March 7, 2012: Thousands of people participated in Sunday's special action day to support establishing Sunday as the official weekly day of rest in the European Union. Passive demonstrations took place on March 4 in Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Croatia, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Germany, Poland, Slovakia, Switzerland and Spain.

The action day was sponsored by the "European Sunday Alliance," a voluntary association of labor unions, various civil associations and representatives of the Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox communities and labor organizations. The alliance seeks to confirm the special character of Sunday as a day of spiritual rejuvenation and rest from work: "In times of financial and economic crisis when more and more social and employment rights are coming under pressure, the work-free Sunday is a clear and visible demonstration that the people and our societies are not dependent solely on work and the economy. We believe that all citizens of the European Union are entitled to benefit from decent working hours that, as a matter of principle, exclude working late evenings, nights, public holidays and Sundays. Only essential services should operate on Sundays."

Three week's before the March 4 action day, Germany's "Alliance for a free Sunday" published a resolution requesting that oversight for the constitutionally mandated protection of Sunday as a day "of rest from work and of spiritual improvement" be exercised by the federal government. Currently Germany's sixteen federal states oversee exceptions for "shopping Sunday" requests, leading to a situation where the states compete for the most liberal regulations. The resolution also noted that the number of employees who work on Sunday and holidays (also protected as "work free days" by Germany's Basic Law) has increased by 40 percent in the last fifteen years.

Major churches in the "European Sunday Alliance" obviously see Sunday as a day for religious worship. As part of the March 4 action day, the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Croatian Catholic Bishops' Conference published a document to promote better awareness among Christians on refraining from work on Sunday. "It is necessary to respect Sunday as a day of rest for everyone, a day for families to be together, a day for volunteer and charitable works, for cultural and social activities and a day for Christians to celebrate and glorify the Lord."

Two years ago 400 delegates attended the "European Sunday Alliance's" first major meeting in Brussels.