Financial aid from the state for cultural infrastructures in municipalities

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As part of its regional cultural policy, the Ministry of Culture can support the implementation of regional cultural infrastructure projects. The financial participation of the State, through the Ministry of Culture, in cultural infrastructure projects is intended to promote access to quality cultural venues and facilities.

Within the limits of the available funds, the Ministry of Culture may provide capital grants to encourage investments aimed at developing the country's cultural infrastructure.

Persons concerned

Eligible groups

Municipalities and associations of municipalities are eligible for this aid scheme.

Eligible projects

Eligible for state financial support for cultural infrastructure are investments made in the interest of:

  • a new cultural building;
  • an extension of an existing cultural infrastructure;
  • a reallocation/redevelopment of a cultural infrastructure.

Investments relating to maintenance or simple renovation works as well as to the replacement of furniture which are not within the scope of a redevelopment project are not eligible.

Types of eligible infrastructure:

Local cultural centres

NB. By "cultural centre", the Ministry of Culture refers to a public place intended for the population to carry out cultural and socio-cultural activities in a territorial entity covering at least one municipality. These activities cover the coordination of cultural development at local level and offer (socio)cultural programming primarily for the local and regional population. They may have various names, such as "multi-purpose room", "multi-purpose hall", "festival hall", etc.

Cultural centres with a regional scope

NB. By "regional cultural centre", the Ministry of Culture refers to a public place for a trans-regional population which is located in a territorial entity covering at least one canton. The regional cultural centre has a professional team working on an annual cultural programme. The activities of the regional cultural centre cover the coordination of cultural development at regional level. The financing of the cultural centre must be supported by the applicant municipality.

Museum-type institutions

NB. By "museum", the Ministry refers to a permanent, non-profit institution at the service of society, dedicated to the research, collection, conservation, interpretation and exhibition of tangible and intangible heritage. Open to the public, accessible and inclusive, it promotes diversity and sustainability. Museums operate and communicate ethically and professionally, involving diverse communities. They offer their audiences diverse experiences of education, entertainment, reflection and knowledge sharing.

Public libraries/multimedia libraries

NB. By "library/multimedia library", the Ministry of Culture refers to a permanent institution, at the service of society and its development, open to the public, which, by making literary and media supports available free of charge, enables a better dissemination of the knowledge society among all sections of the population.

Art centres

NB. By "art centre", the Ministry of Culture refers to a non-profit art production and dissemination facility that actively promotes artistic research and creation. The results are shown to the public through an annual exhibition programme, publications and mediation.

Interpretation centres

NB. By "interpretation centre", the Ministry of Culture refers to a non-profit institution that presents and explains to the public a site or a theme related to history, science, the environment, industry and techniques, ways of life or other.

Spaces for rehearsal, creation and cultural production

NB. By " spaces for rehearsal, creation and cultural production ", the Ministry of Culture refers to an equipped space, dedicated to rehearsal, creation and cultural production, for an artist or an artisan working in one or more artistic disciplines.  

Outdoor performing arts venues

NB. By "outdoor sites developed for the performing arts", the Ministry of Culture refers to fixed cultural infrastructures specifically dedicated to the performing arts, notably for the purpose of presenting cultural events to the public.

Any other infrastructure with significant cultural added value.

Ineligible projects

The aid of the Ministry of Culture for the development of the cultural infrastructure in Luxembourg cannot be granted for :

  • Music schools;
  • Art galleries;
  • Archives;
  • Cultural facilities intended for commercial exploitation or facilities managed by a commercial operator;
  • Projects without a cultural dimension or with a minimal cultural purpose;
  • as well as projects that are self-generated by the applicant.

Deadlines

The applicationfor support must be submitted before the start of the investment.

The application for a financial contribution for cultural infrastructure must be submitted using the application form which can be downloaded from this link (Word, 88 Kb).

The deadlines for submission are set each year in two separate sessions, the first on  28 February (spring session) and the second on 30 September of the current year (autumn session) at midnight. Following the deadlines indicated, the Commission for Cultural Infrastructures of the Ministry of Culture will evaluate the applications submitted.

The application deadlines are compulsory in order to allow the Ministry of Culture to carry out its budgetary programming in time and to commit and liquidate the state financial contributions as soon as possible.  

Conditions of admissibility and practical arrangements

Submission of the application

The applicant must send a duly completed application form (Word, 88 Kb) to the Ministry of Culture.

In case of electronic submission, the e-mail address infrastructures.culturelles@mc.etat.lu should be used.

