The Chamber of Commerce has issued its position on the draft law and the Luxembourgish regulation amending access to the professions of craftsman, trader, industrialist and certain liberal professions and defining the functioning of the “second chance commission.”

It welcomes the digitisation of certain procedures linked to the establishment of companies in Luxembourg brought about by this reform, but considers, on the other hand, that the actions in favour of the much awaited second chance for entrepreneurship are still too timid. It also calls for a more advanced liberalisation of the right of establishment in general, in line with the foreseeable evolution of the entrepreneurial framework and in particular in coherence with the rise of creative industries.

Main objectives of the reform

The principle of prior authorisation--that companies must fulfil a number of conditions regarding professional qualifications and reliability and prove a permanent establishment in order to obtain a business permit--is maintained by the planned reform. However, it is facilitated by administrative simplification, concerning in particular the introduction of an electronic procedure for the granting of the establishment licence and the automatic exchange of certain information between the authorities. 

The draft law also focuses on the entrepreneurial fresh start after failure and introduces the principle of a "second chance" after an unfortunate and bona fide bankruptcy. This is framed by the intervention of a “second chance commission.”