The photography sector had already sounded the alarm in February, in particular sending an open letter to the media and the competent ministers. After a first meeting in February with the cabinets of Annelies Verlinden, Minister of the Interior, Sophie Wilmès, Minister of Foreign Affairs and David Clarinval, Minister of the Independents, the associations deplore a “stalled communication“.
That’s really not what you call a frank dialogue
“When we discovered that the pilot project rollout was continuing behind the scenes, we sounded the alarm“, explains Denis Duvivier, representative of the sector. “It’s really not what we call a frank dialogue. It is crystal clear that the Verlinden, Clarinval and Wilmès firms have absolutely no interest in our alternative plan and the disastrous impact of live enrollment on our sector.“
Call to suspend the project
Pending a new meeting with the ministerial cabinets, scheduled for April 21, the representatives of the sector call on the authorities to “temporarily suspend the project“, the time for negotiations.
According to the associations, a quarter of the sector’s income comes from identity photography.