Brussels, December 30, 2021 - The UPAP, Union Professionnelle des Agences de Paris, is pleased with the decision of the Council of State which led to the reopening of theaters and, by extension, the entire cultural sector. However, if we rely on the last statements of the politics, it seems that the other closed sectors (ex: bowling alleys, betting agencies) will remain closed.

This makes no sense!

By keeping these sectors closed, CODECO is pretending not to understand that the reasons for the Council of State's decision apply equally to the situation of betting agencies.

The closure of the agencies was NOT advocated by the GEMS report and recommendations. In order to close the betting agencies, the government had to explain why it did not follow the advice of the experts, despite the protocols in place. This explanation has not been forthcoming.

In reality, betting shops - commercial spaces similar to stores and Lottery Shops (which are all open today) - are far from being places that would particularly favor the spread of the coronavirus.

The UPAP, Union Professionnelle des Agences de Paris, reminds that its members have invested massively, due to the previous measures and based on the protocol approved by the government, in systems of aeration/ventilation and evaluation of the level of CO2 in the air, that the wearing of masks is compulsory in the betting agencies, that the social distancing is respected as well as the gauge.

Moreover, not only the betting agencies are affected by these measures, but also the sectors that depend on these agencies, such as the racing associations, which are already in a difficult financial situation in normal times.

Members of the UPAP, Union Professionnelle des Agences de Paris, will introduce in the next few hours appeals to the Council of State and the civil courts to make their right heard, hoping that it will not be necessary to carry them out and that the politics will quickly come to its senses.

After two years of the pandemic, it would be nice if politics would cease the stop-and-go tactics and finally adopt a coherent and logical approach.

For more information: Yannik BELLEFROID +32495589668, yannik.bellefroid@upap-bvwk.be