citizen who depends on those clustered April-May-June holidays to build 'bridges' from midweek days off to weekends – or maybe even use them to dig full-blown 'tunnels' under entire work weeks. The government is now asking ordinary people to surrender rest so it can look fiscally responsible without touching bloated defense budgets or elite entitlements. It has decided that its taxpayers' time, and ultimately, their lives are less valuable than its agenda. And what does it say about a country when it kills a peace holiday commemorating the end of a world war to pay for hypothetical ones? France isn't under siege, but its leadership is acting like it is. 'Since 1945, freedom has never been so threatened, and never so seriously,' Macron told French soldiers in a speech around the Bastille Day national holiday. 'To be free in this world, we must be feared. To be feared, we must be powerful,' he said. That fear-based urgency is how power justifies undermining democracy in favor of the authoritarian imposition of unpopular decisions. It took Europe two world wars to understand the value of peace. Now its leaders would rather erase the memory of that understanding than touch their military budgets. When they start talking about 'sacrifice,' it never includes their own entitlements or pensions. That's not sacrifice, it's scapegoating. When they demand it from everyone else but not themselves, it's not real austerity — just theatre. And when leaders govern like the people are the problem, it implies that they've come to see the people as their main opposition. As someone who has long joked about the ridiculous amount of paid holidays the French get, particularly compared to North Americans, I never thought that I'd ever find myself defending them. But the French prime Minister has managed to change my mind. Now, it seems that defending them is a revolutionary act against technocrats treating democracy like an inconvenience when it's time to 'make tough decisions.' It rips the mask off the French state's mantra of 'liberté, égalité, fraternité' and makes inequality glaring, calling their bluff on their 'we're all in this together' narrative. It throws back in the government's face the notion that the problem lies with the citizens and not them. Because nothing says 'budget responsibility' quite like nuking Victory Day, to bankroll wars that it isn't even in, all while acting like the real enemy of the state – at least until Russian President Vladimir Putin gets around to fulfilling their fantasy of rolling up the Champs-Elysées – is your long weekend.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Explainer-French PM aims to soften opposition to his budget to avert new crisis
By Leigh Thomas PARIS (Reuters) -French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou has to convince opposition Socialist lawmakers in the coming months to tolerate his 44 billion euro budget squeeze or he faces the risk of being toppled. Bayrou is bringing his 2026 budget to a fractured parliament where hard-left and far-right parties threaten no-confidence motions against him unless he makes major revisions. If he can convince the Socialists at least to abstain from backing such motions, Bayrou's minority government could get the budget through, however, meaning he must rewrite the legislation enough for them to stomach it. Politicians will be heading off for the summer break, with parliament in recess until Sept. 22, effectively giving Bayrou two months to try to soften the Socialists' resistance to his plans. BAYROU'S PROPOSAL Bayrou aims to reduce France's budget deficit, the biggest in the euro zone, from 5.4% to the European Union's 3% GDP limit by 2029. His 43.8 billion euro ($51 billion) package freezes most non-defence spending and eliminates two public holidays. Nearly 21 billion euros comes from limiting social and local government spending growth, with no inflation adjustments for public sector wages or welfare benefits. Another 10 billion euros targets high earners through a "solidarity" tax, restricts pensioner tax breaks, and cracks down on fraud. WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? While politicians debate the budget over their summer break, unions are considering strike action - the hard-line CGT is in favour while the moderate CFDT has not ruled it out. The September return from the summer recess promises to be particularly tense as parties stake out positions. Bayrou must finalise his budget bill by Oct. 1 when it is to be sent to lawmakers. Without a majority, he will likely at some point invoke article 49.3 of the constitution to adopt the budget without a vote, triggering inevitable no-confidence motions. His survival would depend on the Socialists' abstention. SOCIALIST DEMANDS Socialists demand a total budget revision, arguing that the spending freeze burdens average workers and pensioners while treating the wealthy with a light touch. They have criticised Bayrou's 4 billion euro tax increase on high earners as grossly insufficient. Bayrou has signalled a willingness to adapt, but he faces constraints from allies who think France's tax burden is already excessive. The Socialists are also against plans not to replace some retiring public workers and the scrapping of two public holidays. IF BAYROU FALLS Should Bayrou fail to placate the Socialists and fall, President Emmanuel Macron would have to find a new prime minister, as happened with Bayrou's conservative predecessor Michel Barnier in December. This would leave budget legislation in limbo during the formation of a new government, which could drag on in the absence of figures palatable to at least some parties. Alternatively, Macron could call snap legislative elections again, plunging France even deeper into political uncertainty. ($1 = 0.8592 euros) Sign in to access your portfolio
Reuters
5 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
How can French PM avert another budget crisis?
