The amended law of 15 July 2022 introducing an aid scheme for businesses severely affected by the increase in energy prices arising as a result of Russia's aggression against Ukraine has entered into force.

It introduces a new financial aid intended to cover the extra costs of natural gas and electricity for medium energy-consuming companies.

The online assistant for aid applications is available on MyGuichet.lu.

The initial aid aimed at covering the extra costs for natural gas and electricity cannot be cumulated with this aid for the same month.

You can find answers to the most frequently asked questions in the FAQ.

Who is concerned

Eligible businesses

It is aimed at medium energy-consuming companies, i.e. those whose energy costs represent at least 2 % of their turnover during the month for which the aid is requested.

Excluded sectors and aid measures

The scheme is not applicable to businesses which:

• do not possess a business permit;
• are the subject of collective insolvency proceedings brought under the national law applicable to them;
• are the subject of an outstanding recovery order further to a previous decision by the European Commission specifying that an aid payment granted by Luxembourg is illegal and incompatible with the internal market;
• are not end users of energy;
• are in difficulty.

However, non-profit associations carrying out an activity in Luxembourg covered by the amended law of 2 September 2011 are eligible for the aid in question under the conditions defined therein.

Excluded persons

Businesses that are the subject of restrictive measures adopted by the European Union (EU), including:

• the persons, entities or organisations that are specifically mentioned in the legal instruments implementing such restrictive measures;
• businesses that are held or controlled by the persons, entities or organisations to which/whom the EU's restrictive measures apply;
• businesses in the sectors to which the EU's restrictive measures apply, insofar as the aid would defeat the purpose of the restrictive measures.

Employers who have been convicted:

• for violating provisions prohibiting illegal employment, or the employment of illegally residing third-country nationals, on at least 2 occasions; and
• within the 4 years preceding the competent court's decision.

Employers in this case are ineligible for this aid for 3 years from the date of the decision in question.

Eligible costs

Eligible costs are the monthly extra costs of natural gas and electricity incurred during the eligible period. For the eligible months of 2023, they also include the monthly extra costs of using the electricity network.

The eligible costs are calculated for each month falling within the eligible period for which the aid is being requested, using the following formula:

(p(t) – p(ref) × 1.8) × q(t)

In this formula:

• p(t) is the unit price of natural gas and electricity in EUR/MWh borne by the applicant during the relevant month of the eligible period and, where applicable, the price of using the electricity network in EUR/MWh borne by the applicant during the month in question in 2023;
• p(ref) is the average unit price of natural gas and electricity in EUR/MWh and, where applicable, the average price of using the electricity network in EUR/MWh borne by the applicant during the reference period;
• q(t) is the amount of natural gas and electricity used by the applicant in the month in question falling within the eligible period.

Deadlines

The application for aid must be filed for each eligible month by the following deadlines:

• by 31 March 2023 at the latest for all eligible months in 2022;
• by 30 September 2023 at the latest for the months from January - June 2023;
• by 20 November 2023 at the latest for the months from July - December 2023.

How to proceed

Filing an application

The request for aid must be submitted for each eligible month via an online assistant available on MyGuichet.lu or on the MyGuichet.lu mobile application (see our 'Forms / Online services' section), within the following deadlines:

• by 31 March 2023 at the latest for all eligible months in 2022;
• by 30 September 2023 at the latest for the months from January - June 2023;
• by 20 November 2023 at the latest for the months from July - December 2023.

The person filing the application (the applicant or their representative) will need:

• a LuxTrust product (e.g. Token, Smartcard or Signing Stick); or
• an electronic identity (eID) card.

How to create a business eSpace on MyGuichet.lu

Two scenarios are possible:

• The person submitting the application is a new user on MyGuichet.lu and does not yet have an eSpace:
  creating the eSpace involves 2 steps:
  1. registration of a user;
  2. Creating the business eSpace.

A tutorial in the form of a video or a PDF document is available to guide you.

• The person filing the application is a MyGuichet.lu user and already has a private eSpace: they will have to create a new business eSpace.

A tutorial in the form of a video or a PDF document is available to guide you.

You can consult the help section on MyGuichet.lu.

Supporting documents

The aid application file must include the following information and documents:

• the name of the company;
• the legal organisation chart and the size of the company, in accordance with Annex I of Regulation (EU) No. 651/2014 of the Commission of 17 June 2014 (GBER);
• when applying for the first time:
  • the annual financial statements for 2021, providing details on income and expenditure; and
  • purchase invoices, as appropriate, for natural gas and electricity for all of the months in the reference period;
• purchase invoices, as appropriate, for natural gas and electricity for the relevant month of the eligible period;
• the amount of the monthly additional natural gas and electricity costs, as appropriate, for the relevant month of the eligible period and, where applicable, the monthly extra costs of using the electricity network for the month in question in 2023;
• the profit-and-loss account providing details on the income and expenditure during the relevant month in the eligible period;
• the amount of aid being applied for;
• a declaration of honour that the business abides by the restrictive measures.

The application for aid must also include the following information and documents:

• receipted invoices for the purchase of energy products and electricity or proof of own-consumption of energy products and electricity, profit and loss accounts giving details of energy costs and turnover or production value for the month in question during the eligible period;
• invoices for the costs of using the electricity network for all the months of the reference period and for the month in question in 2023, where these costs are not included in the electricity purchase invoices because they are invoiced separately.

Maximum amount of financial aid

The amount of the aid is calculated based on the business's eligible costs. The maximum amount of aid for each project may not exceed 70% of the eligible costs and:

• up to EUR 500,000 per group for the months of 2022; and
  
• up to EUR 2,000,000 per group for the months of 2023.

Disclosure of the aid

Any individual aid exceeding EUR 100,000 must be published on the European Commission's transparency website. More specifically, and in this case, the granting authorities are required to publish the following information:

• the beneficiary's name;
• the beneficiary's VAT/business identification number;
• company type (SME/large business) at the time of granting (signature of the agreement) the financial aid;
• the beneficiary's region under NUTS II;
• the group activity sector under NACELUX Rev. 2;
• the aid element, the amount of aid expressed in local currency;
• financial aid instrument;
• date on which the aid is granted;
• purpose of the aid;
• granting authority;
• the aid number.

Definition of an SME

Given the difficulties encountered by SMEs, such as access to capital or a lack of human resources, certain categories of aid under the GBER provide for an increase in the intensity of aid available to them.

To ascertain whether an applicant company qualifies for 'SME' status, the following should be checked:

Only one of the two criteria 'Annual turnover' and 'Annual balance sheet' need be satisfied. Consideration should be given to the number of staff and annual turnover/balance sheet not only of the applicant company, but also of any other economic entity with which the applicant company forms a 'single economic entity'.

Checks, sanctions, repayment and criminal law provisions

All aid grants are subject to checks for up to 10 years following their payment. Accordingly, recipient businesses are required to provide the Minster of the Economy's representatives with any documents and information they may need in order to carry out their checks, including the annual financial statements for 2022 providing details of the business's income and expenditure.

The business may be required to repay the aid, plus any applicable legal interest, when the conditions for such repayment are satisfied.

Forms / Online services

Who to contact