(de-news.net) – Alexander von Preen, President of the German Retail Association (HDE), has advocated for increased flexibility in Sunday opening regulations. He emphasized that municipalities and retailers should independently decide which Sundays to open, underscoring the need for legal clarity.

Von Preen criticized the mandatory event-link requirement, urging its nationwide removal to grant businesses more freedom, arguing that Sunday openings could not succeed without the cooperation of employees and proposed flexible arrangements, such as closing on Mondays instead. He also opposed fixed caps on the number of open Sundays, contending that companies should autonomously determine the appropriate approach for their locations, citing a Federal Constitutional Court ruling supporting this framework.

Although the Federal Shop Closing Act restricts Sunday and holiday openings nationally, specific regulations vary across states, with a limited number of permissible “open Sundays” often tied to specific events.