The OGBL’s Nora Back, seen with Frédéric Krier of the union’s executive office, was perhaps the most pleased with the tripartite agreement which reinstated the automatic indexation of wages. SIP / Jean-Christophe Verhaegen

The OGBL’s Nora Back, seen with Frédéric Krier of the union’s executive office, was perhaps the most pleased with the tripartite agreement which reinstated the automatic indexation of wages.  SIP / Jean-Christophe Verhaegen

Politicians across the board, as well as trade unions and business groups, have broadly supported the tripartite deal signed on Wednesday. But there have been a few dissenting voices and some criticism of the final agreement.

The parliamentary debate following prime minister Xavier Bettel’s address to the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday afternoon, just over two hours after the official signing of the tripartite agreement, was measured rather than fiery. Despite the Solidaritéitspak 2.0 tripartite accord receiving an overwhelming backing of MPs in a vote--54 in favour and six abstentions (from the ADR and Déi Lénk deputies)--there was plenty of objection to the manner in which the agreement was presented as well as criticism of details in the final text.

Gilles Roth of the CSV, for instance, was annoyed that MPs had been given too little time to review the text before Bettel presented its details in parliament, an opinion shared by the Pirate Party’s Sven Clement. The government could have shown more respect for parliament, Roth said.

Demand for tax adjustment

And while the CSV, the main opposition party and the biggest faction in the Chamber of Deputies, supported the tripartite agreement, Roth could not help take a jab at the coalition’s fiscal policy which he said had not been adapted to rising inflation. People need to be getting more take home pay from their gross salary, Roth said.

And he was not alone. Speaking for the LSAP, which is part of the coalition, faction head Yves Cruchten said that tax adjustment was inevitable if the figures that DP finance minister Yuriko Backes had presented on Monday were correct.

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Fernand Kartheiser of the ADR questioned the effectiveness of the 1% cut in the VAT and that he had been expecting a rather more daring slashing of the value added tax rates by perhaps 50%. In a motion Kartheiser also said that in the current situation, additional burdens on households and businesses should be avoided and his party called for a freeze on any new taxes during this parliament. The motion was rejected by 35 votes with only the ADR’s four MPs in favour and 19 members abstaining.

Déi Lénk, on the other hand, wanted the government to introduce an emergency tax on high earners and significant profits in order to generate what MPs Myriam Cecchetti and Nathalie Oberweis called “substantial revenue” for the state. They even wanted the tax to be retroactively applied for 2022.

EU price cap

The Pirate Party’s Sven Clement and Marc Goergen meanwhile submitted a motion urging energy minister Claude Turmes (déi Gréng) to support the efforts of 13 EU member states calling for a price cap on gas across the bloc. “According to our information, Luxembourg has not signed the letter,” the Pirate Party MPs wrote. Turmes is due to attend a special summit of energy ministers in Brussels on Friday. While the motion gained the support of 22 deputies, 33 voted against it.

Having to pay additional indexation will weaken businesses
 Michel Reckinger

 Michel Reckinger,  president,  UEL

Meanwhile, even some signatories to the deal were not completely happy with the outcome. Employers association president Michel Reckinger, for example, said that while the agreement’s anti-inflationary measures mean there will only be two, rather than five, additional automatic indexation rises in salary in the coming twelve months, the second one will hurt. “Having to pay additional indexation will weaken businesses,” he said.

The UEL president is also cautiously optimistic that the package of additional financial aid that the agreement foresees will be approved by the European Commission. “I am confident that there will be no unpleasant surprises,” he said. “Every effort has been made to ensure that companies can benefit from aid accepted by Brussels.”

Back defends selectivity

In stark contrast to the last tripartite deal struck in March, which her trade union rejected, OGBL president Nora Back seemed to be among the most content with the agreement signed on Wednesday. Back’s principal sticking point in March had been the postponement of indexation, which is now off the agenda. What’s more, she was dismissive of suggestions that the new deal was not socially selective.

“People do not all have the choice to save the same amount,” she told RTL. Low income households who rely on collective heating systems, do not have any influence on the gas consumption, Back argued. “That is why it is difficult to punish people financially just to encourage them to save more gas.”