Luxembourg's General Directorate for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises has announced that the recovery aid and the aid scheme to support uncovered costs in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic will be adapted in response to the new health measures announced by the government on Wednesday.
The method of calculating these two state aid schemes will be adjusted so as to support businesses whose activities are directly affected by the COVID-19 restrictions.
Regarding the recovery aid scheme, the amount of the subsidy per active self-employed person and employee concerned during the month for which the aid is requested will be increased from €1,000 to €1,250. The maximum threshold for recovery aid per single company will also be increased. The amount is capped at €2.3 million (instead of €1.8 million previously). These adjustments are valid for the months of December 2021, January 2022 and February 2022.
Concerning the aid scheme to support uncovered costs, the percentage of operating costs taken into account for the calculation of the aid, which currently stands at 75%, will be increased to 100%. This adjustment will be valid for the months of December 2021, January 2022 and February 2022.
The adaptation of these two (mutually exclusive) aid schemes still requires the agreement of the European Commission and the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg's Parliament).
This financial support is aimed at the self-employed and businesses in the hotel and catering, tourism, entertainment, events and culture sectors whose activities remain directly impacted by the COVID-19 measures in place (or soon to be in place).
Initially, the recovery aid and the aid scheme to support uncovered costs were extended until December 2021 inclusive. Following the opening of European legislation, these two aid schemes will be extended subsequently for a period of two months until February 2022 inclusive.
Luxembourg's Minister for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises, Lex Delles, commented: “The Luxembourg government regularly analyses its various aid measures in order to guarantee effective support. Mindful to provide businesses heavily affected by the economic consequences of the current crisis with the necessary assistance, it was decided to adapt the recovery aid and the aid for costs not covered. In the context of the inevitable new anti-COVID measures, these adaptations make it possible to guarantee effective and targeted support for businesses".
