Proposal for a COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION amending Council Implementing Decision (EU) (ST 10155/21; ST 10155/21 ADD 1) on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Luxembourg
Date: 2022-12-09
Institutions: European Commission, Secretariat-General
Subjects: EU aid, Luxembourg, digital literacy, digital transformation, distance learning, economic and social cohesion, economic recovery, economic reform, investment, structural adjustment

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   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 9.12.2022  COM(2022) 737 final 2022/0427 (NLE)  Proposal for a COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION amending Council Implementing Decision (EU) (ST 10155/21; ST 10155/21 ADD 1) on the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Luxembourg  
 
2022/0427 (NLE) 

Proposal for a 

COUNCIL IMPLEMENTING DECISION 

amending Council Implementing Decision (EU) (ST 10155/21; ST 10155/21 ADD 1) on 
the approval of the assessment of the recovery and resilience plan for Luxembourg 

THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION, 

Having regard to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union,  

Having regard to Regulation (EU) 2021/241 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 
12 February 2021 establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility1, and in particular Article 
18(2) thereof, 

Having regard to the proposal from the European Commission, 

Whereas: 

(1) 

(2) 

(3) 

(4) 

(5) 

Following  the  submission  of  the  national  recovery  and  resilience  plan  ('RRP')  by 
Luxembourg on 30 April 2021, the Commission has proposed its positive assessment 
to  the  Council.  The  Council  has  approved  the  positive  assessment  by  means  of  the 
Council Implementing Decision of 13 July 20212.  

Pursuant  to  Article  11(2)  of  Regulation  (EU)  2021/241,  the  maximum  financial 
contribution  for  non-repayable  financial  support  of  each  Member  State  should  be 
updated by 30 June 2022 in accordance with the methodology provided therein. On 30 
June  2022,  the  Commission  presented  the  results  of  that  update  to  the  European 
Parliament and the Council.   

On 11 November 2022, Luxembourg submitted its updated RRP to the Commission, 
in accordance with Article 18(2) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, to take into account the 
updated  maximum  financial  contribution.  Pursuant  to  Article  19  of  Regulation  (EU) 
2021/241,  the  Commission  has  assessed  the  relevance,  effectiveness,  efficiency  and 
coherence of the updated RRP, in accordance with the assessment guidelines set out in 
Annex V to that Regulation. 

The  update  submitted  by  Luxembourg  affects  the  Digital  Skills  investment  under 
Component  1A  and  milestones  and  targets  with  sequential  numbers  1A-6  to  1A-8, 
(‘Skilling, Upskilling and Reskilling’). 

The  Digital  Skills  investment,  which  concerns  a  set  of  e-learning  courses  on  digital 
skills  targeting  employees  placed  on  short  time  work  schemes  between  January  and 
March 2021, is removed from the updated RRP of Luxembourg. The description of the 

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OJ L 57, 18.2.2021, p. 17. 
ST10155/21; ST 10155/21 ADD 1, not yet published. 

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(6) 

(7) 

Digital  Skills  investment,  target  1A-6  and  milestones  1A-7  and  1A-8  should  be 
removed from the Council Implementing Decision of 13 July 2021.  

The very limited modification put forward by Luxembourg does not affect the positive 
assessment  of  the  RRP,  with  regard  to  its  relevance,  effectiveness,  efficiency  and 
coherence of the RRP. 

In particular, with regard to the assessment criterion of Article 19(3), point (b), in spite 
of the removal of the Digital Skills investment, the updated RRP continues to address 
all  or  a  significant  sub-set  of  challenges  identified  in  the  country  specific 
recommendations  addressed  by  the  Council  to  Luxembourg  in  2019  and  2020, 
including on labour market policies and on the digital transition. The updated RRP still 
contains  digital  measures,  including  on  upskilling  and  reskilling.  In  particular,  the 
FutureSkills  programme  provides  soft,  digital,  and  managerial  skills  to  job  seekers, 
with  a  dedicated  target  for  job  seekers  aged  45  year  and  more.  The  “Skillsdësch” 
reform is aimed at designing vocational training programmes (“Skillsbridges”) helping 
workers  and  job  seekers  to  enhance  their  employability  during  the  green  and  digital 
transitions. Furthermore, the updated RRP also maintains a number of investments in 
digitalisation  and  innovation  contributing  to  the  digital  transition  in  the  areas  of 
healthcare  and  public  services,  and  by  developing  an  ultra-secure  communication 
infrastructure.  

(8) 

Furthermore, with regard to the assessment criterion of Article 19(3), point (e), taking 
into  account  the  reduced  maximum  financial  contribution  and  the  updated  RRP,  the 
measures  that  effectively  contribute  to  the  green  transition  amount  to  68.8%  of  the 
updated RRP’s total allocation, compared with 60.9% in the initial RRP. These figures 
have  been  calculated  in  accordance  with  the  methodology  set  out  in  Annex  VI  to 
Regulation (EU) 2021/241.  

(9)  Moreover,  with  regard  to  the  assessment  criterion  of  Article  19(3),  point  (f),  the 
measures  that  effectively  contribute  to  the  digital  transition  account  for  an  amount 
which represents 29.6% of the updated RRP’s total allocation, compared with 31.6% 
in  the  initial  RRP.  These  figures  have  been  calculated  in  accordance  with  the 
methodology set out in Annex VII to Regulation (EU) 2021/241.  

(10)  With regard to the assessment criteria of Article 19(3), points (a), (c), (d), (g), (h), (i), 
(j) and (k) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241, the limited modifications of the RRP do not 
affect the positive assessment of the initial plan. 

