Guy Parmelin gives restaurants and bars hope for early opening

Parliament is putting pressure on the Federal Council and wants to open restaurants sooner. Economy Minister Guy Parmelin now wants to go back over the books.

The Federal Council has presented an exit strategy from the Corona lockdown in three  steps. Unlike the DIY stores, coiffeurs and schools, however, the catering industry has been given no clear date for their planning. At last Thursday's press conference, the federal government made no comment on restaurants and bars. The disappointment in the industry was correspondingly great. 

Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin is now giving the operators of bars and restaurants hope for an early re-opening of their businesses. "I don’t rule out that the restaurants should also be able to open in the next few weeks," says the Minister for Economic Affairs in an interview with the "SonntagsZeitung". The Federal Council is constantly evaluating the situation, and could carry out a new assessment of the situation at its meetings every week, Parmelin added. 

Could restaurants open earlier? Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin gives hope to the operators of restaurants and bars.

Pressure on the Federal Council
Meanwhile, the SVP (Swiss People’s Party) parliamentary party is pushing for the restaurants to be opened sooner. Parliamentary party leader Thomas Aeschi and party colleague Thomas Matter have submitted corresponding proposals to the parliamentary commissions, reports the "SonntagsZeitung". They ask the Federal Council to adapt the Corona Emergency Ordinance so that gastronomic operations could open as early as 11 May. The prerequisite is that hygiene and social distancing regulations are complied with.

CVP National Councillor Leo Müller (LU) has also called for restaurants to be re-opened. "It must be possible for the restaurants to be able to reopen, at least partially, on 11 May," says the parliamentarian.

There is also criticism from the Zurich government councillor Carmen Walker-Späh (FPD). She was disappointed that the catering industry did not yet have a concrete timetable for exiting the lockdown. "Restaurants that have good safety concepts should be able to receive guests to a certain extent," the Economics Directorate of the Canton of Zurich told the ‘NZZ am Sonntag’.