“There was a lack of preparation, a lack of dialogue.“This is how Deputy Prime Minister Georges Gilkinet (Ecolo), Federal Minister of Mobility, summed up this Thursday evening the decision of the Consultative Committee (Codeco) of December 22 of close cinemas and other theaters. A decision finally broken by the Council of State and canceled. “In this case, there was an imbalance“, admitted the minister, guest of Thursday in Prime on the One. He is delighted with the decision of the Council, which until then had”validated the work of the government“.
However, as minister and member of Codeco, Georges Gilkinet had his say in this decision… “I challenged her from the start, he retorts, as we have from the beginning supported culture, developed aids for artists who are today without work.“According to him, closing the cultural sector was”a collective error” : “I pleaded for it to the end, being a little lonely.“Nevertheless, the minister sees positive in the story:”this incident, which I regret, made it possible to re-establish dialogue with the cultural world and the establishment of the barometer“, during from Codeco this Thursday, the fourth in a month.
This barometer for areas open to the public, a “communication tool” and of “pilotage“at the heart of the Covid-19 pandemic and while the Omicron threat looms, was able to see the light of day thanks to the multiplication of consultation committees this month.”It was a process that was necessary, a time to pause“, considers Georges Gilkinet. Of reconciliation too, between the supervising minister, Bénédicte Linard (Ecolo too) and the actors of the culture?”Bénédicte Linard talks a lot with the sectors and fortunately this measure has been corrected, concludes the Minister of Mobility. Restoring this dialogue is essential.“
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“I notice that every time we took decisions in a hurry, they were not in balance“, recalls the minister. Georges Gilkinet did not fail to pay tribute to the Covid-19 experts who support the work of the authorities: “fortunately they are there to try to identify the evolution of this virus. This is part of this dynamic of dialogue, of the desire for pedagogy. I wish we might see them more“, he added.
However, on certain subjects, Codeco does not quite agree with the experts. The latter want a switch to 100% teleworking in companies … But governments maintain it four days out of five. “We recommend 4 days of teleworking to find the balance between health precautions and the professional bond to maintain“, believes Georges Gilkinet, who recalls that the transition to full teleworking is”the type of measures that can be put in place if there is an aggravation“.
For its part, the FGTB believes that the world of work had no say. “I am very attentive to workers’ rights“, replied the Minister, who reminds the panel of measures for employment: corona leave, right to unemployment, right footbridge …”We spent a lot of public money to leave no one behind“, he asserts, even if he admits that there is”a variant that will make more people sick. Our testing system is not able to absorb the number of tests“.
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The quack of the cultural sector, however, showed flaws in Codeco, which would be for some the place of all haggling and compromises. “I plead for system improvements“, affirms Georges Gilkinet, who points in particular to the question of the experts of the Gems.”This group that advises us must be able to evolve: I would like to see more psychologists, experts from experience …“, he notes.
And the minister also defends his Prime Minister: “il is doing quite well. We are a complicated country, it’s regarding aligning each other’s opinions, he admits. Sometimes it’s difficult, Alexander De Croo is not infallible.“ Georges Gilkinet recalls that the pandemic is “something we’ve never known“, and “other countries around us are also struggling to find solutions“.
One of these countries has made a name for itself: Italy, which has made vaccination compulsory for all people over 50 years old. In Belgium, the debate is creating a stir. What does the minister think? He does not respond so directly: “I am for a documented debate on the subject. It is not a simple decision.“The minister also allows himself a picnic to Emmanuel Macron:”I see a French president who has very harsh words vis-à-vis the unvaccinated.“
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For Georges Gilkinet, the question must be settled by the work of Commissioner Corona Pedro Facon, who must develop research on the subject, then Parliament must “take up the question and have a public debate“Minister Ecolo recalls, however, that “more than 80% of Belgians have already been vaccinated“and that Belgium is”one of the countries with the best vaccination rate in Europe“.
However, decisions have to be made in the face of the Omicron variant… But which ones? The country might reach a peak of 125,000 contaminations per day : do we need more drastic measures? “There are measures that we have already decided, a series of sectors that are at a standstill, precautionary measures that are generally well respected“, estimates Georges Gilkinet, who recalls that many self-tests were carried out during the Holidays. Conversely, if the variant is less dangerous than the others, should we drop ballast?”There are more people infected, we have to be careful. We need a little more time, tempers the minister. Maybe this variant will ‘crush the market’, or more may arise.“
