On 21 July 2023, Parliament adopted a set of amendments to the law of 2 September 2011 regulating access to the professions of craftsman, trader, manufacturer, and certain liberal professions, as amended (Law).
The amendments to the Law reflect the changes in the regulatory, economic, technical, technological, entrepreneurial and craft domains that have taken place in recent years. By stimulating entrepreneurial activity and simultaneously guaranteeing the quality of services, these amendments mark a decisive step towards modernising the right to establish a business.
The main changes introduced by the Law are the following:
- Addition of disqualifying criteria to the assessment of
the professional integrity condition. More specifically,
the Law introduces limitations to the scope of the behaviour or
actions taken into consideration in the assessment and also inserts
clarifications with respect to certain existing provisions.
- Introduction of the second chance principle.
In practical terms, the Law introduces the possibility of starting
a second undertaking after bankruptcy through the second chance
principle. This second chance is granted in the event that the
relevant manager proves that the bankruptcy of the former business
was directly due to (i) a natural disaster, (ii) the unintentional
destruction of the production site or production equipment, (iii)
loss of a vital customer, (iv) a major public works project, (v)
the manager's medically certified partial or total incapacity
to work, (vi) a government-recognised pandemic or (vii) loss of
profitability following a major market disruption (applicable only
if the bankruptcy was declared by the trader).
- Removal of the obligation for the holder of the
business licence to be a partner, shareholder or employee of the
business. If the business is in the name of an individual,
the business licence may now be held by the person who is the owner
of the business. In the case of a company
(société), the person in
whose name the business licence application is made must be a
representative (mandataire) of the company and must be
indicated as such in the Trade and Companies Register (Registre
de Commerce et des Sociétés).
- Limit on the number of business licences that can be
held by an individual for craft activities. The Law
provides rules on the number of business licenses that an
individual can hold at the same time for several craft companies,
limiting it to two if the companies are not part of the same group,
unless the individual holds, directly or indirectly, at least 25%
of the shares in each company.
- Introduction of an additional list of craft activities
not requiring professional qualifications. A new List C is
introduced in the Law, detailing additional craft professions that
do not require a specific professional qualification.
- New recognition of certain activities by creating
stipulations for specific business licences. Examples are
business licences for commercial vehicle sales activities and
services, subject to anti-money laundering control, or activities
relating to high-value movable property.
- New framework for short-term rental
activities. The Law now regulates short-term real estate
rental businesses based on a certain threshold of overnight stays,
aiming to meet the health and safety requirements already in place
in the hotel sector.
- Facilitating the transfer of businesses carrying out
List A craft activities. In case of death, occupational disability,
proven incapacity or retirement of the holder of the business
licence, the Law reduces the eligibility period for a
provisional transfer of the business licence to another employee of
the relevant business from 10 to 3 years, during which such
employee must have worked in the business carrying out the List A
craft activities.
- Facilitation of administrative procedures. The
Law introduces the automation of inter-administration exchanges,
which notably removes the requirement to notify the Minister for
Small and Medium-Sized Businesses (Ministre des Classes
Moyennes) of amendments to any of the information entered in
the Trade and Companies Register.
- Strengthening consumer protection. Consumers will have real-time access to information relating to the professional qualifications of the holder of the business licence, as well as to the validity period of the relevant licence.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
