Parliament wants large retailers to shut on Sunday to protect traditional markets

The Romanian Parliament is working on a piece of legislation to force supermarkets and hypermarkets to close on Sundays in order to boost food sales for traditional markets and local producers. The proposed change is being opposed by the association of retailers active in Romania, which estimates that large retailers would see a 13 to 20 percent drop in sales if the law came into force.

Members of Parliament are currently working on the impact study and would like to finalize the legislation by the end of the month, according to Valeriu Steriu, MP and initiator of the draft law. They are using as an example a similar move in Germany, which does not allow large retailers to open on Sunday and only partially on Saturday.

However, supermarket and hypermarket representatives say this is absurd and abusive and creates an unfair competitive advantage without the intention of improving services for the public. The association of retailers also point to the 50,000 jobs in the local retail industry. This issue could also come under the scrutiny of the Competition Council.

Staff

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