Sunday shop opening spreads to 80% of Dutch municipalities
Seven Christian groups want Sunday rest restored, but a Sweco evaluation sent to parliament shows Sunday opening is spreading, and the economy minister sees no reason to change the shop hours law.
Shops may open every day of the week in 80% of Dutch municipalities, up from 60% ten years ago, an evaluation by research firm Sweco sent to the Tweede Kamer shows. It speaks of "an unmistakable trend towards liberalisation".
Only 23 of 342 municipalities (7%) still keep shops closed on Sundays, among them Urk, Neder-Betuwe and Staphorst. Another 13% allow limited Sunday opening, for example once a month. Twenty years ago, shops stayed closed on Sundays in one in five municipalities.
Under the Winkeltijdenwet (shop hours law), shops stay closed on Sundays and public holidays, but municipalities can make exceptions. Since 2013 they have been free to do so entirely at their own discretion.
On Tuesday seven Christian organisations handed a manifesto to the Raad voor Volksgezondheid en Samenleving (Council for Public Health and Society), calling for Sunday rest to be restored. They say it is a remedy for a hurried, "hypernervous" society.
Minister Heleen Herbert of Economic Affairs and Climate wrote to the Tweede Kamer two weeks ago that she sees no reason to change the law. The VVD presses for more freedom of choice for entrepreneurs. According to the Sweco evaluation, municipalities, businesses and residents all favour keeping the status quo.
Some councils are changing course. A narrow majority of the Dantumadiel council decided last year to introduce Sunday opening, and Twenterand did the same in early 2024. In Altena, an Albert Heijn branch manager challenged the Sunday ban in court this year and lost.
Young people shop on Sundays far more often than people aged 65 and over. The Sweco researchers call this a "generation gap" (generatiekloof).
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Tweede Kamer
The House of Representatives, the lower and more powerful house of the Dutch parliament. Its 150 members are elected directly; it can amend bills and holds the cabinet to account.
Winkeltijdenwet
The Winkeltijdenwet (Shop Hours Act) is the Dutch law that sets the rules on when shops may be open. Under it, shops must stay closed on Sundays and public holidays, but municipalities can allow exceptions. Municipalities decide these exceptions for themselves, so opening on Sundays can differ from one town to another.
Raad voor Volksgezondheid en Samenleving
The Council for Public Health and Society is a Dutch advisory body that gives the government advice on public health and social issues. Its advice helps ministers and parliament consider the wider effects of policy on health and on society as a whole. Organisations and groups can send it their views and proposals, as happens when a manifesto is handed over.