On 17 August 2023, the law transposing the EU Directive 2019/1158 of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers was published in the Luxembourg official gazette.
On 18 August 2023, the law amending the legal provisions on paternity and adoption leave was published in the Luxembourg official gazette.
On 20 July 2023, the Luxembourg Parliament adopted a law reforming the right of establishment in Luxembourg (“Reform”). It amends the Luxembourg law dated 2 September 2011 regulating access to the professions of craftsperson, trader, manufacturer and certain liberal professions as amended (“Business License Law”).
The Reform aims to adapt the Business License Law to embrace the changes in the regulatory, economic, technical, technological, entrepreneurial and artisanal environments and to stimulate entrepreneurship.
On 30 June 2023, the law amending the Luxembourg Labor Code to introduce a mechanism relating to the right for employees to disconnect outside working hours was published in the Luxembourg official journal. It enters into force on 4 July 2023.
On 9 March 2023, the Luxembourg Parliament adopted a law introducing a new legal framework into the Labor code to fight against moral harassment during employment. On 5 April 2023, the New Law was published in the Luxembourg official gazette and entered into force on 9 April 2023.
On 28 March 2023, the government presented Bill of Law 8186 (“Bill”), which provides a set of amendments to the General Tax Law (Abgabenordnung, AO) dated 22 May 1931 and introduces new procedural aspects applicable to taxpayers. The Bill also introduces new bilateral and multilateral advance pricing agreement procedures, together with the possibility to issue, withdraw or amend a tax assessment further to a mutual agreement procedure or an arbitration decision. Lastly, the Bill proposes a transfer pricing documentation requirement for transactions between associated enterprises, while further details regarding the scope, exact content and magnitude will be unveiled soon in a coming grand ducal decree.
On 30 November 2022, a new law amending the Code of Consumption for the purpose of transposing Directive (EU) 2019/2161 was published in the Luxembourg Official Gazette. The New Law entered into force on 4 December 2022.
The Omnibus Directive amends several existing EU consumer protection legislation, including the Unfair Contract Terms Directive, Price Indications Directive, Unfair Commercial Practices Directive and Consumer Rights Directive and widens the customer rights framework to also cover digital goods, content, and services.
On 12 January 2023, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that individuals have the right to know to whom their personal data has been disclosed, unless the controller can demonstrate that it is impossible to identify the recipients or that the request is manifestly unfounded or excessive. Controllers must be able to provide information on the actual identity of all individuals and organizations to whom personal data is disclosed. This can be done for example, by maintaining up-to-date records on the sharing of personal data or by any other (technical) means.
The Energy Charter Treaty (ECT) is an investment treaty that enables multilateral cooperation in the energy sector. Fifty-three states are currently contracting parties to the treaty, including countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, as well as the European Union. On 18 November 2022, Luxembourg announced its intention to withdraw from the ECT, joining the wave of countries signaling their intention to pull out of the ECT.
European Union, online public access to the Luxembourg register of beneficial owners (RBO) was temporarily suspended.
On 16 December 2022, online access to the RBO was re-established for professionals subject to the amended law of 12 November 2004 on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (“Professionals”), such as professionals from the financial and insurance sectors, auditors, real estate agents and developers, persons carrying out a family office activity, notaries and lawyers.
On 1 February 2023, the Luxembourg Business Register announced that all entities registered with the Luxembourg trade and companies register that have made an RBO declaration will be receiving a confidential code allowing them to access their own RBO data and order an RBO extract even though they do not qualify as Professionals.
Following the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 22 November 2022, access to the Luxembourg register of beneficial owners website via the internet has been temporarily suspended. This judgment, taken on a preliminary ruling from the Luxembourg District Court in a dispute between the beneficial owners of an entity registered in Luxembourg and the Luxembourg Business Register, underlines that access without distinction of user quality, although imposed by the text of Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018 amending Directive (EU) 2015/849 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing transposed into Luxembourg law, is contrary, in particular, to Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.