Germany, fewer holidays for more defence? Ifo Institute’s proposal reopens debate

Brussels – In his editorial published today (May 9), Clemens Fuest, president of the ifo Institute, revives a provocative proposal: abolish a public holiday in Germany. The reason? To increase the availability of work to address the country’s strategic challenges, foremost among them the strengthening of defence.

Fuest starts with an observation: Germany needs to invest more in civilian infrastructure and military security. However, even if fiscal constraints were eased, allowing the government to finance spending through loans, a more structural and pressing issue would remain: the shortage of available manpower. According to Fuest, increasing government spending on defence and infrastructure in a context of full employment would risk causing a shift of resources away from other sectors. The effect? Higher wages in construction and the defence apparatus, and a flight of workers from areas already under pressure, such as care and health care. The result would be a deterioration in the delivery of essential services, a general rise in prices, and a loss of welfare for large sections of the population.

Hence, the proposal: to abolish a public holiday to increase the amount of work available throughout the year, a solution that has already found a precedent in Denmark, which, to meet the same need, abolished in 2023 the “Store Bededag,” a minor Easter holiday. “This is not a solving measure,” Fuest admits. Still, it would be a concrete step to expand the labour supply and contribute directly to Germany’s productive capacity at a time when every resource counts. The ifo Institute estimates that such a move would generate an output of at least €8 billion a year.

The focus on defence is not accidental. The geopolitical context, marked by new tensions and increasing instability at European borders, has also led Germany to reconsider its security role and commitments. This entails not only more spending, but also a real capacity for implementation: without qualified personnel, even the most ambitious allocations cannot translate into concrete results. Unlike more complex solutions such as a tax reform or a rethinking of the pension system, the abolition of a holiday can be implemented relatively quickly and with immediate effects. Moreover, it would have symbolic value: sending a message to the population and European partners that Germany is willing to make sacrifices to strengthen its resilience, including on the military front.

Clemens Fuest asks a fundamental question: if security and modernisation of the country are real priorities, are we willing to work an extra day a year to support them? The debate is open.