Sunday trading hours and more freedom for retail opening hours: both law projects were passed in the Chamber of Deputies, albeit just with the votes of the CSV and DP governing coalition. In future, retail and craft businesses will be able to open for eight hours on a Sunday, instead of just four. However, this will only be permitted under certain conditions, most notably under a collective agreement.
The Greens’ MP Djuna Bernard criticised the fact that businesses with fewer than 30 members of staff would not need to negotiate a collective agreement in order to benefit from the new hours: “This threshold of 30 employees is arbitrary, there is no systematic context in terms of labour law. It is purely a political compromise... In contrast, there is already a figure which is clearly featured in the law: 15 employees. This is the threshold needed for a staff delegation. It is based on the idea that collective representation is necessary for this amount of staff as employees’ dependence increases.”
New Labour Minister Marc Spautz confirmed the threshold of 30 employees would remain.
The second bill debated on Thursday concerns opening hours, allowing stores to open from 5am until 9pm in future.
This bill also attracted plenty of criticism from the opposition, such as The Left’s MP Marc Baum:"There hasn’t been any economic analysis to examine what it will mean for businesses, particularly smaller companies, which will struggle to keep up with such extended opening hours. This is what the Chamber of Employees said, the employers’ association, the state council. It’s a measure that will primarily benefit big chains, who have the possibility to adapt so they can open for longer, and will therefore be able to increase their market share.”
There was also criticism from within the government’s own ranks. Many petrol stations are permitted to open 24 hours, as long as they are located along strategically important European transport routes, but others are not.
This could lead to noise issues at night, warned CSV MP and Käerjeng Mayor Michel Wolter: “A service station with a shop that will now be open 24/7, attracting customers at 2am, 3am and so on, we all know what kind of conditions this brings with it. Would you want to live in a neighbourhood opposite an establishment like this, with a shop that’s open all day and all night?”
Minister Lex Delles said there were at least six months to go before the new law would come into force. He added that he plans to find a solution for service stations together with his colleague Léon Gloden.
The opposition also lashed out at the fact that two bills of such importance were rushed through during the Chamber’s last session of the year. After the protests in summer, MPs and ministers, including the new labour minister, should have had more time to debate these vital topics, lawmakers argued.