If the application is submitted by post, the following address should be used:

Ministère de la Culture
Service des affaires culturelles régionales
L-2912 Luxembourg

Supporting documents

The application must be accompanied by:

  • The application form, duly completed and signed
  • an itemized estimated budget for the project for which the application is being submitted, signed by the council of aldermen

NB: Only cultural equipment projects based on a final draft project (APD) voted by the municipal council and approved by the Minister of Home Affairs are eligible for state financial aid;

  • the architect's or contractor's execution plans, signed by the council of aldermen;
  • an extract from the register of the deliberations of the municipal council meeting at which the project was approved;
  • the approval of the deliberation of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the decision of the municipal council;
  • Information on other state aid applications (copies of grant applications, certificate of co-funding, ect.)
  • a cadastral extract (Geoportail) enabling the localisation of the place where the project is to be carried out 

NB: Projects must be carried out on a site owned by the applicant;

  • a schedule for the completion of the construction project;
  • The notification of the building project to the archeological service for spatial planning of the National Institute of Archaeological Research for an archaeological assessment of the development site, in the case of earthworks;
  • the documents required according to the type of project.

Additional supporting documents depending on the type of project

For projects of the "cultural centre" type, the application must also be accompanied by:

  • a programme of activities and events planned to take place there in the future;
  • a management concept, including information on:
    • the planned legal form;
    • the opening hours;
    • the human resources;
    • the annual budget;
    • the terms of use.

 

For projects of the "museum" type, the application must also be accompanied by:

  • an inventory of the collection from which the museum project was conceived, indicating in particular the owner and the provenance of the works or artefacts;
  • an analysis of the opportunity for the creation of a new museum institution

NB by "relevance analysis" the Ministry of Culture refers to a study to justify the opportunity to develop a new museum institution with regard to the existing cultural and museum offer in Luxembourg, in order to create a diversified museum landscape;

  • a management concept, including information on:
    • the planned legal form;
    • the opening hours;
    • the human resources;
    • the annual budget;
    • the exhibition programme and museography;
    • the collection management;
    • the measures taken to ensure professional museum work, in particular with regard to the following functions: presentation, study, research, inventory, conservation, acquisitions, animation.

 

For any other cultural projectnot included in the above list, the application must also be accompanied by:

  • an opportunity analysis for the realisation of the project under review;

NB. By "opportunity analysis", the Ministry of Culture means a study justifying the opportunity for the development of the site in relation to the existing cultural offer in Luxembourg; ​

  • a management concept, including information on:
    • the planned legal form;
    • the opening hours;
    • the human resources;
    • the annual budget, including information on the compensation provided for artists (production budget, creation budget and fees, etc.);
    • the cultural programme of the venue;
    • the means implemented to guarantee the animation of the venue.

The compliance of the project with the eligibility criteria does not automatically lead to the granting of the aid applied for. ​

Evaluation criteria

Depending on the type of project, proposals for determining the amount of state financial support are made on the basis of:

  • the percentage of the project's cultural allocation;
  • the interest of the project and its integration into the cultural strategy of the municipality;
  • the financial participation of other government bodies in the project;
  • an appropriate ratio between investment and identified needs;
  • the respect for the built heritage for projects involving the conversion of a building identified by the INPA as being in need of protection/conservation;
  • the proposed management concept;
  • the heritage interest of the collection for museum-type projects, if necessary on the advice of the cultural institute in charge of the type of heritage concerned.

Other criteria may be taken into consideration depending on the type of project.

Amount of aid

  • The amount of aid may not exceed 15 % of eligible investments for projects of local or municipal interest.
  • The amount of aid may not exceed 35% of eligible investments in the case of projects of particular interest depending on the scale and impact of the project.
  • In exceptional cases, the Ministry of Culture may grant special aid in addition to the aid generally granted, if the projects in question are of national or exceptional interest.

Payment

The State's financial contribution is paid in instalments on the basis of the partial accounts of the work certified as true and accurate by the board of aldermen of the municipality. The Ministry of Culture will check the accounts, and more specifically the eligible expenses, on the basis of a sample of supporting documents selected by the Ministry of Culture.

The balance of 10% of the financial contribution granted is paid after completion of the construction work, on presentation of:

  • the report on the acceptance of the work drawn up by the architect;
  • a final account of the construction works certified as true and accurate by the board of aldermen and approved by the municipal council. This final account must be submitted to the Ministry of Culture no later than two years after acceptance of the work.

Each request for liquidation of the state financial contribution must be submitted to the Ministry of Culture using the form for liquidation of the state financial contribution (Word, 64 Kb)provided for this purpose.

Repayment

In the event that the municipality abandons the construction or stops the work during its execution, it undertakes to reimburse the State for the part of the financial contribution already received, plus interest calculated at the legal rate from the day of payment of the State aid until the latter is fully reimbursed. The same provision applies in the event that the purpose of the building is changed within ten years of completion of the work.