Michèle Detaille and René Winkin took stock of the Fedil's work for the year 2021.  (Photo: Matic Zorman/Maison Moderne)

Michèle Detaille and René Winkin took stock of the Fedil's work for the year 2021.  (Photo: Matic Zorman/Maison Moderne)

On the occasion of the Fedil general assembly, the group’s president Michèle Detaille took stock of the past year while mentioning the major challenges to be met in the future.

After two years of pandemic, soaring energy prices, a very uncertain geopolitical situation with the war in Ukraine and the risk of an inflationary spiral, the industry is turning more than ever to the energy transition in order to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels.

"Scarcity, inflation and insecurity. These are the three words we hear every day in industry," says, who notes a paradox that is probably unique. On the one hand, industrial demand is sustained. "Several factors can explain this demand. States have large stimulus budgets, purchasing power was protected during the health crisis, there is a strong desire to move towards an energy transition, and there is also a significant demand for digitalisation," she says.

On the other hand, there is a weakness on the supply side. "The industry is facing weak or almost saturated supply chains. Because of the war in Ukraine, some sources have disappeared. Rising energy prices have forced some companies to slow down or temporarily stop production. Not to mention the shortage of labour," comments Detaille, who does not hide the fact that the situation will be even "more difficult" if the European Union decides to impose an embargo on Russian gas.

Faced with this situation, the industries now see the energy transition as an imperative, also to better control the costs associated with it. "I think that the movement has already existed for a long time in industry. Today, it is accelerating under the effect of the aid proposed by the government and the European Union. These aids are a great incentive and they have had a very good effect,” Detaille emphasises.

"A large number of companies are interested in alternative solutions. There is now a huge interest in the technologies of tomorrow, such as hydrogen. Companies have a real strategy in this area, driven by rising energy prices. We can see that renewable energy could offer a more stable energy source in terms of pricing. The price of CO2 is also an important factor. Today, industry pays 80 euros per tonne. So obviously, this is an additional incentive to move towards an energy transition," confirms René Winkin, director of Fedil.

We could have gone further in the search for sustainable solutions synonymous with adaptation of demand.

Michèle DetaillePresidentFedil

The Fedil was also pleased to see the UEL and the social partners reach a tripartite agreement in favour of social cohesion and economic development, Detaille nevertheless emphasises that "we could have gone further in the search for sustainable solutions synonymous with adaptation of demand".

Finally, the president of Fedil recalled the many subjects addressed by her federation in 2021. In particular, Fedil has worked on the right to disconnect, training in labour law and the identification of tomorrow's qualifications in the field of information and communication technologies (ICT). Work also continued on promoting the industry among young people with its Hello Future programme and on the labour market with its Job Shadow Day.

New additions to the board of directors

On the same occasion, Olivier Coekelbergs, country managing partner of EY Luxembourg, was appointed to the federation's board of directors, the group revealed. Coekelbergs replaces Georges Kioes (Deloitte Luxembourg). "It is an unwritten rule, but we make a change every three years between the Big Four of the market", explained Detaille during a press briefing shortly before the general meeting.

Alex Schumann, Director Manufacturing Tire Plant Luxembourg at Goodyear, was also appointed to the Board of Directors. He replaces Silvia Sitzen (Goodyear) who has retired.

Also within the Board of Directors, several mandates were renewed. Thus, nine members of the Fedil Board of Directors have been reappointed for a period of three years. They are Roland Bastian (ArcelorMittal), Frédéric de Radiguès (Brasserie Nationale), Robert Glaesener (Talkwalker), Paul Meyers (DuPont de Nemours), Jean-Louis Schiltz (Schiltz & Schiltz), Philippe Schmitz (Rotarex), Claude Seywert (Encevo), Claude Strasser (Post Group) and Thierry Wolter (Ceratizit).

Fedil president Detaille is also set to serve a second term in her role, though the board will vote on this in July.

This story was first published in French on . It has been translated and edited for Delano.