On Thursday, MPs voted to extend and improve aids for businesses, with 58 votes in favour and two abstentions. The biggest adjustment affects the aid for uncovered costs.
The aid was extended until the end of June. New businesses founded in 2020 are now also eligible to apply for it, this as of February 2021. MP Carole Hartmann from the Democratic Party (DP) explained that the reason for this was the approval from the European Commission. Hartmann stated that the European framework had been changed, which allowed Luxembourg’s Ministry for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises to adjust its existing aids to the needs of those affected and the current situation.
Restaurants and cafés will thus be fully reimbursed for their uncovered costs from now on. Businesses offering delivery or take-away will not be at a disadvantage regarding this aid, as part of their revenues will not be deducted from the final amount. The salaries of managers, i.e. self-employed workers, will be covered by the relaunch aid in the future.
MP Marc Spautz from the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) stated that while it is good that these aids exist, they do not replace the industry’s hope for a perspective. According to Spautz, the aids passed by MPs on Thursday will improve the situation of businesses, but the main issue still remains unresolved.
The same criticism was raised by the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (adr). The government should not incite “unnecessary fear” in businesses by potentially slashing the partial unemployment scheme. MP Roy Reding stated that if the government would pay out only 50% of the partial unemployment scheme, this would force businesses to decide between “cholera and the plague”, meaning they would have to decide between immediately declaring bankruptcy or laying off their workers.
MPs from the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) and the Green Party (Déi Gréng) mainly called for the application process to be simplified or at least for additional support for filing the applications.
Minister for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Lex Delles assured that “help is on its way”. Delles announced the start of a webinar on how to fill in the application next week, organised in collaboration with the House of Entrepreneurship. There will also be a promotional campaign organised by the Chamber of Commerce, the Chamber of Trade, the House of Entrepreneurship, and the Ministry.
