Sunday trade ban will require greenlight from the European Commission – MFA

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the proposed bill on Sunday trade ban will require a notification from the European Commission as it concerns e-commerce. “The proposed law provides for a ban on trade in designated days of sale in shops and online platforms. Given that e-commerce is an information society service, it appears that such a ban may be regarded as a rule on information society services as defined in Article 1 e) Directive 2015/1535 laying down a procedure for the provision of information in the field of technical regulations and rules on information society services,” MFA said. “In this case, the European Commission would have to be notified in accordance with the requirements set out in Articles 5 and 6 of Directive 2015/1535,” the statement concluded. The draft law restricting trade on Sunday assumes that trade is to be allowed on the second and fourth Sunday of the month and two more Sundays preceding Christmas. The bill, if passed, would come into force starting from 2018.