German States Favor Longer Opening Hours

The on-going debate over shopping hours in Germany took another twist after a survey in business newspaper Handelsblatt showed that ten of Germany's 16 states are seeking to remove restrictions on opening hours for the country's stores. According to the survey, most of the states favor allowing stores to open around the clock from Monday to Saturday. This follows reports last week from the states of Bayern and Hesse which quoted local businesses which wanted to liberalize opening hours. According to the accompanying report in the paper, longer opening hours will create more job opportunities. The paper also cites Günter Basske, labor minister for the state of Brandenburg, who has called for stores to be allowed to open on Sundays if retailers promise to hire more people in a bid to address Germany's unemployment situation.