Background information

The Walloon government has announced additional measures following the second lockdown in October-November 2020. A new form of compensation is provided for enterprises that have been struck significantly by the crisis and have been forced to stop their activities because the nature of their activity poses potential health risks (retail trade, hairdressers, beauticians, travel agencies, cinemas, recreation centres, etc.).

Content of measure

A financial aid will be provided to the enterprise that has been struck. The amount of financial aid depends on the amount of employees that are active at the company.

• €2,250 if the self-employed person works alone or employs less than one FTE,
• €3,750 if 1 to 4 people employed,
• €5,250 if 5 to 9 people employed,
• €6,750 if more than 10 people employed.

For non-profit organisations carrying out an economic activity in the sectors that have been affected by the crisis, the financial aid is calculated at 30% of the turnover for their commercial activities over the reference period July - September.

Use of measure

The uptake of the measure is unclear as it is fairly new.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Applies to all businesses	Does not apply to citizens

Actors and funding

Actors	Funding
Local / regional government	Regional funds

Social partners

Social partners' role in designing the measure and form of involvement:

	Trade unions	Employers' organisations
Role	Unknown	Unknown
Form	Not applicable	Not applicable

Social partners' role in the implementation, monitoring and assessment phase:

• Unknown
• Main level of involvement: N/A

Involvement

The involvement of the social partners is not clear.

Views and reactions

UCM, UCM is the representative and support employers' organisation for independent Francophones and SMEs. It has reacted to be pleased with the measure and stated that "their call has been heard by the Walloon government". They provide information and support to their members with regard to the measure.

Sources

• 27 November 2020: Economie Wallonie (economie.wallonie.be)
• 27 November 2020: UCM: Wallonia: compensation for entrepreneurs closed since November 2 (www.ucmvoice.be)