November 11: why the idea of ​​eliminating a public holiday divides

Eliminating a public holiday: the subject was at the heart of the discussions during the last meeting of Ensemble pour la République deputies. Thomas Cazenave, former Minister of Public Accounts and now Member of Parliament for Gironde, is in favor. “I think it’s a good debate. Working a little more rather than weighing on purchasing power or increasing the burden on businesses is an avenue worth exploring”he said.

A measure far from being unanimous among the deputies Ensemble

Some Macronist deputies are therefore pushing to include the measure in the 2025 budget. A counterproposal to avoid the removal of exemptions from employer contributions, a totem for the Macronists. “We are making this proposal by trying to convince the government to abandon the increase in social charges. Because we are convinced that this will result in job destruction”continues Thomas Cazenave. “The debate among Macronist deputies mainly concerns the cause to which these additional revenues should be allocated: old age, veterans’ associations”explains an elected Ensemble representative. But removing a public holiday is not unanimous among Ensemble deputies. Prime Minister Michel Barnier himself does not view the measure favorably.

“We don’t need a public holiday to commemorate”

Another difficulty: agreeing on which non-working day to eliminate. A religious day or a historical commemoration? “Why not November 11?” launches the mayor of Les Républicains de Meaux, Jean-François Copé, guest of France Inter this Monday, November 11. “We don't need a public holiday to commemorate. Or that means that we have 65 million French people who are at the foot of the war memorials on November 11, that would be known.” But lThe risk is an outcry from associations for the memory of the war. “November 11 is untouchable“, judges for example the president of French Souvenir, Serge Barcellini.

“Establishing a second day of solidarity is a very interesting proposal”argued at the end of October, on LCI, the Minister of Economy and Finance, Antoine Armand. “This is part of the debates we will have in Parliament” says the Minister of the Budget, Laurent Saint-Martin, on the same channel. “I think that anything that allows our country to show that we can work harder to participate in the recovery effort is going in the right direction.”