To accompany the new corona measures of the Consultation Committee, the Flemish government is once again introducing a support mechanism for entrepreneurs. Anyone who suffers a loss of turnover of at least 60 percent between 1 October 2020 and 15 November 2020 can rely on it, reports Minister of Economy Hilde Crevits.
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All restaurants and cafés for which it has been decided to close are covered, Crevits says. The support amounts to 10 percent of sales in the same period in 2019 or another similar period. That 10 percent is an approximation of, on average, half of the fixed costs for companies. For small businesses, the maximum amount is 11,250 euros. For companies from 10 employees, the maximum amount is 22,500 euros.
In the meantime, almost 4,000 applications have already been received for the first Flemish protection mechanism, for an amount of more than 16 million euros. “I think it’s a terrible decision, but it was taken to prevent infections from continuing to increase at today’s pace,” Crevits said after the Consultation Committee. “I really appreciate the efforts that café and restaurant owners have made and I hope that the closing period will be as short as possible. It’s not about them being the cause. It is about people coming to places where infections are more easily contracted and social contacts avoided, and then you automatically end up with such a measure. ”
The amount required runs into the hundreds of millions of euros, says Crevits. “But we are happy to do that.”
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“They are not light measures, it is hard news,” said Prime Minister Alexander De Croo at the press conference. “People who run a restaurant or cafe do it for a living, and we are going to attract them, but they also do it because they like to do it. We meet them there, it is painful, we know that. But we cannot do otherwise. Know that the government will do everything in its power to assist you. We are going to double the bridging right for those who are obliged to close the doors, we will extend the deferred payment and also partially abolish the social security contributions. ”
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