Alexa Ballmann, president of the JHL young trades people’s federation, picture here at Maison Moderne in June 2019, is on the ad hoc advisory group that is assisting the government in its covid-19 decision making. (Patricia Pitsch/Maison Moderne)

Alexa Ballmann, president of the JHL young trades people’s federation, picture here at Maison Moderne in June 2019, is on the ad hoc advisory group that is assisting the government in its covid-19 decision making. (Patricia Pitsch/Maison Moderne)

As well as the research task force, some of whose membership had already been made public, the government has put together an inter-ministerial deconfinement working group which features senior civil servants from of the ministries of health and education and research as well as from the ministry of state--the latter including prime minister Xavier Bettel’s senior adviser Paul Konsbruck.

The government is also relying on an ad hoc group of external advisors to assist its covid-19 decision making. These include president of the employees’ chamber, and OGBL union leader, Nora Back, president of the JHL young trades people’s federation Alexa Ballmann, president of the Luxembourg chamber of commerce Luc Frieden, ethics expert Erny Gillen, Ombudsman Claudia Monti, psychologist and president of the human rights consultative committee Gilbert Pregno, children’s rights ombudsman René Schlechter, and professor of psychology at the University of Luxembourg, Claus Vögele.

Other external advisors have also been incorporated into the more specific cells that are handling crisis management, monitoring and logistics. The government has provided details of the organisational charts of each cell. In the monitoring cell these include experts Viola Fontanini and Pascal Langrenay and Elena Emrick-Schmitz from PwC and Pol Masanas Amer from Deloitte--the latter two consultants have been placed at the government’s disposal free of charge.

The logistics cell’s advisors include retired external consultant Marc Schlim, retired medical consultant Dr Michel Nathan, independent expert Feiza Benzaghou, Yoon-shin Delcourt from Delcourt, Kim and Associates and PwC tax and financial crime specialist Xiaoyan Huang (who is the firm’s director of China country programme).

The decision to make public the names for the specialist cells came after pressure from the media and opposition parties on the government. Just last Saturday Bettel had said that the names could not be revealed because it would breach data privacy rules.