In his recent book Nicolas Sarkozy mentions, among other things he admires in England, that “across the Channel all the shops are open on Sundays and that’s what people want. Why not in France?” Well, Sarko’s trips have mainly been brief and centred on London where, certainly in central areas, there does seem to be quite a lot of retail activity on the Christian Sabbath. The issue of Sunday opening has come up again here following an attempt by luxury goods firm Louis Vuitton to open their revamped Champs-Elysées store on that day. The unions led the protests and, as we write, the matter still awaits a definitive ruling from a court.

In fact, the legal position is complicated. The law grants permission for shops selling “necessary” goods to trade on Sunday and this includes food stores, tobacconists, news agents and pharmacies. This right is also extended to establishments selling “cultural” goods and Louis Vuitton had tried to exploit this by turning part of their Champs-Elysées premises into a “brand museum”. “Mom and Pop” stores, whatever they sell, can open as long as they have no salaried staff on duty. Local authorities can also give Sunday trading rights to retailers in tourist areas. In fact, the “never on Sunday” rules have been applied with great flexibility in many places. Quite a lot of shop staff are happy enough to work. If they were stopped doing so they might get even grumpier than usual. According to a cross-Europe study by the Grass Roots consultancy France’s shop assistants are the continent’s least helpful and surliest...

Meanwhile, their unions are stepping up their campaign to close retailers on Sunday.

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