The French government has ruled to let home improvement stores open temporarily on Sundays while it reviews complex trading rules business leaders say hold back growth in Europe's second largest economy, reports Reuters.
Sunday has been enshrined in law as a day of rest in France since 1906 but myriad clauses and exemptions have complicated the situation - with furniture and gardening stores for example cleared to open but not home improvement (DIY) stores.
Managers and workers from DIY stores have in recent months demanded the right to open too, staging protests and defying court-ordered closures in a dispute pitting them against hardline trade unions.
In a joint statement on Tuesday, France's trade and labor ministers said the government had passed a decree exempting DIY stores from the Sunday trading ban until July 1, 2015.
They said the move aimed to ensure that DIY stores willing to open on Sundays could do so legally pending an overhaul of the country's trading laws. They restated, however, that Sunday rest should remain the rule, and openings the exception.
Read more of this report from Reuters.