For ten years, it has struggled with the costs of a mandatory 35-hour week – a ceiling that is now so embedded in the legislation regulating working hours that simple abrogation would lead to chaos. The alternative, a targeted tax holiday, constitutes a welcome break with the culture of “time off,” and an encouragement to those who, as Sarkozy’s campaign slogan put it, want to “work more in order to earn more.”
但是法国并不是一个正常的国家。十年来，她一直在每周35小时的法定工作制的代价中挣扎——而这个工作时间上限现在已经深深地融入法律中，直接废除会引起混乱。而另一个办法，即针对性的免税期，不但可以顺应民心，打破“下班”文化，还可以鼓励萨科奇的竞选口号所指的那些希望“通过增加工作来增加收入”的人。