On a proposal by the Minister for SMEs, Self-Employed Workers and the Middle Classes, Eléonore SIMONET, Parliament approved this Thursday in plenary session the abolition of the compulsory weekly closing day and the harmonisation of the opening hours regime.
In concrete terms, shops will be able to open 7 days a week and until 9pm, if they wish.
Eléonore SIMONET: “The current law is no longer suited to the expectations of consumers and shopkeepers, nor to the development of online commerce, which enjoys much greater flexibility than physical shops and creates distortions of competition.”
The Government has therefore definitively decided:
- to abolish the compulsory weekly closing day;
- to relax opening hours to allow shops to open until 9pm.
“We are not forcing anyone to stay open longer. We are giving shopkeepers the freedom to choose. We are removing outdated obstacles so our shopkeepers can better compete with webshops and cross-border stores. More opportunities, fewer obstacles,” the Minister explains.
The text will come into force 10 days after publication in the Belgian Official Gazette.