The sold-out event at the Philharmonie was the latest in a series of Citizen’s Dialogue talks held in Luxembourg. It features prime minister Xavier Bettel talking with Emmanuel Macron in front of a public audience.

Citizens' Dialogues with members of the European Commission, the European Parliament, national governments, local and regional authorities and civil society representatives have been held all over the EU since 2012. European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker was the star turn at a Citizen’s Dialogue event at the university of Luxembourg in October last year.

The event with two of Europe’s youngest government leaders sold out within hours of tickets being made available to the public.

At the working lunch the four neighbouring government leaders discussed a number of subjects that are currently dominating European and world politics. At EU level, the Benelux PMs are all members of the liberal ALDE bloc, while Macron’s Republic on the Move party is unallied. The four agreed to propose providing EU development funds to African countries in exchange for help reducing the number of migrants crossing the Mediterranean, reported the AFP. They will present the idea to their fellow EU leaders this weekend.

Later Macron told reporters that the EPP bloc, which includes the German chancellor Angela Merkel, should “clarify its positions” on nationalist policies. The EPP also includes the party of the Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban.