The New York Times’ complaint against Ursula von der Leyen in the case of the exchanges of text messages between the president of the European Commission and the head of the pharmaceutical firm Pfizer, Albert Bourla, during the covid pandemic concerning the negotiation of a contract for 1.8bn doses of vaccines, is to be heard. In 2021, the newspaper revealed the existence of these exchanges. Unable to obtain the content, the American newspaper referred the matter to the EU courts in February 2023. The New York Times relies on a 2001 European regulation on public access to documents of the EU’s three main institutions (the European Commission, Council and Parliament). The two parties will have the opportunity to present their arguments at a public hearing on 15 November. A decision is not expected for several months.

The New York Times is not the only one to pursue von der Leyen on this issue. On 22 October 2021, MEP  and four other Green MEPs--Margrete Auken, Jutta Paulus, Michèle Rivasi and Kimberly van Sparrentak--filed  (Auken and others v Commission, Case T-689/21). The commission refused to disclose a large number of documents relating to contracts signed with the pharmaceutical industry at the height of the pandemic in order to launch large-scale production of vaccines. In a ruling handed down on 24 July 2024, the European Court of First Instance censured this refusal.

In Luxembourg, the budget continues to move forward. This week, it will be presented successively to the committee on institutions and the committee on family affairs, solidarity, living together, reception of refugees, gender equality and diversity on Monday 11 November; to the committee on housing and regional planning on Tuesday 12 November; to the committees on home affairs and finance on Wednesday 13 November; and to the committee on the economy, SMEs, energy, space and tourism on Thursday 14 November. The expenses of the Maison du Grand-Duc (grand ducal court) will be examined by MPs, who will receive a copy of the Court of Audit’s report.

Participants in the “Jugendkonvent” (Youth Convention) will go to the Chamber of Deputies on 15 November to discuss topical issues in four workshops: my Europe of tomorrow, pension reform, artificial intelligence, and social media and influencers. The young people will then meet the political representatives in the plenary room to present the conclusions and proposals from the thematic workshops.

The states party to the Paris Agreement will be meeting from 11 to 22 November 2024 in Baku, Azerbaijan for the 29th United Nations Climate Change Conference (Cop29). The meeting will focus on the adoption of a new common financing target for investments to protect the global climate.

Monday 11 November

Cop29. Cop29 opens in Baku, Azerbaijan. The summit of world leaders on climate action will be held on 12 and 13 November.

Government. Culture minister  (DP) and the minister for education, children and youth  (DP) present the new standardised test for the award of the Luxembourg orthography certificate, the ZLO or Zertifikat Lëtzebuerger Orthographie. This certificate, the result of collaboration between the Zenter fir d’Lëtzebuerger Sprooch (ZLS), the Luxembourg Centre for Educational Testing (Lucet) and the Institut national des langues Luxembourg (INLL), will authenticate people’s spelling skills.

Government. End of the financial mission led by finance minister  (CSV) to Asia, which took him to Singapore and then Japan.

Defence. The army celebrates its patron saint’s day, Saint-Martin, at the Diekirch military centre. During the ceremony, General will present the “Sword of Honour of the Chief of Staff of the Army” to Luxembourg soldiers as a reward for their excellent performance during their respective initial training cycles.

Chamber of Deputies. The members of the committee on foreign and European affairs, cooperation, foreign trade and the Greater Region and the committee on home affairs hold two exchanges of views with foreign affairs  (DP) and home affairs minister  (CSV) on border controls carried out by the fines authorities and on the Luxembourg government’s current position on the outsourcing of asylum procedures outside the European Union and the implications of the models under discussion at European level. Requests made respectively by déi Gréng and LSAP.

Chamber of Deputies. In the institutions committee, prime minister  (CSV) will discuss the operation of the grand ducal court with MPs. The special report of the Court of Audit on the control of the legality and regularity of the expenditure of the Maison du Grand-Duc for the financial years 2021 and 2022 will be presented to the deputies of the committee on budget execution. A rapporteur will be appointed. The Court of Audit will also present its 2024 report on public establishments.

Tuesday 12 November

Chamber of Deputies. The finance committee is due to adopt the report on the adoption of two double taxation agreements with Montenegro and Albania.

Wednesday 13 November

Wednesday 13th November

Government. The minister for family affairs, solidarity, living together and reception of refugees  (DP) and the partner organisations of Action Hiver (Wanteraktioun), namely Dräieck ASBL, which brings together the three Inter-Actions partners, HUT ASBL and the Luxembourg Red Cross, unveil the programme and details of the 2024/2025 edition.

Chamber of Deputies. A full agenda for public session number 43: after an hour of questions to the government, bills 8420 on non-profit associations and foundations and 8407 establishing a committee for the prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorism will be put to the vote. A motion tabled by déi Gréng on a global minimum wealth tax on billionaires will be debated, as will an ADR motion on measures to be taken on asylum and migration.

Chamber of Deputies. Public petition 3245 calling for recognition of the effects of will be debated by MPs at 8.30am. Endometriosis currently affects one in ten women. To date, there is no treatment or surgery that can cure endometriosis. At 10am, petition 3150 will be discussed. The aim is to offer all pensioners a thirteenth annual pension paid in December, “following the example of the Swiss, who last month accepted a popular initiative to this effect.” These sessions will be broadcast live on the chamber’s website.

Thursday 14 November

Thursday 14th November

Chamber of Deputies. Second public session of the week. On the agenda are debates on the Schengen area, recognition of the state of Palestine and Venezuela. Bill 8242 updating the system of airport charges and bill 8339 authorising the government to finance the acquisition and logistical support of rolling stock for the needs of the Luxembourg Army will be put to the vote. The figure in question: €2.616bn.

Friday 15 November

Court of Justice of the European Union. Pleadings in case T36/23 between the New York Times and Ursula von der Leyen in the matter of the text messages exchanged between the president of the European Commission and the CEO of Pfizer.

European Council. The economic and financial affairs council meets in Brussels to discuss the EU’s 2025 budget. The council will meet to prepare the second meeting of the conciliation committee on the budget, with the aim of reaching an agreement with the European Parliament.

Chamber of Deputies. Youth Convention.

Chamber of Deputies. The members of the finance committee will continue their work on effective minimum taxation for multinational groups of companies and large national groups (project 8396), on tax relief for natural and legal persons (project 8414), on the regulation of cryptoassets, European long-term investment funds and European green bonds (project 8387), the processing of health data by insurance companies (project 7511) and the dematerialisation of securities (project 8425).

This article was originally published in .