The Netherlands halts expansion of store hours: municipalities get to choose

The Netherlands is abandoning the idea of further relaxing store hours. The government is sticking to the current Store Hours Act and leaving it up to municipalities to decide how long stores may remain open on Sundays and holidays.

Leaving the decision to local authorities

After a new evaluation, Dutch Minister of Economic Affairs Heleen Herbert sees no reason to amend the Shop Hours Act. Consequently, there will be no follow-up to the plans of her predecessor, Vincent Karremans, to further roll back national restrictions.