France Public Holidays News and Updates

2022 (public news feed delayed by 30 days)

• Apr
• 1
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• France Presidential Candidate Proposes Declaring Another Annual Public Holiday

  LCI (Paris) - The French far left presidential candidate, Jean-Luc Mélenchon, has proposed adding a new annual public holiday in France, if he is elected, and subsequently gets a majority in the parliamentary elections.
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2019

• Apr
• 20
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• France Mulls Cancelling Another Public Holiday

  LCI (Paris) - The French government is reportedly, once again, considering the conversion of another public holiday into a working public holiday to finance long-term dependency of the elderly population.
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2015

• Feb
• 14
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• France Votes Public Holidays Amendment

  Le Monde (Paris) - France's National Assembly has voted the Bareigts amendment to the omnibus Macron economic growth bill currently being considered, which would allow the replacement of 7 of the 11 Fench annual public holidays by more local (ie. Muslim and Hindu) annual non-working public holidays.
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2014

• Sep
• 15
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• France Business Wants to Ax 2 Public Holidays

  Le Figaro (Paris) - France's main employers' union (MEDEF), in a document widely believed to have been leaked by the current ruling socialist party ahead of tomorrow's vote of confidence, has proposed that 2 of France's public holidays be dropped.
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2013

• Feb
• 22
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• France Regional Public Holidays Maintained

  Le Figaro (Paris) - France's Constitutional Court (le Conseil Constitutionnel) has rejected an attempt by the ruling Socialist Party to abrogate the "Concordat" which affords 2 additional non-working public holidays to 3 of France's administrative departments (Alsace and Moselle).
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2012

• Jun
• 29
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• France's HR Wants 3 Christian Public Holidays Cut

  L'usine nouvelle (Paris) - France's association of Human Resources Managers (ANDRH) has proposed the cancellation of 3 of France's annual Christian public holidays in an effort to promote diversity in the workplace.
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• Feb
• 20
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• France Armistice Public Holiday Amended

  Le Figaro (Paris) - France's National Assembly have overwhelmingly voted to approve a law which would amend the November 11 annual Armistice non-working public holiday into a public holiday commemorating France's dead in all past conflicts.
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• Jan
• 12
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• France Public Holidays Electioneering

  TF1 News (Paris) - French EELV presidential candidate, Eva Joly, has promised to declare Yom Kippur and the Feast of Sacrifice as non-working public holidays in France if she is elected President of France on May 6, 2012.
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2011

• Apr
• 5
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• France Considering Another Working Public Holiday

  Le Figaro (Paris) - The French government is reportedly considering the conversion of another public holiday into a working public holiday to finance long-term dependency of the elderly population.
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2008

• Nov
• 10
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• France's May 8 Public Holiday Back To The Fore

  AFP (Paris) - It has been reported that, following the lead of Luxembourg's Prime Minister, France's European Affairs Secrétaire d'Etat, Jean-Pierre Jouyet, is about to propose that the May 8 public holiday commemorating the end of World War II be replaced by May 9, the Day of Europe.
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• May
• 12
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• France's Parliament To Debate May 9th Public Holiday

  AFP + Le Figaro - France's Prime Minister, François Fillon, recently indicated that Parliament would consider making May 9th an annual public holiday in France (most likely replacing the current May 8th public holiday).
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• Mar
• 24
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• France Recognizes Shavuot As An Official Holiday

  EJP (European Jewish Press) - The Jewish festival of Shavuot has been added to the Journal Officiel (the government's gazette). This does not mean that Shavuot festival will become a general public holiday in France, but as the festival falls in May or June annually (at the time of school final exams) Jewish students will now be allowed to take exams at different dates.
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• Jan
• 29
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• France Restores Whit Monday Public Holiday

  Agence France Presse + La Tribune - Labour Minister, Xavier Bertrand, confirmed that Whit Monday would be restored as a fully national public holiday in France, starting this year, in 2008.
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2007

• Dec
• 19
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• France's Whit Monday Public Holiday Back In The Limelight

  Le Monde - In a report he submitted late last week, Eric Besson, the Minister in Charge of the Evaluation of Public Policies, proposed that the Whitmonday public holiday be re-instated in France, and that each business be allowed to choose the public holiday it wishes to work on.
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• May
• 24
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• France's Whit Monday Public Holiday Observance To Remain As Is

  L'Express - The newly formed center-right government has confirmed that there would be no change to the current observance of the Whitmonday public holiday in France.
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• May
• 7
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• France's Whit Monday Public Holiday Unlikely To Return

  Q++ Blog (April 7) - Last night's victory by center-right presidential candidate, Nicolas Sarkozy, means that the restoration of the Whit Monday public holiday (one of the Socialist Party's Manifesto promises), is unlikely.
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• Apr
• 7
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• France Whit Monday Public Holiday Update

  Le Figaro (Paris) - Part of France's Socialist Party "projet" which is supposed to be binding upon its chosen presidential candidate, contains the promise to re-instate Whit Monday as a public holiday in France.
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2006

• Oct
• 25
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• France Public Holidays News Update

  Le Figaro (Paris) - The cabinet has decided that the 2007 presidential elections will be held on April 22, 2007, followed by an almost certainly necessary second round on May 6, 2007.
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2004

• Feb
• 2
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• France Whitmonday Public Holiday Officially Cancelled

  Le Figaro (Paris) - France's Cabinet approved a plan to eliminate the Whit Monday annual holiday, to bring in more tax revenues to pay for better healthcare for the elderly and disabled.
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2003

• Nov
• 6
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• France To Cancel Whitmonday Public Holiday

  Reuters - French Prime Minister, Jean-Pierre Raffarin, announced that French workers will give up one day-off a year (either on a public holiday or another non-work day) to raise nine billion euros to improve state care for the elderly and disabled.
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1998

• Dec
• 9
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• France Bank Holiday December 24

  Banque de France (Paris) - The Banque de France (France's Central Bank) has announced that the French banking sector would only be open the morning of Thursday, December 24, 1998.
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