Belgium has the most complicated system of regulating sales in Europe. In countries like Germany, the Netherlands and the UK, there are no rules, with shopkeepers free to cut prices at any time. France has two official sales periods, organised according to districts. In Belgium, however, the two sales periods are not only fixed by date - from 3 to 31 January and from 1 to 31 July - they are also each preceded by a six-week respite period, during which no price reductions can be offered (but only in stores selling clothing and leather goods).

That was the law that Zeb was accused of breaking, when the chain decided to go ahead with price reductions after the respite period had started. "The sales laws don't exist for us anymore," commented Zeb CEO Luc Van Mol on 17 December. "What good is it to the customer if he can only get a bargain from 3 January. He wants a winter coat or some new clothes for the holidays now."

The organisations Unizo and NSZ, which represent small businesses, filed for an interim judgement, with a fine of €10,000 for every further breach. But the court found they had no standing, and the interim judgement went in Zeb's favour.

Times have changed. In 2002, clothing supplier Pecotex was fined €25,000 per breach in a case exactly like Zeb's. Since then, too, the respite period, which used to cover retail sales of all sorts, has been cut back to the two sectors mentioned.

Once the respite period disappears, the official start dates for the sales periods also effectively disappear, as the major retailers will start offering price reductions earlier and earlier, forcing smaller retailers to do likewise. That, essentially, is the reason why Unizo and NSZ are in favour of retaining the respite period. "For most self-employed [retailers], the sales law means the difference between profit and loss," wrote Luc Ardies of Unizo in De Morgen. Not only will smaller retailers be pushed into bigger reductions, he said, but consumers will never know which reductions are genuine.