Background information

The events sector has been one of the hardest hit during this coronary crisis. Therefore, a support measure was created that involves a repayable advance to create working capital to prepare and set up new events. One of the main problems for the events sector in the past months was the lack of certainty if planned events would be able to take place or not a few weeks or months later. There have been many reported cases of events that were planned but ultimately abolished as the COVID situation worsened and measures became more strict. This is why the advance payment has a specific clause in case of cancellation, providing an additional buffer against losses for organisers.

Content of measure

The system allows organisers to request a refundable advance for the organisation of new events. The main advantage of the system is the fact that obligation to reimburse expires if the event is cancelled due to governmental measures related to COVID-19.

The advance payment amounts to a minimum of €25,000 and a maximum of €1,800,000 and is limited to a maximum of 60% of the total cost of the event, excluding food and beverages. The support is limited to the non-recoverable costs and unavoidable invoices.

It is the third iteration of the measure, which has been repeated since its first implementation. A third call will be launched on 1 March. This third call is aimed at events in the month of June and July 2021.

Use of measure

No data available.

Target groups

Workers	Businesses	Citizens
Does not apply to workers	Sector specific set of companies	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 concrete involvement of the social partners is unclear but employers organisations like Unizo are actively promoting and informing their members about the measure (as they are an EO that is involved in the events sector).

Views and reactions

EO Unizo actively promotes the measures and provides information.

Sectors and occupations

This case is not occupation-specific.

Sources

• 11 March 2021: Flemish Support for Entrepreneurs (www.vlaio.be)
• 11 March 2021: Advance payment for the organisation of event (www.vlaio.be)