© Godong/Getty Images
– Can the November 11 public holiday disappear?
Jean-François Copé is no longer in government, but he wants to save money. The former Minister of the Budget, mayor of Meaux for almost 20 years, never stops wanting to find solutions to save France money. At the beginning of October, the former deputy positioned himself in favor of a return of the housing tax in order to partially fill the 60 billion euros missing to the state. According to him, this measure would bring in 20 billion euros. But on the occasion of November 11, the former minister clearly spoke in favor of the elimination of a public holiday.
In order to finance national solidarity, the government could indeed be tempted to delete a secondafter Pentecost Monday. On this point, Jean-François Copé concedes: “There’s never a good holiday to cut, there’s never a good savings.” But according to him, beyond the historic nature of November 11, the elimination of this public holiday would be entirely possible: “We don’t need a public holiday to commemorate November 11”he said on France Inter, while ironically: “Or that would mean that we have 65 million French people at the foot of the war memorials.”
“I’m sorry but it costs 20 billion”: Jean-François Copé proposes to reinstate this tax
Michel Barnier recalls the importance of November 11
He was speaking just before receiving the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, in his stronghold of Meaux and inaugurating a reconstructed trench at the Museum of the Great War in the city. But Michel Barnier very quickly responded to him on the subject, recalling that“honoring the memory of these fighters means first of all having the memory of this tragic story” and above all that November 11 was “a holiday to which we are attached”.
According to a senatorial report released at the end of September, the elimination of a public holiday would ultimately make it possible to report 2.4 billion euros additional revenue, or even 3.3 billion euros, by symmetrically increasing the contribution of retirees. In the process, the Minister of the Economy judged the idea “very interesting” d’“establish a second day of solidarity”.
Public deficit: could a public holiday be abolished to redress the accounts?
For Jean-François Copé, it is necessary “work more” In France. A few days ago, the mayor of Meaux also took aim at the Minister of Partnership with the Territories and Decentralization of France, Catherine Vautrin, who wanted to establish a «participation» to “city uses”. A “vast hypocrisy”according to him, pleading once again for a housing tax “reformed”.
