François Koepp, the Federation’s general secretary, said in an interview with RTL on Tuesday that the government should have thought about this before terraces were reopened, and not impose it after the fact.
RTL Today article: Parliamentary Health Commission: New draft bill provides additional details on opening of terracesOn Monday, the Horesca Federation held a digital general assembly in which only 20 of its over 1,000 members participated. Participants assessed the sector’s current situation and concluded that despite the state aids, businesses have to deal with significant losses from past the months. Hoteliers reported that their prices had collapsed by 17%. As such, Koepp also demands that in addition to partial unemployment, state aids must be maintained until at least the end of the year.
The Horesca’s website also stated that the Federation’s statutes were to be adapted on Monday. When asked about this, Koepp first stated that these were internal decisions which would not be discussed publicly. However, he then explained that the mandate of the Federation President, currently Alain Rix, would be extended to five years. Koepp explained that this change was necessary to advance projects, “similar to the government”.
