Shops in Belgium will soon be allowed to remain open until 21:00, as well as seven days a week. The Federal Government confirmed the measure on relaxing businesses' opening hours on Friday.
Clothing shops, electrical shops and supermarkets are currently still subject to fairly strict rules in Belgium: they must have at least one fixed closing day per week (usually Sunday), and they are not allowed to open between 20:00 and 05:00 on other days – except on Fridays, when they are allowed to stay open until 21:00.
A relaxation of these strict regulations was already announced in the coalition agreement and has now been finalised. The new rules were definitively approved by the Council of Ministers on Friday, the cabinet of Federal Minister Eléonore Simonet (MR) confirmed to The Brussels Times.
Importantly, shopkeepers who want to close earlier can still do so: no shop will be required to stay open until 21:00 or all week.
Greater flexibility
"The current law is no longer suited to the expectations of consumers and retailers, nor to the development of online commerce, which enjoys much greater flexibility than physical shops and creates distortions of competition," Simonet said in a press release. "Greater flexibility should enable retailers to adapt to current expectations."
For newsagents, which are exempt from closing hours and can open 24 hours a day, a condition relating to the number of newspapers, weeklies and monthlies displayed and sold has now been introduced. This way, the authorities can easily distinguish between genuine and fake newsagents.
The text has now been sent to the Central Economic Council for its opinion. It is expected to come into force three months after its publication in the Belgian Official Gazette.
A closed board on the door of a shop. Credit: Belga/Nicolas Maeterlinck
Initially, the agreement stated that shops would be allowed to remain open until 22:00, but that was moved up an hour in the final version. However, members of the opposition in Parliament called it "incomprehensible" that businesses are not being given more freedom to completely set their own hours, if they want to.
At the same time, the Supreme Council for the Self-Employed and SMEs is not in favour of longer opening hours: they fear for the private lives of small self-employed people who have difficulty finding staff and will therefore have to work longer hours themselves.
However, the Federal Government pointed out that relaxed regulations on student work and flexi-jobs could help in this regard.
More pressure on small businesses
The Supreme Council is not in favour of a general abolition of the mandatory weekly closing day either. "The possibility of being open seven days a week would de facto lead to additional pressure on the self-employed and SMEs compared to larger companies."
They argue that larger companies will find it easier to open on Sundays and, as a result, gain a larger market share. "Additionally, the Council believes that the impact of Sunday opening on society, and in particular on family and socio-cultural life, should not be underestimated."
However, they also pointed out that it would do away with "unfair competition" for shops located just outside of tourist areas (which, up until now, have enjoyed an exemption to the rule on having a fixed closing day). "In these specific cases, ending the mandatory closing day would provide clarity and simplification and restore a level playing field."
Update: This article was updated at 17:15, following confirmation from Simonet's office that the measure had been approved.
