Dear Madam Minister, We thank you for your quick response last Friday (in attachment) to the event sector's request for concrete support measures. Our sector is hard hit both financially and socially by loss of income and unemployment. As a trade union, we try to oversee the damage to the sector, protect our members and we would like to enter into further dialogue with you about concrete measures to support the sector in this crisis. We would therefore like to share a concrete proposal with you in this way: As a concrete support measure, we request the 100% tax deductibility of all events that are organized by a (recognized) event agency in the 2020 and 2021 financial years. The entire sector - the event agencies, the event locations, the catering companies, the suppliers and the freelancers - will feel the positive impact of this simple but clear measure. Why is this measure necessary? Our sector represents around 3,200 companies and 80,000 employees, including many self-employed and freelancers, all of whom are currently technically unemployed and without income. The events sector is a hardworking industry and we will ensure that in 2020 and 2021 we will work harder than ever before to deal with the damage. But we cannot do that without extra oxygen. That is why we propose the above aid measure that hardly costs the government any money, but does give the sector an important boost once this crisis is over. After all, our members try to move as many events as possible to the near future, but the uncertainty about when everyone can get back to work is still very great at the moment. Spring is a crucial time for the industry and no one knows how long this deadlock could last. Moreover, our sector must take into account a slowing factor. Once we are allowed to organize events again, it will take an average of 6 to 8 weeks before they can take place. That means that most businesses and freelancers will not start receiving income again until after that period. Currently, many events are being postponed to the fall, with the result that capacity will quickly reach a maximum during that period, which will again mean a loss of revenue for many companies. As an industry that brings people together, we would like to help bring the entire society back on its feet post-corona, with positive consequences for the Belgian economy. Today we reach out to the Belgian federal and regional authorities with our knowledge and logistics expertise to deal with this crisis. For example, our members can help organize decontamination zones at train stations, set up tents for hospitals, fine-tune logistics flows, develop awareness campaigns, etc. Here too we invite you to see us as a constructive partner, who wants to assist where necessary. We are happy to enter into a further dialogue with you regarding both of the above proposals and look forward to your response. Yours sincerely, Johan Vandepoel PS .: We have heard that there will be a consultation tomorrow on a number of support measures and would like, if possible, to participate as a relevant sector.
Mooi te zien dat de Belgische eventsector één stem krijgt. De sector werkt hard om door deze crisis te komen, maar extra zuurstof voor zwaar getroffen eventbedrijven is noodzakelijk. Concrete voorstellen op tafel. Dank aan alle betrokkenen voor de inspanningen. #savetheeventindustry
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