Working week of 35 hours is not sacrosanct: Ayrault

French prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault delighted business and angered labour leaders yesterday by suggesting the 35-hour working week was not sacrosanct, although he stressed the socialist government had no plans to change it.

The comment came ahead of a government-commissioned report to be unveiled next Monday on proposals to boost the flagging industrial competitiveness of Europe’s second largest economy.

The shift to a shorter work week was the flagship reform of the Socialist government that ruled France during a boom at the end of the 1990s. Many employers say it bloated labour costs and blunted their ability to compete in world markets.