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Wiesbaden (dpa / lhe) - The FDP demand for a relaxation of the rules for the Sunday opening in the retail sector has met with broad resistance in the Hessian state parliament.

Except for the AfD, the other parliamentary groups rejected the advance on Thursday evening in Wiesbaden.

In view of the losses in retail in the corona pandemic, the Liberals want to make it possible for retail to be allowed to open without cause on four Sundays a year until mid-2022, including two Sundays in Advent in 2021.

Events such as markets or festivals, which, according to the current legal situation, allow opening on Sundays, should not take place in the coming months due to the corona pandemic, argued the economic policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, Stefan Naas.

"But there should be a public interest in revitalizing the inner cities and preserving jobs and shopping opportunities."

Open Sundays are a good way to mitigate the consequences of the Corona crisis.

"Inner-city retailers sometimes find it difficult to assert themselves against large online retailers such as Amazon, and the Corona crisis has exacerbated the situation in many places," the FDP MP raised concerns.

"That's why retail in cities and towns needs support."

Andreas Lichert from the AfD said his parliamentary group supported the FDP proposal.

He helps the retailers and their employees.

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The Green MP Markus Hofmann replied that the country could not give in to the FDP demand for legal reasons alone, because there were judgments by the highest court on the special protection of the non-working Sunday.

"You do not counter the migration of customers to the net with further Sunday openings and that even in Advent, but for example with a livable environment and better quality of stay in the cities," explained Hofmann.

Michael Müller from the CDU parliamentary group added that Hesse had already reformed the store opening law, but the state had to observe the case law on Sunday protection.

The labor market policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Wolfgang Decker, said that his parliamentary group refused to expand the store opening on Sundays “in the slipstream of the corona crisis”.

This is not a suitable means of effectively helping the retail sector, which has been hit by the crisis.