The government is setting aside a maximum of 3.1 billion euros to support ‘several tens of thousands’ SMEs that use a lot of energy.
The cabinet approved the package in the Council of Ministers on Friday. The support will only apply from next spring: because filling in the scheme takes time and the intervention must be tested against European rules, the counter is expected to open in April 2023 at the earliest. Until then, the tax authorities will be more flexible with requests for tax deferrals.
In addition, banks have indicated that they are prepared to provide loans “faster and more flexible”. The scheme gives the banks more certainty that SMEs can repay the loans.
Help for healthy companies
Minister Micky Adriaansens of Economic Affairs says that he wants to help “essentially healthy companies” with the allowance. This mainly concerns bakers, butchers and horticulturists: relatively small companies that use a lot of gas and/or electricity. In general, they “want to save and become more sustainable, but at the same time they cannot avoid high energy consumption due to their type of production process or service.”
Up to 160,000 per company
Details of the scheme have already been released: companies are eligible if their energy costs correspond to at least 12.5 percent of their turnover. The support only goes to medium-sized and small companies (maximum 250 employees) with a consumption of 5000 cubic meters of gas or 50,000 kilowatt hours of electricity. Companies that meet the conditions can be reimbursed for half the increase in energy costs compared to the ‘threshold price’ (1.19 per cubic meter of gas and 35 cents per kilowatt hour of electricity).
However, a maximum amount of 160,000 euros per company applies. Due to European rules, a maximum of 62,000 euros applies to agricultural companies, such as greenhouse horticulturists who are also at risk of getting into trouble due to the high energy prices.