The scheme subsidises the cost of the purchase of a new bicycle, electric or non-electric assisted. Introduced in March 2019, it covers up to 50% of the cost of a bike, excluding VAT, up to a ceiling of €600 for purchases after 11 May 2020, when shops reopened following the lockdown. Bicycles purchased before then received a 25% subsidy, excluding VAT, up to a ceiling of €300 for

Responding to a parliamentary question, environment minister Carole Dieschbourg (Green party) wrote that the scheme had been hugely successful. “Out of some 12,200 applications submitted since the aid was introduced in March 2019, around 3,100 requests date from the month of June 2020,” the minister wrote, adding: “On 15 July 2020, the number of subsidies approved reached 3,652 for bicycles (the average amount was €217) and 3,552 for electric assistance bicycles (the average amount was €293).”

As a result of the high demand, the minister wrote that there was a ten-week turn-around time for processing subsidy applications.