Since the early 20th century, there has been a law in France that all non-food shops must close on Sundays, leaving time for family, leisure and prayer. Sarkozy, wanting to jump-start his lagging economy, would like to do away with that law and make it so people can shop on one of their two days off each week. There are pros (it lets people earn money, lets people get errands done on Sunday) and cons (the mom n pop shops might suffer, the consumerism society might take over) to the issue.
Here’s the article.
I recall life in France, I didn’t really mind that shops were closed on Sundays. I thought it was kind of a nice thing. But I can also see why people would want a convenient day to do their shopping. As long as he doesn’t institue strip malls in every village, I think that would be the end of the French culture!