On 8 February 2023, the Chamber of Deputies voted unanimously in the first vote on the two bills concerning the merger of the municipalities of Grosbous-Wahl and Bous-Waldbredimus respectively. With these votes, the number of municipalities in Luxembourg was reduced to 100, a first, as the number of communes had not reached this threshold since at least 1840.
The two mergers, which will take place on 1 September 2023, will receive special state aid based on the actual population of each of the merging municipalities on 31 August 2023. Thus, the new municipality of "Groussbus-Wal", which will have its seat in Grosbous, will receive financial aid estimated at 4.829 million euros (for approximately 2,195 inhabitants) and the municipality of "Bous-Waldbredimus", which will have its provisional seat in Bous until the work on the new town hall in Waldbredimus is completed, will receive financial aid estimated at 6.6 million euros (for approximately 3,000 inhabitants).
The special state aid will be paid in instalments and is intended to reduce the borrowing of the new municipalities and to implement the projects included in the multi-annual financing plans.
It should also be noted that the new municipality of "Groussbus-Wal" will have a 12-member municipal council and the new municipality of "Bous-Waldbredimus" will have an 11-member municipal council until the full renewal of the municipal councils at the ordinary municipal elections in 2029.
The Minister for Home Affairs, Taina Bofferding, is pleased that the two bills have received their first unanimous constitutional vote, proving that the merger process is increasingly recognised as an appropriate, useful and modern means of cooperation between the municipalities concerned, which, due to their territorial proximity, are already building and implementing certain joint projects: "I welcome the political courage of the municipal leaders who have chosen to work closely together by taking the initiative to merge. Knowing that there is an impulse to merge at local level, based on team spirit and co-decision, without any State intervention, I would like to reaffirm that mergers will remain voluntary processes, respecting the principle of subsidiarity and municipal autonomy.
Press release by the Ministry of Home Affairs