Gérald Darmanin opposes tax increases and suggests “making the French work more”

Elimination of a second public holiday, end of the 35-hour week… Gérald Darmanin put forward savings options on Sunday with the objective of making “the French work more”, criticizing the tax increases wanted by the government, which will “kill growth” according to the ex-minister.

Northern MP Gérald Darmanin firmly rejects the tax increases the government is considering. He favors certain equally questionable avenues such as an increase in working hours for active workers.

“A fiscal shock does not make an economic policy. And this path risks killing growth and creating mass unemployment,” warns the former Minister of Public Accounts and the Interior in an interview with the daily Les Echos. “When you take the tax slide, everyone ends up being affected,” he continues.

“We lose our Latin”

As the presentation of the draft budget by Prime Minister Michel Barnier approaches on Thursday, the MP from the North continues his campaign of opposition to the temporary and targeted tax increases that the government is planning.

“It is paradoxical that a Prime Minister from the LR has as his first measure the sharp increase in taxes on companies and capital. We lose our Latin,” Mr. Darmanin annoys, believing that “the issue in France is that we don’t work enough.”

“The right answer” would therefore be to “work more”, continues the Ensemble pour la République MP, announcing in passing that Michel Barnier will go to the meeting of the EPR group in the Assembly on Tuesday.

A reform of public broadcasting

Gérald Darmanin then proposes several savings levers: a reform of public broadcasting, “the elimination of a second public holiday in both the public and private sectors”, the transition to “36 or 37 hours” of weekly work in the public sector, or the increase in registration fees for foreign students.

“Another option is to set up a second waiting day for sick leave in the public service,” suggests the parliamentarian from Tourcoing, who wants to “put a definitive end to the 35 hours.”

Although a member of the “common base” on which Michel Barnier intends to rely in the National Assembly, Gérald Darmanin also announces that he will not “vote” the part dedicated to revenue in the finance bill for 2025, if it remains as is. “On the other hand, I could vote for savings in public spending,” he specifies.