Antwerp to clamp down on night shops

Antwerp city council has announced plans to take action against the growth of night shops because of their negative impact on the image of the city and its commerce. Starting next month, anyone who wants to open a night shop in the city will have to pay a one-time fee of €6,000, followed by an annual tax of €1,500. The new tax would also apply to existing shops.

The measure also covers other kinds of small businesses designated by the city council, including betting shops, video stores, smoking bars, club cafes, telephone shops and sex shops.

The youth wing of Open VLD described the measure as “a form of hidden racism” pointing out in a statement that “this kind of business is often run by people of migrant origin”.

Parent party Open VLD governs Antwerp together with N-VA and CD&V. “We should be encouraging this kind of enterprise, which shows people are participating actively in the Belgian economy,” said Jong VLD chair Anthony Pierards.

According to Jong VLD, the nuisance associated with such shops is most often caused by patrons rather than the shops themselves.

The organisations NSZ and Unizo, both of which represent the self-employed, also expressed concern at the plan. “The aim is to avoid nuisance and other problems, but where do you draw the line?” asked Luc Ardies, director of Unizo’s retail council. The problem, he said, would be better tackled by concentrating on those establishments where police are aware there are irregularities.

Antwerp’s alderman for business, Koen Kennis (N-VA), told Radio 1 that the purpose of the measure was to see the income of night shops reduced to zero. “It might sound harsh, but there are some shops we’d just rather not see in Antwerp,” he said.

Photo courtesy Bram Van Damme/Flickr Commons