The Government of Wallonia decided to abolish coworking cheques last Thursday, a policy which has since gone into effect without a transition period, RTBF reports. These cheques allowed small businesses and entrepreneurs to cover registration and subscription costs to working spaces for a value of up to €80,000 over the space of three years.
This government support was originally intended to help small businesses and promote Wallonia’s “digital transformation”, promoting companies' “digital maturity”, “competitiveness”, and “sustainability.” Government support was very popular among small digital business owners, providing affordable workspaces to fledgling projects.
“These cheques have existed since 2017. In five years, some 350 of these cheques have enabled our members to benefit from an 80% reduction in subscription costs to our services. Alone, we go faster. Together, we go further- that’s the philosophy of our coworking,” says Fred Wins, manager of the Charleroi Entreprendre coworking space.
Victim of budget cuts
Wallonia has traditionally lagged behind the rest of Belgium in terms of economic growth and business creation. The Walloon government offers various forms of “cheques” to help stimulate the local economy. This year, it issued over 2,000 business “creation” cheques, 920 “growth” cheques, and around 161 coworking cheques.
By getting rid of the coworking cheque, the Walloon Government aims to save around 250 million each year, according to Walloon Minister of the Economy, Willy Borsus.
“Unfortunately, we cannot help everyone all the time. Obviously, this is not a decision made with joy in our hearts. Of the various vouchers available, the coworking vouchers were the least requested. It was therefore decided to remove them. I want to be completely transparent. We need to review our priorities,” the minister said.
Borsus stated that the abolition of the cheque had been immediate due to the difficult budgetary situation in Wallonia.
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Coworking spaces in Wallonia are understandably upset by the government’s decision. These cheques ultimately brought more businesses through the doors of what are lucrative coworking companies. Quarterly subscription costs for the Charleroi Entreprendre coworking space amount to over €500 per quarter.
“It’s the brutality that hurts. With a latency period, some (coworking spaces) could have organised themselves,” Wins said. “My thoughts go out to those who are getting into entrepreneurship, who are counting on these cheques and who will no longer be able to benefit from them.”
