France will move closer towards relaxing restrictions on Sunday opening for shops when a government-commissioned report on proposed reforms is released today.

The report is expected to clarify which sectors will be allowed to do business on Sunday and under what conditions.

Several DIY chains, including Bricorama, Castorama and Leroy Merlin, have been piling pressure on the government to relax a ban on Sunday work to preserve jobs and help them fight fierce competition from internet retailers working seven days a week.

Last month, the French government commissioned Jean-Paul Bailly, former head of the French postal service, to produce a report on Sunday openings which will be presented to prime minister Jean-Marc Ayrault today.

France’s unemployment rate, now at 10.9 percent and close to the all-time high of 11.2 per cent set in 1997, is a major thorn in the side of French president François Hollande who has staked his credibility on turning around the euro zone’s second-biggest economy.

Last week, Mr Hollande backed away from his pledge to bring unemployment down by the end of the year, saying instead that it would take as long as necessary. – (Reuters)