A bill was introduced at the end of December 2017 (7228), in view of the abrogation of the specific autorisation requested for the establishment of superstores in Luxembourg (currently provided for under the amended law of 2 September 2011 on the right of establishment (the « Law of 2011 »).

Indeed, in 2016, the European Commission had considered that Luxembourg was the country in the European Union having the most restrictive regulation for retail businesses.

The bill states that these conclusions are in contradiction with the main attractiveness of the country which identifies itself as an open country.

The authors of the bill have pointed out that this procedure for obtaining a specific autorisation for the superstores nowadays duplicates the existing instruments in the fields of competition law and urban and spatial planning.

By removing that additional administrative burden, the authors of the bill hope to foster the competitiveness of Luxembourg in the Greater Region.

At the same time, the authors of the bill take this opportunity to revise some other aspects of the Law of 2011:

– elimination of the professional qualification requirement for merchants in general, for commercial activity in the HORECA and real estate sector (currently the Luxembourg DAP at the minimum), knowing that the accelerated training for the operators of drinks outlets, eating establishments or accommodation establishments will therefore be open to all,

– abrogation of the specific autorisation for fairs and markets,

– abrogation of the professions providing «economic advice» and «consulting» (whose activities are already covered by a simple authorisation of establishment for commercial activities and services).