“Whatever the statements made on 1 May, in the media or elsewhere, this government remains resolutely committed to social dialogue and social partnership, and fully respects the role of the trade unions,” said prime minister , hammering home his message on 13 May during . But what did the main stakeholders think of this address?
“Contrary to the prime minister’s statement, it has to be said that social dialogue is currently at a standstill,” responded the OGBL and the LCGB in a joint press release. “Despite the sustained efforts of the trade union front in recent months to try to relaunch social dialogue with the government and employers, the prime minister persists in simply ignoring the positions of the elected representatives of employees and pensioners.”
On the announcements made on Tuesday, the trade union front denounces--as it did a few months ago--the “liberalisation of Sunday working and opening hours in the retail sector, amounting to wiping out any possibility for the employees concerned to reconcile their professional and private lives.” With regard to the future pension reform, they respond that “the government is therefore planning to deteriorate our public and solidarity-based pension system, instead of strengthening it. In concrete terms, this means that all current and future employees will have to work longer. This will affect young people in particular and calls into question intergenerational solidarity. On the other hand, an increase in the minimum pension, which is currently grossly inadequate, is ruled out and the deteriorations introduced by the 2012 reform are maintained.”
Pension funding in question
For the president of the UEL, , “the speech is always very long and allows the prime minister to take a look at the past, present and future. I regret that he didn’t talk more about the future and that he talked a lot about what the government had already done.” For Frieden, the economy is doing well. “Let’s just say that we have a slightly less positive view than he does,” adds Reckinger. “We have just lived through three years of recession, the country’s economic engine is not working as well as presented, the country’s productivity and competitiveness are at half-mast for us.”
The man who has also been vice president of the Federation of Craftspeople (FDA) since 2021 would in particular have “more details concerning labour law, or the complex housing dossier. Luc Frieden explained that, in his view, the construction sector was no longer in crisis, but thousands of jobs had been lost and we were a long way from our targets for new housing. What about affordable housing and rental accommodation?”
On the subject of pension reform, Reckinger says he has “a real problem with its financing. Several points were put on the table during the discussions and only one was retained. The reform will not apply to people who are already retired or close to retirement, so it targets young people, which I regret. I would have liked a reform that was put on everyone’s shoulders.”
On the subject of funding, the prime minister explained on 13 May that “it would be conceivable to allocate half of the revenue from the CO2 tax for social measures.”
“But what does that mean?” the UEL president asks. “So that, in 15 years’ time, we are faced with an even higher wall than we are today? We’re shifting the problem instead of finding a real long-term solution.”
A convincing defence case for Carlo Thelen
The director general of the Chamber of Commerce, , says he watched the speech alongside the chamber’s president, Fernand Ernster. “Compared with my expectations, I’d say I’m relatively satisfied, because the course set by the prime minister is clear. He spoke a lot about security and stability, which are important words right now to reassure the population, citizens and entrepreneurs.” The director of the Chamber of Commerce particularly welcomes the section on AI or the one devoted to defence announced by Frieden. “We presented our report, , to the government a few weeks ago and the prime minister was largely inspired by it.”
On the 2% target brought forward from 2030 to the end of this year 2025, Thelen says that “it’s a complex subject. We didn’t have a tradition of investing in armaments, defence and munitions, but the global geopolitical and economic context is forcing us to do so. Even if there are many dual-use applications that can be used, it remains a very significant investment, with strict rules. We’ve gone from spending €200m a year, to almost €700-800m now, to around €1.2bn. This is no mean feat for a country of our size.”
On the announced pension reform, Thelen says: “The government is taking its responsibilities, because the employers and the unions won’t settle, they don’t have the same positions on this. In our view, the measures announced are a step in the right direction. They won’t be enough in the long term, we’ll need more incisive ones, but these are already measures that can be conclusive.”
The CGFP recognises the positive points
“The main victims [of the pension reform; editor’s note] will be the younger generations,” said the civil servants’ union, the Confédération générale de la Fonction Publique (CGFP), in a press statement. “They should already be expecting to stay in the workforce for a few more years. After months of delaying tactics, the government is now showing its true colours. The CGFP’s fears have been confirmed: the pseudo-debate of several weeks has only served as an alibi. The reform plans have been in the drawer for a long time. What’s more, during the State of the Nation address, the importance of social dialogue was repeatedly stressed. The government does not govern alone, but rather seeks a regular exchange, it was said. The reality is unfortunately different.”
“There has never been any question of a gradual increase in contribution years in any of these discussions,” the CGFP continues. “The main issues are relegated to the background. Unfortunately, the long-awaited tax reform was only mentioned in passing during the State of the Nation. The CGFP is disappointed by the statements made concerning the widespread problem of housing.” Even so, the union acknowledges a few positive announcements, such as the strengthening of the justice system and the police, or the assumption of part of the network costs in the energy sector, though without understanding why “the government is letting the electricity price cap currently in force expire.”
In a statement, the Ecological Movement (Mouvement Écologique) “strongly” criticises several specific points, such as the use of CO2 tax revenues to co-finance the pension system. “These funds should be used to offset price increases for low-income households and to promote the energy transition, which is essential for the acceptance of this tax,” says the organisation in a statement. “The unilateral approval of the Mercosur agreement, in contradiction with the previous positions of certain ministers and farmers, is considered very irritating. Furthermore, presenting the simplification of nature protection procedures to speed up construction as a success and talking about a ‘balance’ between housing and nature is described as an ‘affront,’ as it risks leading to a massive loss of biodiversity.”
This article in French.