Chip shop owner asked to drop French-sounding name

A chip shop owner in Kortrijk, West Flanders, has been asked by the city’s authorities to drop plans to name his business ‘Frituur Grand Place’ and to give it a more Flemish-sounding name. The owner complied to the request and consequently renamed his business ‘Frituur Grote Markt’. The Neutral Union for the Self-Employed (NIS)  has questioned this decision, arguing that entrepreneurs should be able to choose the name of their businesses independently. But Rudolf Scherpereel, the city’s alderman for economy, explained to Het Nieuwsblad that “French names have no place in the city of the Golden Spurs”. Mayor of Kortrijk Vincent Van Quickenborne has called the decision "logical". The NIS said it feared that this could set a dangerous precendent. "There are businesses with English-sounding names all over Belgium. Will they, too, have to change names? And what of the many Italian, Spanish or South-East Asian restaurants?" asks NIS president Christine Mattheeuws.