What is part of everyday business?
(Photo: dpa)
Dusseldorf After more and more courts in various federal states have partially overruled the corona measures in retail, many retailers fear a regulatory chaos.
“The decision of the Bavarian Administrative Court shows how differently the interpretation of the measures to combat the pandemic is handled,” criticized Patrick Zahn, CEO of the textile discounter Kik. “We expect that German politicians and, above all, the federal government will finally set up the same rules of the game for everyone in order to provide legal certainty,” he demanded.
The Bavarian Administrative Court ruled on Wednesday that clothing stores also “covered daily needs”. You would not be subject to the 2G rule, according to which only vaccinated or convalescent people have access to certain shops. The judgment is final – but only applies to Bavaria.
“The previous messing about burdens the retail trade unnecessarily and unfairly,” said Kik boss Zahn. “Why are clothes and underwear part of daily needs in Bavaria, but not in North Rhine-Westphalia?” He asks. The branch employees could no longer convey this to customers.
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In numerous federal states, traders had sued the 2G rule, according to which unvaccinated people are only allowed to buy in stores that mainly sell everyday goods. Which goods are part of daily needs differs from state to state. For example, shoes are included in Bavaria, but not in other countries.
Nationwide, in addition to grocery stores and drug stores, flower and book shops are also allowed to open to everyone. Sports shops or electronics retailers, on the other hand, have to check the vaccination status of every customer before entering the store and, if in doubt, reject the customer.
“The need for clothing can occur every day”
Precisely this seemingly arbitrary division for customers and dealers was taken by the courts as an opportunity to at least partially overturn the regulation. The judges of the Bavarian Administrative Court ruled that clothing stores are also exempt from the 2G rule because their importance for the general public does not take second place to that of shoes, books, cut flowers or gardening tools and the need for clothing can occur on a daily basis.
The 2G rule applies to some businesses and not to others.
(Photo: imago images / NurPhoto)
The Lower Administrative Court of Lower Saxony had already ruled in a similar way shortly before Christmas. The court decided that the measure was not necessary to further contain the coronavirus and was not compatible with the general principle of equality. The Lower Saxony judges also complained that it was not clear why individual product groups were excluded, but not others.
At that time, the managing director of the German Trade Association (HDE), Stefan Genth, warned that other state governments should use this ruling as an opportunity to adapt their regulations. They shouldn’t wait for their ordinances to be overturned by the courts.
But even in case law, the question of whether the 2G rule is necessary and appropriate is not assessed uniformly. For example, courts in North Rhine-Westphalia rejected lawsuits against it. Most recently, the department store group Galeria failed with an urgent application against the restrictions before the administrative court in Berlin.
More: 2G, contact restrictions, dance bans – that is changing in the federal states