Today may well be the last time that 2 May is a public holiday in Slovenia. As part of its austerity measures, the government has proposed the abolishment of two-day public holidays for Labour Day and New Year's. No other EU country has a public holiday on 2 May, and in only two others workers are free on 2 January.
Slovenia has 15 public holidays: apart from the two two-day holidays there is Culture Day on 8 February, Easter Monday, Resistance Day on 27 April, National Day on 25 June, Assumption Day on 15 August, Reformation Day on 31 October, All Saints' Day on 1 November, Christmas (25 December) and Independence and Unity Day on 26 December. As regards Labour Day around Europe, Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands and the UK do not even have a public holiday on 1 May.
Along with Slovenia, Romania and the UK are the only two European countries to hold a public holiday on 2 January. However, Switzerland, Latvia, Estonia, Denmark and Finland do have a work-free day on the last day of the year. While Slovenia has two two-day holidays, which is rare elsewhere in Europe, many other countries have longer Christian holidays.
The only universal public holiday throughout the EU is Christmas, but most of the countries also celebrate New Year's Day, Easter Monday, Assumption Day and 26 December (Boxing Day) as public holidays.The government's proposal to shorten the Labour Day and New Year's holidays to one day is aimed at increasing productivity and reducing the costs for the budget and employers. However, the proposal has been met with harsh opposition from trade unions.
Source: Slovenia Times
