“A better life together in a modern Luxembourg,” demands the CSV. The Christian Social Party held its national congress on the morning of Saturday 25 March and officially put  on top of its candidate list. In his first political speech, Frieden presented the main points of his electoral programme.

Based on the speech, the CSV wants to guarantee “social peace” and “strong social cohesion” while allowing the emergence of a “modern Luxembourg, at the forefront of digitalisation and renewable energy”. Thus, said Frieden, the country “needs a strong economy and sustainable growth, without which there is no social state.”

He reiterated: “Without a strong economy, the ecological transition cannot happen.”

Competitiveness at the heart of the discussion

To achieve this, “we must put competitiveness back at the heart of the discussion,” said the candidate, meaning the economic competition being played out at the level of the Greater Region but also with other financial centres--London and Dublin--and even, for certain sectors, at the global level.

It is therefore necessary to “reduce the administrative burden on companies, speed up authorisation procedures and, in terms of taxation, encourage digital and environmental investments”. Unsurprisingly, Frieden also advocates a reduction in corporate income tax, to bring it in line with the European average.

Social state, but selective

With LSAP having previously initiated the debate on working time, Frieden stated the CSV’s position on the subject: “We argue against a state reduction of working time, but for the work-life balance to be discussed within companies.”

The “responsible” social state will have to be “selective” because it is “not healthy to treat everyone the same”. The party will focus on two priorities: increasing purchasing power and the housing crisis. “In order to increase purchasing power, the tax burden on individuals--and especially on the middle class--must be reduced,” said Frieden, mentioning that tax support for young families should be provided.

Increasing the supply of housing

On housing, the CSV’s strategy can be summed up in three words: increase the supply. “We need to build faster and higher up in the cities,” says Frieden. In this perspective, it is a question of “reviewing procedures” and in particular of “avoiding the need for new environmental studies when a project’s PAG [building permit] has been approved”, while “encouraging investment in stone to speed up construction projects”.

Frieden also returned to a headline-grabbing subject from the past year: indexation. While he is “in favour” of automatic wage indexation, the candidate wants to bring together the social partners more often, to “discuss measures to help people while not harming the competitiveness of companies”.

Accelerating on renewables

Frieden’s green strategy is to “invest massively in renewable energy”. It is a question of “accelerating” the motion, a priority that is all the more important given that the country is “not too developed compared to other European countries”, as he put it. Digitalisation is intended to be ambitious, with Estonia as the model, “where everything is digitalised, and where procedures for individuals and companies are much easier, quicker and less costly”.

The health sector also needs to be reformed, says the CSV candidate, “with more private initiatives alongside the hospital system” in order to provide a growing population with services in “different geographical locations”.

Healthy public finances

Frieden did not fail to reiterate his attachment to “healthy public finances”, asserting that “maintaining the triple-A rating is essential”. It is the “foundation of all policies”, he even declared. The 30% threshold on public debt is “not to be exceeded”.

Based on these broad guidelines, which are articulated within a triangle that combines economic attractiveness, social responsibility and sustainability, the CSV will have to develop a more detailed programme in the coming weeks. (The economic aspect  [article in French], while the other two aspects are still anticipated.)

This article was originally published in French on and translated for Delano.