Walloon government breaks promise of free tap water in restaurants

The Walloon government has broken its 2019 promise to ensure the free service of water in hotels, restaurants and cafés after concerted pushback from the catering industry.The pledge, which was part of the government’s general policy statement released in 2019, was met with fierce opposition by both the bottled water and hospitality industry.Philip Buisseret, secretary-general of the Belgian Water and Soft Drinks Industry association, said that the drop in revenue would be devastating to the sector.“Spring water production companies are not subsidised,” he said. “Horeca [the hotel, restaurant and café industry] accounts for around 30% of tot…