Citizens can push for a referendum if they manage to collect 25,000 signatures as part of an official procedure. Changes to Luxembourg’s constitution must be confirmed in parliament by a two-thirds majority and lawmakers must vote on them twice with an interval of at least three months. During this time, voters can launch a request to hold a referendum.

Parliament earlier this month adopted the fourth chapter of reforms, tackling the organisation and responsibilities of the Chamber of Deputies and the Council of State. For example, the constitution enshrines the parliament’s watchdog function over the government. It strengthens the parliament’s role in requesting documents or summoning ministers.

Under the changes, only one third of MPs will have to support a parliamentary inquiry. This comes after criticism from opposition parties that the majority will usually side with the government.

For example, lawmakers from the DP, LSAP and déi Gréng in 2020 had into over the costs for a military satellite nearly doubling compared to the budget initially submitted to a vote. Last year, majority parties opposed an inquiry into care home deaths during the pandemic.

Two previous initiatives to trigger a referendum about the reform failed to collect the necessary signatures. For the first chapter of reforms only 1,652 people signed documents available at their commune to request a public ballot. For the second chapter, this number was even lower at 964.

A third attempt for a referendum is still ongoing and is now being joined by a fourth.

Second vote before end of year

A referendum on Luxembourg’s new constitution had been promised in the 2018 coalition agreement but was then shelved.

Under previous plans, a completely new text was supposed to be put to a vote in parliament and then voters. But party-political squabbles in 2019 meant that the majority parties--the DP, LSAP and déi Gréng that together hold just 31 seats in parliament--would have failed to secure the necessary votes. In a compromise, the reform was broken down into four chapters.

These include wide-ranging reforms of the justice system, the role of the Grand Duke, civil rights and liberties, and the functioning of the legislative and executive branches of government.

Under the reforms voted in July, parliament will also be able to seize the State Council for legal questions. Only the government can currently do this. The State Council reviews all bills submitted to parliament for their compatibility with existing national and international law. It can issue formal oppositions to legal texts and makes proposals on how to amend them.

A second vote in parliament is scheduled before the end of the year, which would conclude a more than decade-long process to modernize the more than 150-year-old constitution. In the first round of voting in July, 47 MPs supported the changes against two absentions and four votes against the reform.

Prime minister Xavier Bettel (DP) has three days to review the documents submitted on 27 July after which information about the initiative must be made public by the government and lists to sign are made available in the country’s communes.