This article is only available to subscribers and discusses the recent announcement by the Belgian government that they plan to require free water be served at places where alcohol is sold. The Walloon government had previously promised to introduce this measure in 2019 but backed down due to pressure from the federation of bars and restaurants. The article goes on to describe a scene in Louvain-la-Neuve where some customers enjoy beer with their meals while others opt for soda or bottled water, but no carafes of water are in sight. This lack of free tap water is a topic of debate in Belgium, as the minister of health wishes to make it available everywhere alcohol is sold, but the Horeca federation worries it will hurt restaurant profits.
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At the end of March, the Belgian government declared that it wanted to make free water compulsory in places selling alcohol. A measure that the Walloon government had already promised to introduce in 2019 before going back on it, under pressure in particular from the federation of bars and restaurants.
Barely past noon, the terraces of Louvain-la-Neuve, in Walloon Belgium, fill up and the first plates come out of the kitchens. On this first Monday of April, under a bright sun, some accompany their meal with a beer. Others, more reasonable, turn to soda or bottled water. On the other hand, it is impossible, in the middle of the cubic brown brick buildings, to see the slightest carafe of water. “Here, it doesn’t exist, I never remember having seen it. If you want water, you buy good Belgian bottled water. That’s how it is, we’re not in France here”poses Jean-Marie, a shy sixty-year-old with a bald head, the remains of a burger and fries lying around on the plate in front of him next to a bottle of Chaudfontaine.
The carafe is however a subject of debate in Belgium. On March 29, the Belgian government presented its “interfederal alcohol plan”. Among the 75 measures mentioned to fight once morest alcoholism which must be put in place by 2025, the Minister of Health Frank Vandenbroucke wishes that “free water be available wherever alcohol is drunk and sold”. A measure rejected for a long time by the powerful “Horeca” federation (for Hotel, Restaurant, Café) which sees it as a significant financial loss for restaurateurs. “We are already struggling to recover from the Covid. Offering free water means fewer drinks that will not be sold, and therefore a real loss for restaurants. Anyway,
The debate surrounding free water in Belgium is ongoing. While the government has declared that it wants to make free water compulsory in places selling alcohol, the restaurant industry is pushing back once morest this measure. Despite this resistance, the need for free water as a basic human right cannot be ignored. As we continue to navigate through the pandemic and the followingmath, it is important to consider the health and wellbeing of all individuals, including their access to clean drinking water.