Some 200 establishments in the hospitality sector in Brussels have requested to extend their terraces so they can accommodate a significant number of customers while respecting social distancing rules, Brussels Economic Affairs alderman Fabian Maingain said on Monday.
Maingain was questioned on the matter by Bianca Debaets and Clementine Barzin during a municipal council meeting. He reportedly said that the major difficulty surrounding these requests is the question of how these establishments will be reopened.
"At this stage, if the announcement of the confirmation and the terms will only be known on 3 June, it will be impossible to put this measure in place in such a short period of time by 8 June,” Maingain said, adding that “such a late announcement of the conditions for reopening will have an even greater impact on the sector, which will have to adapt to them within an untenable time frame," he stressed.
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Brussels’ Department of Economic Affairs has decided to anticipate the decision of the Federal Government concerning both the dates and the terms of the opening. It has put a registration form online to enable establishments in the hospitality sector to express their interest in extending their terrace as part of the deconfinement.
Each request will have to be studied, authorised and traced by the commercial department. Decisions on the requests will be adapted to the recommendations issued by the National Security Council, Maingain said.
The possibility of extending terraces is also being considered in Liège, Wallonia, where the matter will be discussed in a meeting on Friday, Liège’s Commerce alderman Elisabeth Fraipont told the Liège municipal council on Monday evening.
The Brussels Times
