In their joint answer to a parliamentary question by Goergen, Ministers Xavier Bettel, Henri Kox, Paulette Lenert, and Lex Delles stated that no fines had been issued for violations against the sanitary measures within shopping centres during the Black Friday sales period. The police had also not received reports of any incidents during that weekend.
In his question, Goergen referred to witness accounts that had been shared with him and which, according to the MP, pointed to particular sanitary risks.
In response to his question concerning what impact the Black Friday sales period had on the evolution of the pandemic, the ministers stated that they were unable to answer the MP's enquiry. At the beginning of December, infections remained high but it was impossible to say whether this was in any way connected to the Black Friday weekend.
The police carried out a total of 50 checks which were unrelated to the curfew over the Black Friday weekend. However, it is not known how many of these checks took place in shops or shopping centres. In the four days leading up to Black Friday, the police carried out a total of 90 checks unrelated to the curfew, but again, it is not known to what extent these included shops.
Images of overcrowded shopping centres stir up discussions on social media.
The ministers reiterated in their answer that at the time of the Black Friday sales, a number of regulations regarding shopping centres had already been in place and the consumption of food and drinks inside shopping centres had been prohibited shortly afterwards. Managers also have to ensure constant movement and prevent the formation of queues as much as possible. Goergen had specifically enquired about these two issues in his parliamentary question.
The ministers did not respond to the MP's question as to why shopping centres were allowed to stay open while cinemas and theatres had to close down.
Goergen also wanted to know whether the ministers thought that certain members of government had a conflict of interest because they either had a stake in sectors defined as "non-essential" themselves or because they had close acquaintances within those sectors. The MP followed this question up by enquiring whether those members of government abstained themselves from the related decisions.
In response, the ministers referred to the ethics code by stating that there was no conflict of interest when a member of the government derives an advantage merely by virtue of belonging to the population as a whole or to a broad category of individuals. The second part was true in this case, and thus there was no basis to suspect a conflict of interest.
Images of overcrowded shopping centres stir up discussions on social media