PARIS, July 18 (Reuters) - French Prime Minister Francois Bayrou has to convince opposition Socialist lawmakers in the coming months to tolerate his 44 billion euro budget squeeze or he faces the risk of being toppled. Bayrou is bringing his 2026 budget to a fractured parliament where hard-left and far-right parties threaten no-confidence motions against him unless he makes major revisions. If he can convince the Socialists at least to abstain from backing such motions, Bayrou's minority government could get the budget through, however, meaning he must rewrite the legislation enough for them to stomach it. Politicians will be heading off for the summer break, with parliament in recess until Sept. 22, effectively giving Bayrou two months to try to soften the Socialists' resistance to his plans. Bayrou aims to reduce France's budget deficit, the biggest in the euro zone, from 5.4% to the European Union's 3% GDP limit by 2029. His 43.8 billion euro ($51 billion) package freezes most non-defence spending and eliminates two public holidays. Nearly 21 billion euros comes from limiting social and local government spending growth, with no inflation adjustments for public sector wages or welfare benefits. Another 10 billion euros targets high earners through a "solidarity" tax, restricts pensioner tax breaks, and cracks down on fraud. While politicians debate the budget over their summer break, unions are considering strike action - the hard-line CGT is in favour while the moderate CFDT has not ruled it out. The September return from the summer recess promises to be particularly tense as parties stake out positions. Bayrou must finalise his budget bill by Oct. 1 when it is to be sent to lawmakers. Without a majority, he will likely at some point invoke article 49.3 of the constitution to adopt the budget without a vote, triggering inevitable no-confidence motions. His survival would depend on the Socialists' abstention. Socialists demand a total budget revision, arguing that the spending freeze burdens average workers and pensioners while treating the wealthy with a light touch. They have criticised Bayrou's 4 billion euro tax increase on high earners as grossly insufficient. Bayrou has signalled a willingness to adapt, but he faces constraints from allies who think France's tax burden is already excessive. The Socialists are also against plans not to replace some retiring public workers and the scrapping of two public holidays. Should Bayrou fail to placate the Socialists and fall, President Emmanuel Macron would have to find a new prime minister, as happened with Bayrou's conservative predecessor Michel Barnier in December. This would leave budget legislation in limbo during the formation of a new government, which could drag on in the absence of figures palatable to at least some parties. Alternatively, Macron could call snap legislative elections again, plunging France even deeper into political uncertainty. ($1 = 0.8592 euros)
France 24
16-07-2025
- Politics
- France 24
French papers divided over PM Bayrou's 'shock treatment' budget
In France, the newly proposed 2026 budget is dividing right- and left-wing papers. "Bayrou has nothing to lose," says the headline of financial daily Les Echos, pleased to see the prime minister doing what nobody believed he would do. Right-wing Le Figaro calls the budget "shock treatment" that is necessary if France wants to avoid a financial catastrophe. Pro-business paper L'Opinion writes that "Bayrou bets on austerity". The paper praises the prime minister's gamble, saying that it helps make the French aware of the gravity of the financial situation. Left-wing papers have a different opinion, though. Communist daily L'Humanité calls it "the purge budget", saying that the proposition only spares the richest people and the biggest companies. "Bayrou in debt", reads the headline of left-wing Libération. The paper calls the budget "a bitter prescription", turning all the opposition parties against him. A similar tone is seen in centre-left daily Le Monde which says that the plan, including the proposed elimination of two public holidays, "has been strongly criticised by the left" but also by the far-right National Rally party. We turn next to the UK, a major data leak has put thousands of Afghans in danger and triggered their evacuation to Britain. British paper The Independent calls it a "catastrophic data breach", adding that the official behind the leak hasn't been fired for his blunder. The Financial Times says this is "one of the gravest security lapses in history". The whole leak had to be