Brussels’ Mask-Wearing Rules Are So Complicated No One Can Enforce Them

(Bloomberg) --

If you are looking for evidence that Europe's return to normality after the pandemic won't be a simple matter, look no further than its unofficial capital.

After almost 2 months in confinement, Brussels residents, including those in the borough which houses the European Union's main institutions, are allowed to leave home. There are strings attached however, and they dwarf the EU's most Kafkaesque regulations.

In Etterbeek, it's mandatory to wear masks when outside between Monday and Saturday from 8 a.m to 6 p.m if you are over 12 years old, but only in specific streets of the borough, and not for the full length of the streets - for example, in Rue Gray, masks are compulsory in front of number 2, and between numbers 1 and 17.

That's all unless you are within a radius of 15 meters from a school, in which case masks are mandatory Monday to Friday from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m., Wednesdays from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. It's unclear what will happen to people from other quarters, or officials from other EU countries in the city, if they are caught not wearing a mask at the wrong address.

Unusual measures extend throughout Belgium, a country renowned for its complicated federal system, its 6 parliaments, and the long periods without a functioning government.

Prime Minister Sophie Wilmes said on Wednesday that a ban on non-essential movements, which was introduced on March 18, remains in place until May 18. Unless you want to go shopping, which will be allowed as of May 11, or invite as many as four friends to your home, which will be allowed from May 10, though it's encouraged that you host them in your garden.

Critics may say the rules don't make sense - and the premier seems to agree with them. Wilmes immediately acknowledged police will find it almost impossible to enforce the directives and called upon Belgians to behave responsibly.