Bavaria balks at longer shop hours

New debate on shop hours in Bavaria. Bavaria is one of the very few Länder in Germany that still has strict regulations on shop hours.

Now with a new order regarding filling stations, the FDP has again demanded an opening of this regulation. Even after the legislation for shop hours was transferred to the Länder (federal states) in 2006 Bavaria stayed to the former regulation that shops are only allowed to be open from 6 am to 8 pm with Sundays closed.

This is the result of an internal vote within a former CSU Parliamentary group in 2007 which turned out with a tie of 52 to 52. CSU decided then not to change anything. In the coalition agreement this point was also left out, although the FDP supports a reform which would end regulation. All opposition parties (SPD, Green Party and Freie Wähler) are against liberalization. The discussion came up again after Minister for Social Affairs, Christine Haderthauer (CSU), ordered filling station to stop selling certain goods after 8 pm.

Although shops are closed in Bavaria after 8 pm, filling stations include shops and are used as  "after hour" shops. Bavarian Minister for Econmics, Martin Zeil (FDP) announced that the FDP has startsed an attempt to open shop hours for 24 hours on working days.