Nightclub owners to discuss Covid restrictions, protest with minister

Economic Affairs Minister Micky Adriaansens will meet with entrepreneurs from the nightclub industry on Monday. She said she understands their frustration with the coronavirus rules, which have kept nightclubs and discotheques closed for the better part of the last two years. However, she said rules affecting the sector will not be relaxed before the Cabinet takes up the issue again on February 15.

Nightclubs plan to throw open their doors on February 12 in protest against government policy. Adriaansens says she appreciates the entrepreneurs' anger, now that "a great deal of space has been given" to businesses in other sectors, including other hospitality businesses like restaurants and cafes. "The nighttime hospitality industry has been the victim of these measures for a long time," says the minister.

She emphasizes that on February 15 the Cabinet will again look at the coronavirus rules. "Until then, we're not going to change the rules." The current restrictions will simply be enforced as they should be. "Rules are rules," and entrepreneurs who open their doors against the measures risk a fine, she says.

In the conversation with the nightclub owners, the minister mainly wants to hear what the sector's plans are to "be able to take responsible steps" with their reopening. She hopes to "take steps quickly" to reopen after February.