In the future, shopping in rural Schleswig-Holstein will be possible in small supermarkets without staff on Sundays and public holidays. With the votes of the coalition factions of the CDU and the Greens, the state parliament decided to change the law on shop opening times. The FDP and SSW abstained, the SPD rejected the amendment. The law is expected to come into force at the beginning of June.
“We want to strengthen rural areas,” said Economics Minister Claus Ruhe Madsen (CDU). However, permission to open remains the exception. There must continue to be a difference between a Sunday or public holiday and a working day.
Until now, thanks to the spa regulations, it was only possible to buy bread, milk or other things in tourist resorts on certain Sundays. “The hectic shopping on Saturday evenings and the question of what ends up on the breakfast table on Mondays will then come to an end in the country,” said Madsen.
That’s what it’s about
In the future, staffless supermarkets in communities with up to 2,500 inhabitants will be allowed to open on Sundays and public holidays all year round. You may have a maximum of 350 square meters of sales space. According to the Ministry of Economic Affairs, there are now 15 such supermarkets. According to the ministry, market meetings can also potentially benefit from the regulation.
In the future, farm shops across the country will also be allowed to open on Sundays if they only offer their own agricultural products (90 percent). This range restriction does not apply in communities with up to 2,500 inhabitants.
Praise and criticism
The Northern Trade Association welcomed the planned reform. In view of the necessary investments in order to be able to operate a store without staff, Sunday is essential as an opening time.
The Verdi union criticized the legal reform. “The Sunday opening of staffless supermarkets is just another gateway to weakening the constitutional protection of Sundays and public holidays and at the same time a step towards the destruction of jobs in retail,” said department head Bert Stach. “We will examine legal steps. This also includes the question of whether the so-called pool regulations can now be challenged due to the changed legal basis.”
Shops in selected tourist-oriented places on the islands, such as Malente, Plön and Eckernförde, benefit from the pool regulation during the holiday season. A total of 95 cities and municipalities fall under this regulation. Shops there are allowed to open for six hours on Sundays and public holidays from March 15th to October 31st and from December 17th to January 8th within a time corridor of 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. A special regulation applies to Heligoland: sales outlets there can be open on Sundays and public holidays from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. from December 15th to October 31st.