The municipal council of the City of Brussels asked late Monday evening to extend the simplified measures for “Corona unemployment” and the gateway law for the self-employed, at least until September, in order to limit the number of layoffs and bankruptcies.
This request features prominently in a motion declaring the City “in a state of health, economic and social emergency”, in the context of the crisis linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. The motion was adopted almost unanimously – there was only one negative vote (N-VA) -.
The text envisages new measures to allow resumption of economic activities in shops under the sanitary conditions required; taking into account the need to define a redeployment strategy towards a resilient, local and circular economy but also the requests and recommendations to other levels of power to support businesses during this very particular period.
The City itself has taken several measures to support the reopening of businesses such as the distribution of 10,000 masks and “kit restart” (masks, gels, stickers and instructions) to businesses in its territory employing less than 10 FTEs; the organization of webinairs to train traders to respect health conditions; or the organization of traffic flows in the main shopping arteries, with particular attention to the rue Neuve and the shopping streets in the dense districts.
According to the alderman of Economic Affairs, Fabian Maingain (DéFI), she will soon present other measures that will support the cash flow of economic players and reduce their taxation with a particular focus on the catering and most vulnerable by the crisis.
Through the motion adopted late Monday evening, it also calls on the other levels of power to strengthen their measures to help economic players. Among the emergencies, it calls on the federal government to remove part of the employers’ and social charges which are among the highest charges for businesses.
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