Some/many Europeans pretty much take the month of August off to go on holiday. That's in addition to other holidays/time off throughout the year. People in many jobs here in the U.S. are lucky to get 2 weeks off total per year.
This was the most surprising thing to me when I started working with Europe. I had a meeting with a company in Germany at the end of July a few years ago and all involved said they would be unavailable until September.
Most Europeans take 3 weeks off in the summer (sometimes 4), typically July or August. Companies run very slow for a couple of months, or even close down in August.