(11)  Following  the  positive  assessment  of  the  Commission  concerning  Luxembourg’s 
updated RRP with the finding that the RRP satisfactorily complies with the criteria for 
assessment set out in Regulation (EU) 2021/241, in accordance with Article 20(2) of 
and Annex V to that Regulation, this Decision should set out the amendments to the 
reforms and investment projects necessary to take account of the updated RRP. 

(12)  The estimated total cost  of the updated RRP of  Luxembourg is EUR 88 354 077. As 
the  updated  RRP  satisfactorily  complies  with  the  criteria  for  assessment  set  out  in 
Regulation (EU) 2021/241 and, furthermore, as the amount of the estimated total costs 
of  the  updated  RRP  is  higher  than  the  updated  maximum  financial  contribution 
available  for  Luxembourg,  the  financial  contribution  allocated  for  Luxembourg’s 
updated RRP should be equal to the total amount of the updated financial contribution 
available for Luxembourg. 

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(13)  Council Implementing Decision of 13 July 2021 on the approval of the assessment of 
the  recovery  and  resilience  plan  for  Luxembourg  should  therefore  be  amended 
accordingly, 

HAS ADOPTED THIS DECISION:  

Council  Implementing  Decision  of  13  July  2021  on  the  approval  of  the  assessment  of  the 
recovery and resilience plan for Luxembourg is amended as follows:  

Article 1 

(1) Article 1 is replaced by the following:  

The assessment of the updated RRP of Luxembourg on the basis of the criteria provided for in 
Article 19(3) of Regulation (EU) 2021/241 is approved. The reforms and investment projects 
under the RRP, the arrangements and timetable for the monitoring and implementation of the 
RRP,  including  the  relevant  milestones  and  targets,  the  relevant  indicators  relating  to  the 
fulfilment  of  the  envisaged  milestones  and  targets,  and  the  arrangements  for  providing  full 
access  by  the  Commission  to  the  underlying  relevant  data  are  set  out  in  the  Annex  to  this 
Decision. 

(2) In Article 2, paragraphs 1 and 2 are replaced by the following: 

1. 

2. 

The Union shall make available to Luxembourg a financial contribution in the form 
to  EUR 82 670 6433.  An  amount  of 
of  non-repayable  support  amounting 
EUR 76 625 886 shall be available to be legally committed by 31 December 2022. A 
further amount of EUR 6 044 757 shall be available to be legally committed from 1 
January 2023 until 31 December 2023. 

The  Union  financial  contribution  shall  be  made  available  by  the  Commission  to 
Luxembourg  in  instalments  in  accordance  with  the  Annex  to  this  Decision.  The 
instalments may be disbursed by the Commission in one or several tranches. The size 
of the tranches shall be subject to the availability of funding. 

(3) The Annex is amended as follows: 

(a) Section 1: Reforms and Investments under the Recovery and Resilience Plan is amended 
as follows: 

(i) in point 1. Description of reforms and investments; A. Component 1A: Skilling, Upskilling 
and Reskilling, paragraph 1, the second sentence is replaced by the following:  

“A  training  programme,  the  FutureSkills  programme,  provides  skills  to  job  seekers,  with  a 
dedicated target for job seekers aged 45 year and more.”; 

(ii)    in  point  1.  Description  of  reforms  and  investments;  A.  Component  1A:  Skilling, 
Upskilling and Reskilling; A.1. Description of the reforms and investments for non-repayable 
financial support, the point “Investment 2: Digital Skills” is deleted; 

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This amount corresponds to the financial allocation after deduction of Luxembourg’s proportional share 
of  the  expenses  of  Article  6(2)  of  Regulation  (EU)  2021/241,  calculated  in  accordance  with  the 
methodology of Article 11 of that Regulation. 

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(iii)  in  point  1.  Description  of  reforms  and  investments;  A.  Component  1A:  Skilling, 
Upskilling and Reskilling;  A.2. Milestones, targets,  indicators, and timetable for monitoring 
and  implementation  for  non-repayable  financial  support,  rows  1A-6,  1A-7  and  1A-8  are 
deleted; 

(iv) in  point 2. Estimated total  cost  of the recovery  and resilience plan, the subparagraph is 
replaced by the following: 

‘The estimated total cost of the recovery and resilience plan of Luxembourg is EUR 
88 354 077.’ 

(b)  Section 2: Financial Support is amended as follows: 

(i)  in point 1. Financial contribution, 1.1 First Instalment (non-repayable support), rows 1A-
6, 1A-7 and 1A-8 are deleted;  

(ii)  in  point  1.  Financial  contribution,  1.1  First  Instalment  (non-repayable  support),  the 
Instalment  Amount  of  “EUR  29  858  611”  in  the  final  row  and  column  is  replaced  by 
“EUR 24 858 611”; 

(iii)  in  point    1.  Financial  contribution,  1.2  Second  Instalment  (non-repayable  support),  the 
Instalment  Amount  of  “EUR  24  413  757”  in  the  final  row  and  column  is  replaced  by 
“EUR 22 228 500”; 

(iv)  in  point    1.  Financial  contribution,  1.3  Third  Instalment  (non-repayable  support),  the 
Instalment  Amount  of  “EUR  18 626 256”  in  the  final  row  and  column  is  replaced  by 
“EUR 16 959 033”; 

(v)  in  point    1.  Financial  contribution,  1.4  Fourth  Instalment  (non-repayable  support),  the 
Instalment  Amount  of  “EUR  12 649 505”  in  the  final  row  and  column  is  replaced  by 
“EUR 11 517 256”; 

(vi)  in  point    1.  Financial  contribution,  1.5  Fifth  Instalment  (non-repayable  support),  the 
Instalment  Amount  of  “EUR  7  805  947”  in  the  final  row  and  column  is  replaced  by 
“EUR 7 107 243”. 

Article 2 
Addressee 

This Decision is addressed to the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. 

Done at Brussels, 

For the Council 
The President 

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