Small Traders Discontent with the Constitutional Court’s Decision: The Decision is Political and Unconstitutional

Members of the Association of Traders and Craftsmen of Croatian Products and Souvenirs stated at a press conference on Thursday that the Constitutional Court’s decision regarding Sunday trading is political and unconstitutional, and they assessed that it complicates the survival and operation of small crafts and family shops.

They believe this particularly applies to stalls, souvenir shops, t-shirt shops, and related forms of business, gathered in an association that officially started operating in January of this year.

The president of the association, Zdravko Gojanović, emphasized that small crafts depend on 100 to 150 seasonal days while being closed for the rest of the time.

– Now we are being asked to remain closed for another 30 days because from April 1 to November 11 we have mostly all holidays, and together with Sundays, we have 33 or 34 non-working days, and those 16 Sundays are like some kind of charity to get the season done – said Gojanović, adding that such a situation is unsustainable and catastrophic.

At the conference, it was pointed out that currently, most shops in the center of Šibenik are closed because they are seasonal craftsmen who will open with the start of the tourist season, that is, with the arrival of the Easter holidays and the first tourists.

– We are a tourist country, we deal with tourism, and it is one of the branches that feeds this country. We are not to blame for politicians and economists bringing the country to a situation where it exclusively depends on tourism, and we believe that our industry contributes equally to hospitality and hotel management. The same picture is in Rovinj, Poreč, Trogir, and Dubrovnik – claims Gojanović. He adds that the decision to limit Sunday work is of a political nature.

– This was evident from the explanation of the president of the Constitutional Court, Miroslav Šeparović – says Gojanović, assessing that Šeparović is ‘uninformed’ about their business.

Gojanović emphasizes that for crafts like those gathered in the association, the biggest problem is proving that they even exist, as most of the public, including politicians, consider shops to be grocery stores.

He states that the members of the association are seeking the right to work guaranteed by the Constitution, and that they should independently make decisions about working or non-working Sundays, especially since they are self-employed craftsmen, of which, he emphasizes, 90 percent are on the Adriatic.

– The whole time, there is talk about families, women’s rights to rest, and on the other hand, thousands of families are being destroyed, so we wonder whose families they are really caring about – said Gojanović.

The president of the Split-Dalmatia County Traders Guild, Ivica Čudina, says that the number of traders will decrease because the law is destroying them.

– We are seeking the right to work and to take care of our families – said Čudina.

On Tuesday, the Constitutional Court addressed the proposers who challenged the constitutionality of the Trade Act, which stipulates that most Sundays during the year are non-working.

The Constitutional Court did not consider the complainants’ objection that neither the Constitution nor relevant domestic and international law designates Sunday as a day of weekly rest for workers. At the same time, it rejected claims that the law disproportionately restricts entrepreneurial freedoms, that the measure is not proportionate, and that worker protection, which the government cited as the goal of the law, could have been ensured through amendments to the Labor Law.

Amendments to the Trade Act were challenged by small traders and craftsmen, as well as the Croatian Employers’ Association (HUP) and the Focus party. They came into effect on July 1 of last year, and according to them, traders can choose 16 Sundays in the year during which they would operate.