Arguments over shop opening times Bonn traders concerned about Sunday openings

Bonn · Businesses in Bonn believe the Bonn-Fest could be in danger because of the discussion about Sunday openings and are demanding legal certainty. Unions are taking a closer look after the Federal Administrative Court ruled such Sundays must be linked to an event.

The demand by several department store chains to be able in the future to open at will on Sundays is worrying more than a few traders in Bonn. They fear the move could backfire by providing unions with ammunition to act against Sunday opening.

Since the Federal administrative court expressly stated in a decision at the end of 2015 that Sunday opening must be linked to an event and cannot be a goal in itself, the unions have gained momentum and have overturned Sunday openings in several cities, including Wuppertal and Dusseldorf. Traders now fear something similar could happen in Bonn. They are particularly concerned about the approval for Sunday openings for the Town Festival in Beuel at the start of September and for the Bonn-Fest at the beginning of October.

“We don’t want to open on more Sundays, but to gain legal certainty for the four Sundays a year allowed by law,” says Adalbert von der Osten, head of the Retail Association Bonn/Rhein-Sieg/Euskirchen. In the city of Bonn there are currently only three Sunday openings a year: besides opening for the Bonn-Fest, the shops also traditionally open for “Bonn Leuchtet” and on one Sunday in Advent during the Christmas market.

German trade union confederation sceptical

Since 2013, the Shop Opening Laws have stated that the unions must be heard on the issue. A somewhat sceptical response from the German Trade Union Confederation (DGB) and Verdi unions about Bonn-Fest is currently on the table. While Judith Gövert (DGB) and Monika Bornholdt (Verdi) expressly praise the performance by City-Marketing as the organiser of the planned event, they complain that there has been no “legal assessment” of the Bonn-Fest event by the city of Bonn. Gövert and Bornholdt are convinced: “In our view, Bonn-Fest is a sales promotion event, as the event could not take place without Sunday opening.”

Harald Borchert, vice head of citizens’ services, responded: “Of course we have assessed the legalities in accordance with new case law, and also stated this in a draft resolution for Bonn city council.” It was the custom for years in Bonn that trades, churches and the unions sought and found a compromise to the controversial question of Sunday opening. It was agreed there would be three Sundays on which shops open, and not the four allowed by law. In 2013, Verdi backed out of the agreement.

Four Sundays are enough

Von der Osten says City-Marketing has now reworked the information about the Bonn-Fest. “We will take a close look at it and then decide how we proceed,” said Bornholdt. The same applies to the Sunday opening for the Beuel Town Festival on 3 September. The unions are of the view that there is no legally robust reason for Sunday openings at a town festival, because the aim is sales promotion.

Von der Osten hopes the new regional government will reform the shop opening laws to provide traders with certainty in the future. The current law is unrealistic. His association believes the four Sundays allowed by law are sufficient. “They should act as an impetus for discovering the attractiveness of the city,” he says. This effect is lost when shops are always open on Sundays.

The future coalition partners in the regional parliament are also aware of the problem and it is part of the coalition negotiations with the FDP.

(Original text: Lisa Inhoffen. Translated by Kate Carey.)

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