​We need to have a different perspective on the weekend. Our employees also deserve to spend the weekend with their families. And yes, we made a proposal to the prime minister to close supermarkets on weekends, as is happening in other European countries, Feliciu Paraskiv, owner of the Paco Supermarkets chain of stores and vice president, said in a conversation with HotNews.ro. – President of the National Association of Small and Medium-Sized Entrepreneurs of Romania.

The first discussions took place on Wednesday, when the leadership of the National Association of Small and Medium Traders met with Marcel Cholaku, the topic of discussion was the promotion of local trade and mechanisms by which traders can help reduce food inflation.

We thought that if we closed at 14:00 on Saturday and Sunday, the shops would not suffer from too many people. At the first stage, they discussed closing them completely from Friday evening to Monday morning, but a number of members of our Association who work with perishable products, which expire in 4 days, came and who would be affected by this possibility. So we came up with this scheme, which we will present to the Prime Minister at the government headquarters today (Friday – reddit), – also said Feliciu Paraskiv.

The vice president of the Merchants Association says the proposal is aimed at protecting workers, many of whom are being laid off due to employment. “We ended up working with expats because we could no longer find people in the country to hire. People also want to have a weekend, to spend time with their family, this is absolutely normal!” Parashchiv explains.

He cites the example of Austria, where shops are closed on weekends after 12-1pm, and where the population has adapted. “In order to avoid crowding, we could extend the work of some supermarkets on Friday from 9 am to 10 pm. But I think people will be able to get used to it,” says Feliciu Paraskiv.

How are things in Europe?

Most European countries have shop regulations, but they vary greatly. Most countries that regulate working hours care about the interests of workers and consumers. However, countries that lift restrictions can stimulate the economy and remove the distortions of unfair competition between stores and e-commerce.

(table source: www.across-magazine.com)

There are only a few countries left in Europe that refrain from opening supermarkets and retail stores on Sundays. In addition to Austria, these are Germany, Greece, Poland and Slovenia.

Representatives of shopping centers in these countries rightly ask why the doors of shopping centers and shopping centers cannot be opened at least a few Sundays a year.

In Austria, for example, a trade association demanded that shops be open at least six Sundays a year.

Another argument is to remain competitive with online retail. E-commerce has no closing hours and is open 4/7.

It is certain that the working time also largely depends on the efficiency of lobbyists. Especially in countries like Germany and Austria, the workers’ lobby is very active. However, recent years show that many countries are becoming much more consumer-oriented and are adapting their opening times to this end in favor of retailers.

In 2016, for example, Hungary lifted its ban on working on Sundays in response to massive consumer backlash. Finland lifted the ban again to satisfy the interests of consumers. An important argument was that neighboring Sweden did not apply restrictions on working hours and attracted many Finnish shoppers on weekends. This has led to a decrease in competitiveness in retail trade in Finland. The lifting of restrictions is expected to stimulate the economy and remove unfair distortions of competition between stores and e-commerce.