Belgian retailers may stay open an hour longer

The Belgian government is relaxing the law on opening hours, to give retailers more freedom. The mandatory weekly closing day will disappear and shops will be allowed to stay open until 21h every day.

Customers’ expectations

The relaxation had already been announced in the coalition agreement, and has now been made concrete. The Belgian government feels the current, strict rules no longer match customers’ expectations. It had even planned to allow shops to stay open until 22h every day, but that proposal was not accepted – partly out of concern for the private lives of self-employed people.

To this day, fashion retailers, electronics shops and supermarkets are subject to strict rules: they must have at least one fixed closing day every week; on the other days they are not allowed to open between 20h and 5h – with an exception for Fridays (and days before a public holiday), when they are allowed to stay open until 21h.