The French Prime Minister François Bayrou has launched a new video series aimed at defending his government’s €45 billion savings plan, fuelling widespread anger.
Released on August 5, the first episode saw Bayrou sitting in front of a camera, warning citizens about France’s debt and a dire economic situation.
He warned that the French would have to tighten their belts in what he called the difficult time ahead.
“It comes down to the difference between the efforts we choose to make and the sacrifices we are forced to endure. This is the question that today faces every French citizen,” he said.
France, he cautioned, was facing “a danger we cannot escape without courage.”
He warned viewers that the nation’s debt was growing by €5,000 every second and insisted: “The efforts must be made now. There is no tomorrow.
“We cannot postpone. Our national debt has reached a level that is almost beyond comprehension,” he said.
The IMF has challenged the French Government’s projections on future public debt, estimating that the country will end up running a significantly higher deficit than Paris is predicting. https://t.co/i9ZHAMGowY
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) May 24, 2024
To the left-wing opposition party La France Insoumise, Bayrou’s comments were similar to Louis XVI’s speeches right before the French Revolution.
Antoine Leaument, a rising figure of the party, on social media shared one such from May 1789, when Louis XVI talked about France’s debts, which she captioned: “Speech by Louis Capet at the opening of the Estates-General on May 5, 1789. Difference with François Bayrou, please?”
If Bayrou had hoped his direct address would calm the public, the opposite soon appeared to be the case.
“It’s not my debt, it’s yours and that of your friends who are gorging themselves on our backs,” one person commented on social media.
“Hello, is this the channel where they take us for fools?” another said.
Another claimed he had reported the channel for “misleading content and scam”.
Others used a more direct approach.
“Great initiative, François. We needed a podcast so that a guy who’s been in power since 1993 could explain to us, between forkfuls, why it’s still up to us to ‘make an effort’,” one person wrote.
“Why $211 billion in unchecked aid to businesses, but still less for healthcare, pensions, and the poor? Why has the budget been in deficit every year for 50 years? And why doesn’t your food bowl ever see any austerity?” the poster said before adding: “You’re not here to talk to us. You’re here to lull us to sleep.
“But we’re not listening anymore. We’re waking up.”
As France prepared for cuts in September, President Emmanuel Macron announced on July 14 that the country would pump €6 billion into the military.
“To be free in this world, you must be feared,” French President Emmanuel Macron declared on the eve of Bastille Day in Paris. https://t.co/is80fWAHkN
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 14, 2025
Calls for mass protest have also been spreading.
Since the end of July, activists have been pushing for a September 10 shutdown of the country with work stoppages, boycotts and blockades.
“Objective: To paralyse the country in protest against the Bayrou government’s €43 billion savings plan (cuts in healthcare, removal of public holidays, freeze on social benefits),” the strike-call web page read.
Major French unions such as the CGT have also backed the initiative and figures from the Yellow Vest movement, the populist, grassroots political movement for economic justice that began in France in October 2018, have shown support.
