France’s Socialist-dominated parliament voted on Thursday to end tax breaks on overtime work and raise wealth tax, abolishing two cornerstones of the economic policy conservative former president Nicolas Sarkozy pursued over the past five years. The measures were in a budget bill that France’s first left-wing government in a decade presented to the National Assembly after taking power following Francois Hollande’s presidential election victory in May. In one vote, the lower house of parliament endorsed plans to scrap the tax-free status of overtime hours from August onwards, unstitching tax breaks that symbolised the “work more, earn more” slogan which swept Sarkozy to power in 2007. The vote, first scheduled for Wednesday, was delayed until a few hours before dawn on Thursday by bickering between Socialist supporters and centre-right opponents who say the measure will damage people’s spending power.
