Street markets, long family lunches, strolls in the park . . .For the French, Sunday is a great tradition, a time to enjoy the finer things in life while other silly countries such as Britain keep working.
So President Sarkozy’s plan to “abolish Sunday” and let the shops open is running into a hail of criticism.
Parliament is due to pass a Bill tomorrow to ease France’s strict trading laws, but hostility to it is so widespread that some MPs in Mr Sarkozy’s own centre-right camp predict that it could unravel before becoming law.
The President’s plan to abolir le dimanche is being resisted by an unlikely coalition of interests, including the centre and left-wing Opposition, the Roman Catholic Church, the trade unions and small shopkeepers who fear losing their existing Sunday business to supermarkets. Up to 60 per cent of the public, according to polls, are also against a scheme that will reverse the century-old right to a day of rest.
The President has made Sunday shopping a personal crusade since he promised it in his 2007 election campaign under his slogan of “work more to earn more”.
He pillories France as a backward exception to the rest of Europe and has said that he was ashamed when Michelle Obama wanted to take her daughters shopping in Paris on a Sunday last month — he had to arrange a special opening for her at a Left Bank boutique.
“How are we supposed to explain to them that we are the only country where shops are closed on Sunday?” he asked. “We are a country that takes pride in having more tourists than any other, yet we believe the shops must be shut on the day there are the most visitors.”
In reality, both sides are exaggerating. Although most shopping centres and non-food shops are closed, the French already work more on Sundays than most Europeans. Limited Sunday trading has been allowed in big French cities and tourist areas since 1993.
Many other EU countries restrict Sunday shopping more or as much as France. Germany and Austria are only just getting used to the novelty of Saturday afternoon shopping.
Belgium, which Mr Sarkozy has cited as a model, allows Sunday trading in only limited areas.
The only EU countries that allow unlimited Sunday opening are the Czech Republic, Sweden and Romania. Britain has restrictions but its citizens still manage to put in more work than in any other EU state.
Mr Sarkozy abandoned a first attempt to pass his law last December after a rebellion against it in his Union for a Popular Movement.
The new diluted version will allow Sunday trading in designated areas defined by population density and levels of tourism.
Staff must volunteer for duty and be paid double normal rates, according to an amendment by his own party.
This means, for example, that the Paris grands magasins such as Galeries Lafayette and the boutiques on the Champs Elysées will be able to do business. Most of France will still observe the sancrosanct “leisurely” Sunday, says the President.
The draft law is so hedged with restrictions and full of vague definitions that it may fall foul of the Constitutional Council, some MPs believe.
But it is still serving as a rallying point for an Opposition which knows that, with a recession on, the President’s free-market enthusiasm is out of tune with the public mood.
Bertrand Delanoë, the Mayor of Paris, said: “Sunday is a day of rest respected by most citizens, and it must not be sacrificed by this vision of a deregulated economy that does not take into account the family and personal lives of workers.”
A poll by the Libération newspaper found that 55 per cent were opposed to allowing more Sunday trading, and 86 per cent agree with the statement that “Sunday is a fundamental day for family, sporting or spiritual life”.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Disclaimer
No responsibility or liability shall attach itself to us or to the blogspot ‘Clerical Whispers’ for any or all of the articles placed here.
The placing of an article hereupon does not necessarily imply that we agree or accept the contents of the article as being necessarily factual in theology, dogma or otherwise.
Source (TOUK)
SV (ED)