Leisure-loving French spend too much time on holiday and long lunches, minister says

The leisure-loving French spend too much time on holidays and having long lunches and not enough time at work, the country's firebrand finance minister has claimed.

Outspoken Christine Lagarde told the nation that the only way to revive the flagging French economy was to transform the nation's lethargic work culture.

Her criticism of France's laissez-faire lifestyle comes after a global study last year revealed they worked the fewest hours of any country on earth.

The report by Swiss bank UBS found the French graft for just 1,480 hours a year, with 27 days annual holiday, meaning they have more free time than any other nation on the planet.

Britons work 1,782 hours a year -- 301 more than the French -- and have 20 days holiday a year, making us the world's 36th most lazy nation, it was found.

Miss Lagarde -- who ran a high-powered Chicago law firm for three years before becoming a minister -- said: "When I came back to France several years ago I was struck by an ethical change in the French.

"Instead of thinking about their work, people were thinking about their weekend, organising, planning and engineering time off." 

France needed to adopt the entrepreneurial culture that exists in Britain and US, but that many French were afraid of setting up businesses on their own, she said.

She added: "If you say to a French person, 'Would you like to be an entrepreneur?' they might be terribly intimidated.

"But if you say 'Would you like to set up a little business on the side?' or 'Would you like to be your own boss?' then the answer is likely to be different." 

Her remarks come after President Nicolas Sarkozy told the nation when he was sworn into office last year that France's work ethic was in a state of 'crisis'.

Holiday mood: France's President Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy arrive at the Israeli Parliament today

He said: "I don't believe in living on social welfare. I don't believe everyone is the same. I believe in merit, I believe in effort and reward for that effort and I believe in social mobility. But above all, I believe in hard work."

 But the issue of longer working hours often touches a raw nerve among many French people, who believe they already work hard enough.

Sarkozy has already abandoned plans to ditch the 35-hour working week  introduced by the socialists, despite having branded it a 'catastrophe'.

A spokesman for the Association of Small and Medium-sized businesses said yesterday: "Many people are already putting in very long hours, and leaisuretime is also important for a healthy, balanced lifestyle."