Catch up on the goings-on in politics with Delano’s round-up of this week’s noteworthy headlines. 

What’s the big deal?

A much-anticipated study commissioned by the labour ministry into the feasibility of reducing working hours in Luxembourg at equal pay turned out to be something of a non-event. With the results of the study , the topic is likely to remain high on the list of campaign topics for the upcoming October general election.

Researchers as “scientific, objective and neutral” but both business and labour unions criticised the government over their into the survey.

The labour minister himself, (LSAP), said the study helped provide data for the ongoing debate. But the data is inconclusive. While reducing working hours can help with work-life balance, this doesn’t necessarily have to be the case. And while cutting hours could help create jobs, this heavily depends on sectors and the type of work.

While the DP and CSV have already spoken out against cutting working hours, advocating more flexibility instead, the LSAP is more firmly campaigning for the idea while déi Gréng are seeking some middle ground, such as launching pilot projects in some sectors.

Elections

·      One in ten candidates running in the local elections are foreigners, data published by the government this week showed, with 379 non-nationals compared to 3,468 Luxembourgers. Candidates with double nationality are counted on the Luxembourg side. Just over a third (38.55%) of candidates are women. And in six communes there won’t be elections as the minimum number of candidates wasn’t reached.

·      The CSV presented its framework programme for the local elections on Tuesday opting for four key topics: social cohesion, medical care, housing and security. These topics will be broken down into the campaign programmes across the country’s communes depending on the local specificities. On medical care, for example, the CSV has supported a local medical centres that can offer MRIs and other scans outside of hospital infrastructure.

From parliament

·      On the topic of decentralised healthcare, the state council issued a critical review of a draft law presented by health minister (LSAP). The law limits exercising some medical services to hospital infrastructure, but the state council says the law fails to properly explain why this is the case. Lenert said the bill--which would allow for the creation of satellite centres of the country’s hospitals--aimed for a pragmatic solution. Creating new rules for decentralised medical centres outside of the hospital system would take more time, she said.

·      Also still trailing in parliament is a draft law allowing police officers in Luxembourg to use bodycams. Because of privacy fears, amendments now foresee that the cameras attached to a police officer’s uniform can only be used in public but not private spaces. A police union, the SNPGL, said this wasn’t workable as it leaves officers liable for using the camera in the wrong space when decisions on whether to turn the device on must be made within seconds.

·      A whiff of elections campaigning wafted through parliament during a debate on Luxembourg’s stability and growth plan, which the country had to submit to Brussels. While the government parties--the DP, LSAP and déi Gréng--praised Luxembourg’s performance in the successive pandemic and energy crises, the CSV opposition slammed rising public debt, and also the smaller opposition groups--the ADR, Pirates and déi Lénk--criticised government policy as ineffective and too optimistic.

·      And if you find a copy of Luxembourg’s constitution in your mailbox on Friday, this is an initiative to mark the 175th anniversary of the document, which was recently updated in a series of reforms. The free booklet is published in Luxembourgish, French and German.

Number of the week

Luxembourg bundled up for Ukraine and exceeded an EU energy savings target of 15%, between 1 August 2022 and 31 March 2023 compared to the 2017 to 2022 average. The EU average for this period was 17.7%, with Luxembourg among the top ten savers.

International relations

·      Prime minister (DP) this week welcomed Mirjana Spoljaric Egger in Luxembourg, who became president of the International Committee of the Red Cross in October last year. During her visit, Egger also spoke during the first Luxembourg Autonomous Weapons Systems conference, discussing the political and humanitarian stakes of armed and lethal autonomous weapons systems.

·      Elsewhere in the realm of defence policy, Bettel also stopped by in Brussels for a visit with Nato secretary general Jens Stoltenberg.

·      Development cooperation and humanitarian affairs minister (LSAP) from 28 April to 6 May will be visiting Bangladesh and Nepal to visit projects carried out with the support of Luxembourg NGOs.

In other news

·      Two fraudsters found guilty of stealing more than €5m from the commune of Hesperange over a period of several years have appealed their sentence. The main suspect was sentenced to seven years in prison, half on probation. An accomplice received a five-year sentence, three of them suspended. Both were also ordered pay a combined €7.2m to the commune in addition to an €80,000 fine.

·      A Luxembourg power couple will be at the helm of the country’s aviation sector. of the board of Lux-Airport, which manages the airport in Findel. Her partner Gilles Feith on the other hand, is the CEO of national carrier Luxair. For transport minister (déi Gréng) this does not constitute a conflict of interest, he told RTL.