Amendment to the Bavarian Shop Closing Act

The ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS parliamentary group has submitted an amendment to the state government's draft law for a new shop closing law for a roll-call vote. As a supplement to the original draft law, the group would like to use its amendment to ensure that larger supermarkets of up to 400 m² can open around the clock in rural areas if there are no other shopping opportunities. In addition, the obligation to register each additional long shopping night with the municipality in advance should be eliminated in order to avoid bureaucracy. The state government's draft law previously stipulated that shops were generally allowed to open on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Small supermarkets without staff up to 150 m², on the other hand, should also be open at night and on Sundays and public holidays, and communities should be allowed to allow up to eight “long shopping nights” until midnight. In addition, shops should be able to open longer on four evenings, but they must register this with the municipality in advance. The amendment was rejected with 131 votes against. 24 MPs voted in favor, there were two abstentions from Andreas Schalk (CSU) and Sabine Weigand (ALLIANCE 90/THE GREENS).