kept secret for two years by officials and the media who knew about the case. The Independent explains that this was done because of superjunctions used by the British Ministry of Defence. These are legal or so-called gagging orders that prevent a person or publication from reporting information. This means that anyone who shared any information about the case could be found in contempt of court. The gagging order was without precedent and a first in English legal history. The Telegraph reports that the British government said the secrecy was needed to keep the data from the Taliban. But the paper interviewed a senior Taliban official who said they had the "kill list" shortly after the original leak and they've been "hunting down" the people on it ever since. An analysis in the left-wing paper The Guardian says that the UK "let down Afghans who believed in Britain's promises". Hiding the leak means that they couldn't even make an "informed decision about their security". Turning to Africa, Doctors Without Borders has accused Ethiopia of brutal violence against humanitarian workers during its civil war. The New York Times reports that three aid workers were "intentionally killed" in 2021. Their bodies pierced by bullets were found on a remote road in June 2021, during the peak of the brutal civil war in the Tigray region. Meanwhile, French centre-left paper Le Monde writes that there's a "silence around the mass rapes" committed during the war in Ethiopia. Between 2020 and 2022, 120,000 women were raped, it says. Finally, emerging child stars have been making headlines. Vanity Fair gives us a first look at HBO's new Harry Potter. His name is Dominic McLaughlin. The 11-year-old was chosen among 30,000 other children who wanted to become "The Boy Who Lived". Another child star, Owen Cooper from the hit TV show "Adolescence", has been nominated in the outstanding supporting actor category at the Emmys, making him the youngest actor ever nominated in the category, according to The New York Times. He is only 15 years old. The show got 13 nominations in total after it resonated with audiences around the world.
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
French PM Bayrou proposes slashing two public holidays to reduce national deficit
France's Prime Minister François Bayrou has outlined plans to cut €43.8 billion from the national budget, warning that debt presents a "mortal danger" for the country. The cuts involve reducing the number of people employed in the civil service and a so-called "solidarity contribution" for "the wealthiest", as well as scrapping tax breaks for business expenses for pensioners. He also proposed getting rid of two public holidays, citing Easter Monday and 8 May as possible contenders to be scrapped. Bayrou said that would make it possible to increase productivity without raising taxes or VAT. May 8 has historical significance in France and across Europe as it marks the surrender of Nazi Germany in 1945 and the end of World War II in Europe. "It's the last stop before the cliff, before we are crushed by the debt," Bayrou told MPs, saying that debt is increasing by €5,000 every second. "It's late but there is still time," he added. He said the French shouldn't forget the financial woes Greece experienced more than a decade ago when it went through a full-blown debt crisis and needed multiple international bailout packages and years of austerity to get back on its feet. France's public deficit hit 5.8% of GDP in 2024, totalling €168.6 billion, a figure well above the maximum allowed by EU rules. In his announcement, Bayrou outlined significant budget cuts with the aim of slashing tens of billions of euros, aiming to bring the deficit down to 5.4% of GDP this year and 4.6% in 2026. Related Macron: France to spend billions to counter biggest threat to Europe's freedom since World War II UK and France launch pilot scheme to further deter Channel crossings He is hoping the cuts will bring the deficit to below the 3% threshold set by the EU by 2029. President Emmanuel Macron has tasked his prime minister with repairing public finances with the 2026 budget after the snap election he called last year resulted in a hung parliament too divided to tackle spiralling spending. Following the recommendations of Macron and citing the situation in both Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific region, Bayrou said no cuts would be made on national defence spending. €3.5 billion will be included in the 2026 budget, with a further €3 billion in 2027. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
