Bistro becomes an association to circumvent QR checks
As of this weekend, City Bistro in Veen will no longer be a restaurant, but an association building. Anyone can become a member for 1 euro per person per month and is then welcome for a bite to eat and a drink. The reason? This way, owner Henno Timmermans can circumvent the mandatory coronavirus check.
New coronavirus measures came into effect last weekend. Keeping a distance of one and a half metres is no longer necessary, but if you want to enter a restaurant or café, you must use the corona app to show that you have either been vaccinated, recently tested or recovered. Many hospitality entrepreneurs disagree with these measures; forty percent of entrepreneurs previously indicated that they do not intend to carry out checks. They fear that the check will disrupt the relationship between guest and entrepreneur, according to the conclusion of a survey by industry association Koninklijke Horeca Nederland.
Becoming a member
Hospitality boss Henno Timmermans in Veen, North Brabant, is taking things a step further. ‘The government is forcing me, as a restaurateur, to discriminate. I refuse to distinguish between those who have and have not been tested, and those who have and have not been vaccinated,’ he tells Brabants Dagblad. He is renting out his bistro to the newly established association AVVA, the Adviesvereniging Vrij Altena, which he founded. Everyone who is a member of the association is allowed to enter the bistro. Membership costs one euro per month, and people can sign up at the door. This means Timmermans does not have to check guests’ QR codes, he believes.
Not a chance
Is that possible? Omroep Brabant asked Pieter van den Kruijs, a former criminal lawyer, whether Timmerman is taking a legally smart approach. ‘He has absolutely no chance of avoiding the duty to check this way; no judge will accept it,’ says the lawyer. Professor of Law and Society Jan Brouwer also does not think Timmermans’ idea stands a chance. ‘The judge will probably immediately see through this as a sham construction,’ he tells EenVandaag. Moreover, associations where you can have a drink, such as student associations and sports clubs, must also check a QR code, he says.
Military vehicle in the street
The municipality of Altena, where Timmermans’ bistro is located, is consulting with the safety region about how they want to deal with this. Timmermans has already parked a military vehicle on Veensesteeg, a former amphibious vehicle belonging to the Russian army. It is also owned by the hospitality boss. ‘Let them come,’ he tells the newspaper.
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- Statistics Netherlands calculates: more new hospitality businesses during coronavirus times
Source: Brabants Dagblad, Omroep Brabant, EenVandaag
