The French Government has announced a 50 percent cut in their lauded Culture Pass, four years after its nationwide launch for young people aged fifteen to eighteen to take up cultural activities.
The legislation, signed by Prime Minister François Bayrou, the Culture Minister Rachida Dati and other ministers, sees the pass for eighteen-year-olds reduced from €300 to €150, while the €20 available for fifteen-year-olds and €30 for sixteen-year-olds and seventeen-year-olds will all be scrapped. A €50 for seventeen-year-olds and an extra €50 for eighteen-year-olds with disabilities or lower-income backgrounds will remain in place.
The move follows a rush in the French government to plug national debt, which in September last year peaked at €3.2trillion, or 112 percent of the nation’s GDP.
The pass, introduced by the French government in 2021 to fulfil a commitment in Macron’s 2017 manifesto, can be spent on the purchase of cinema, museum and theatre tickets; books, art materials, dance courses, instruments or an online cultural subscription. Once registered for the app, 18-year-olds have two years to spend their pass.
