Baden-Württemberg May Allow 24-Hour Shopping

The government of the state of Baden-Württemberg introduced legislation on Tuesday that would allow shops in the state to remain open as long as they want on weekdays. However, the bill would ban all Sunday shopping, except for two specially planned "Sale Sundays" per year. The move is a reaction to a ruling by Germany's Constitutional Court earlier this month that a new law governing shop opening times could be decided individually by the country's 16 states. Baden-Württemberg's Social Minister, Friedhelm Repnik, stressed that the conservative government, led by the Christian Democratic Union and the Free Democrats, had sought a balance between the liberalization of shop opening times on weekdays and the preservation of cultural tradition on Sundays. The legislation is expected to be passed by the opposition-dominated Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament representing the states, in July.