New public holidays wanted in Hungary

Hungarian society has long been waiting for 24 December to become a public holiday in Hungary, like in seven other European countries, says Péter Balassa, Member of Parliament, who has again submitted a legislative amendment proposal to this end.

Péter Balassa (Jobbik) proposes an amendment to Act I of 2012 on the Labour Code to make Christmas Eve a public holiday.

There are currently public holidays in Hungary:

New Year’s Day – 1 January

1848-49 Revolution and War of Independence – 15 March

Good Friday – Easter cycle

Easter Monday – constantly changing date

Labour Day – 1 May

Pentecost Monday – constantly changing date

State Founding Day – 20 August

56th Revolution Day – 23 October

All Saints Day – 1 November

Christmas Day – 25 December

Christmas Day – 26 December

According to Péter Balassa’s proposal, Article 102(1) of Act I of 2012 on the Labour Code would be replaced by the following provision:

(1) Public holidays: 1 January, 15 March, Good Friday, Easter Monday, 1 May, Whit Monday, 20 August, 23 October, 1 November and 24-26 December.

In justifying his proposal, Balassa pointed out that

in December 2023, several retailers—mentioning only the biggest ones, such as Lidl, Rossmann, and Penny—backed the initiative, allowing their employees to spend Christmas Eve with their loved ones and families.

In fact, it is probably only a matter of time before the government proposes a resolution to declare 24 December a public holiday, which will be adopted as a proposal of its own. In Hungary, shops are rarely open on Christmas Eve, and usually only until noon, and public transport also switches to public holiday mode in the second half of the day, so it is, in effect, an unrecognised but official for many people public holiday.

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Government response to the new public holiday

This is the fifth time the proposal has been repeated, but the proposal to make Christmas Eve a public holiday was voted down yearly by a two-thirds majority of Fidesz, a party with Christian and conservative values.

According to the government’s explanatory statement, János Fónagy, Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of National Economy (then the Ministry of Economic Development), stressed last year that All Saints’ Day was declared a public holiday in 2000 at the initiative of Fidesz, and Good Friday in 2017 at the initiative of Fidesz-KDNP.

Hungary has eleven public holidays, adding that any further increase in the number of public holidays should be carefully examined from the point of view of the economy’s capacity to cope with the economic burden.

More arguments for a public holiday

The arguments for the new holiday include that since 2017, Hungary has 11 public holidays, one day less than the EU average. Romania and Slovakia have 15 public holidays in neighbouring countries yearly, Croatia 14, Austria 13 and Ukraine 12.

According to Balassa, Fidesz’s argument that increasing the number of public holidays would weaken competitiveness and lead to a loss of GDP is not valid, since 24 December is undoubtedly the day when most of the income is generated by trade, but people can also schedule their shopping for other days, especially as shops are open practically all year round during Advent, including at weekends.

He also noted that the energy crisis is an important argument, as retail outlets’ overheads can be so high that the question arises whether it is worth keeping them open on this day.

Ultimately, this is a value choice: the government of a country that professes to be Christian should be sensitive to the need of Hungarian families to be together from 24 to 26 December. This period should be a time of peace, love, and intimate celebration,” concluded the MEP.

Last year’s opinion polls showed that

64-83% of Hungarians would support making Christmas Eve a public holiday.

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