Members of parliament in 2019 debated a petition demanding that restaurants in Luxembourg should have to offer tap water to guests. The government said that it didn’t want to legislate on the issue but rather encourage restaurants through an awareness campaign.

With the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, this campaign was delayed but is set to launch in spring 2023, the minister for small and medium-sized enterprises, Lex Delles (DP), said in answer to a parliamentary question on 16 June.

The government will provide jugs to restaurants wishing to take part to save them the cost of investing into more material. The production of the dedicated bottles added to the delay, Delles said. Under the campaign, tap water will also be added as an item on restaurant menus. 

“The aim was never to make the water pitcher free in restaurants and cafés, but to leave the choice to customers and restaurateurs,” the minister said, adding that the “price at which restaurateurs can offer the carafes of water can be fixed freely by the businesses taking part in the project.”

The minister also couldn’t say how many restaurants would be taking part in the campaign.