Chancellor Friedrich Merz of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) has firmly rejected proposals to abolish public holidays, stating he does not intend to engage in such a discussion. Responding to inquiries from the German news agency dts, Merz emphasized the largely regional nature of holiday regulations.
“If you examine closely which public holidays the federal government could potentially regulate uniformly, you’re left with a rather small number. Most holidays are governed at the state level” the Chancellor noted during a summer press conference. He likened the recurring debate to the mythical Loch Ness Monster, periodically resurfacing without resolution.
Merz also refuted claims that he had advocated for increased working hours across the entire population during the recent campaign. He clarified, “I never said that everyone must work more. I said that we, as a nation, must collectively achieve a higher level of performance. I stand by that statement.
The suggestion to eliminate a public holiday was previously advanced by Monika Schnitzer, head of the Council of Economic Experts and fellow council member Veronika Grimm, who proposed the idea during the presentation of the spring forecast in May.
According to calculations by the Institute for German Economy (IW), an additional working day could potentially contribute between €5 and €8.6 billion to the gross domestic product (GDP), representing approximately 0.2 percent of economic output. However, public opinion polls indicate that the measure remains exceptionally unpopular.