Last month, during a two-hour press conference billed as “a moment of truth,” the French prime minister unveiled his draconian plans to drastically cut public spending in 2026.
The plans include slashing two of France’s 11 public holidays, reducing the number of civil servants and freezing welfare payments, including pensions, that are typically adjusted annually for inflation.
The plan triggered a wave of outrage from both the far-right National Rally and left-wing opposition parties, which are threatening to bring down the government during the budget vote in the fall.
But Bayrou is not giving up, and wants to at least convince voters that the cuts would be made in their own interest.
“When you’re forced to borrow — not to buy a house, an apartment, home furnishings or to buy a car, but simply to pay for everyday expenses — when you’re forced to borrow and you can’t pay it back without going every month to the bank to ask for an additional loan which is more and more expensive — that is call over-indebtedness,” Bayrou said.
His government is planning to bring France’s deficit — the difference between how much a country’s government spends and how much it receives in taxes — down from 5.8 percent of GDP last year to 4.6 percent in 2026.