Subsection 1: Financial assistance

Disabled people who are referred to the labour market by the Commission des droits et de l’autonomie des personnes handicapées (Commission for the Rights and Independence of Disabled People) and who wish to become self-employed may receive a start-up grant. This grant, the amount and conditions of which are set by decree, contributes to the purchase and installation of the equipment required for this activity.

To qualify for the start-up grant, the disabled worker must satisfy the following conditions: 1° They must not have been convicted of any of the offences listed in Chapter VIII of Title II of Book I of the French Commercial Code; 2° They must meet all the necessary character requirements; 3° If they are not French nationals or nationals of a Member State of the European Union, they must have…

The grant application must be sent by the person concerned to the secretariat of the Commission des droits et de l’autonomie des personnes handicapées (Commission for the Rights and Independence of Disabled People) in his or her place of residence, no later than twelve months after the end of the training course or leaving university. The commission examines the request and forwards it, along with its reasoned opinion, to the…

The grant is awarded within the limits of the appropriations delegated by the ministry responsible for employment. The maximum amount is set by joint order of the ministers responsible for employment and the budget.

Payment of the grant is subject to the conclusion of an agreement specifying its purpose and the terms and conditions of control exercised by the public authority.

The subsidy is allocated to the purchase or installation of the equipment needed to practise the self-employed profession to which the disabled worker has been referred by the Commission des droits et de l’autonomie des personnes handicapées.

The self-employed occupation is chosen from one of the branches determined by order of the Minister for Employment on the advice of the Ministers for Industry, the Economy, Trade and Craft Trades, and Agriculture if the subsidy is intended for equipment for a business in the agricultural sector.

To qualify for the start-up grant, the disabled worker must undertake to personally run the self-employed business and to personally practise the liberal profession for which the grant is requested.

The grant must be repaid if it is used for purposes other than those for which it was granted, if the business is not operated or if the person concerned abandons the profession without justification.