Work-free Sundays sought

A politician launched a referendum to demand the restoration of Sunday as a day for rest across the European Union.

"The work-free Sunday is part of our European culture. We need time for our families and relationships, for civil society and religion," said Martin Kastler, a member of the European Parliament from Germany's co-governing Christian Social Union.

In 2009, parliament members from France, Germany, Italy, Poland and Slovakia tabled a declaration that urged Sunday to be protected in future EU legislation to safeguard "workers' health and the reconciliation of work and family life."