The British government announced plans on Tuesday to allow shops to open longer on Sundays to compete with online shopping and global tourist destinations like Paris and New York.

Finance Minister George Osborne said he wanted to give mayors and local authorities the power to decide Sunday shopping hours in his budget, which will be unveiled on Wednesday.

A previous bid to reform Sunday shopping hours failed amid protests in 2006, and Osborne’s plan is expected to meet opposition from unions and the Church of England, which has defended a common day off on Sunday as important for “family stability and community life”.

Britain’s existing 1994 law prevents larger shops from opening for more than six hours on Sundays, a rule that was relaxed during the London Olympics in 2012.

Osborne described the Olympics trial as a success and said there was a “growing appetite” for Sunday trading in high streets and retail parks, but said that the decision would be not be made nationally.

“This won’t be right for every area, so I want to devolve the power to make this decision to mayors and local authorities,” Osborne said.

The Treasury has said that Britain has fallen behind as France recently relaxed its laws to allow shops to open more frequently on Sundays, while New York has no restrictions.

In Britain, shops larger than 280 square metres can open for a maximum of six hours between 10:00 am and 6:00 pm on Sundays.