Berlijn overweegt het schrappen van de vrije 3 oktober (dag van de Duitse hereniging) om economie te stimuleren (en)

Berlin is to propose scrapping the national holiday on 3 October as part of a series of measures to boost the economy.

According to German media, 3 October, which commemorates German unification, will be moved to a Sunday.

Finance minister Hans Eichel is hoping that an extra day of work will help promote more economic growth.

It is part of an overall savings package to be presented by Mr Eichel today (4 November) which he hopes will allow his country to adhere to the EU's stability pact.

Germany has been consistently in breach of the rules governing the euro, which say that a country cannot run a public deficit of more than 3 percent of GDP.

According to Süddeutsche, opposition politicians have criticised the move.

Leader of the liberals Guido Westerwelle said "Whoever does not celebrate German union anymore, also forgets at the same time German partition".

He said it would be unthinkable that France or the US would forgo their national holidays.

The German government is keen to make sure that the Sunday upon which German unification is celebrated - expected to be the first Sunday in October - is still treated like a proper national celebration.

The German parliament would have to agree the measure before it can go into force.