For the last week of public sessions in the Chamber of Deputies, most of the work will focus on voting on the budget. Debates and votes are scheduled from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday morning, MPs will debate Sunday working and energy subsidies, and in the afternoon they will vote on the first part of the pension reform, i.e. the measures introducing a working life maintenance allowance (AMVP) and raising the annual tax deduction limit for payments into an old age provision contract as a special expense. Parliament is due to resume on 5 January 2026.

The last plenary session of the parliamentary year will be held at the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The programme includes the award of the Sakharov Prize to journalists Andrzej Poczobut from Belarus and Mzia Amaglobeli from Georgia. The plenary will also discuss the December European Council summit and the European affordable housing plan, and will debate and vote on the simplification of EU agricultural laws, as well as the European citizens’ initiative “My voice, my choice: for safe and accessible abortion”. MEPs will hold final votes on the phasing out of Russian natural gas imports, on sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements, and on the deforestation regulation. They will also vote on the bilateral safeguard clause in the EU-Mercosur partnership agreement and on the own-initiative reports on military mobility and preparing European defence for 2030.

Will there be a Christmas rate cut? The last meeting of the European Central Bank (ECB) Monetary Committee will be held on 18 December. Since the start of its rate-cutting cycle in June 2024, the Frankfurt-based institution has cut its key rates eight times, reducing its main deposit rate from 4% to 2% in total. At its last meeting on October 30, the ECB left rates unchanged at 2% for the deposit facility rate, 2.15% for the main refinancing rate and 2.40% for the marginal lending facility. The markets are counting on a new status quo.

The final straight for the Danish Presidency of the European Union. Copenhagen will hand over to Cyprus on 31 December. The detailed programme of Nicosia’s presidency is not yet known and should be unveiled later this week. Cyprus, which is not a member of NATO, is expected to focus its term of office on reorienting the EU’s priorities towards the Mediterranean.

The European Commission is expected to present updates on four legislative packages on 16 December: the health package, the housing package, the automotive package and the Clean Industry package.

Monday 15 December

Government. The Ministry of Gender Equality and Diversity (MEGA) is celebrating its 30th^eventh anniversary.

Chamber of Deputies. Meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee. On the agenda is an exchange of views with Prime Minister Luc Frieden ahead of the European Council on 18 and 19 December 2025 and continued consideration of Bills 8454 (establishment of a temporary European Union travel document).

European Court of Auditors. The ECA is publishing a special report on the EU’s anti-fraud architecture. The report will examine the EU bodies responsible for fighting fraud: the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the EU Agency for Cooperation in Criminal Justice (Eurojust) and the EU Agency for Law Enforcement Cooperation (Europol). The EU’s anti-fraud architecture provides for two modes of investigation into potential fraud: administrative investigations by OLAF and criminal investigations by EPPO. These bodies can be supported by Eurojust for judicial cooperation and by Europol for police cooperation. The report comes in the context of the European Commission’s review of the EU’s anti-fraud architecture, which was launched this summer.

Tuesday 16 December

House of Representatives. The Economics Committee puts the finishing touches to Bill 8472 regulating opening hours in the trade and craft sector. The Bureau and the Foreign Affairs Committee will hold an exchange of views with Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.

Chamber of Deputies. Following the appointment of Marc Spautz (CSV) as Minister for Labour, MEPs will validate the new composition of the Bureau as well as that of the Conference of Presidents. The composition of parliamentary committees will also be reviewed. The budget rapporteur, Maurice Bauer, will present his report on the budget.

Government. Martine Hansen, Minister for Agriculture, Food and Viticulture, Minister for Consumer Protection and Minister for Sport, Yuriko Backes, Minister for Defence, Minister for Mobility and Public Works, and Minister for Gender Equality and Diversity, and Éric Thill, Minister for Culture and Minister Delegate for Tourism, will attend the commemorative ceremony for the Battle of the Bulge at Schumanns Eck.

Council of the European Union. The Minister for the Environment, Climate and Biodiversity, Serge Wilmes, is attending the Environment Council meeting in Brussels. On the agenda: Europe’s environment to 2030 and the EU’s strategy for the bioeconomy. Ministers will also receive information from the Commission on the EU’s Climate Neutral and Smart Cities and Adaptation to Climate Change missions under the Horizon Europe research and innovation framework programme.

Council of the European Union. </General Affairs Council meeting in Brussels. On the agenda are preparations for the December European Council, a policy debate on the EU’s 2028-2034 multiannual financial framework (MFF), enlargement and progress on simplification.

Wednesday 17 December

Chamber of Deputies. After a presentation by Finance Minister Gilles Roth, MPs will debate the Budget Bill (Sessional Paper 8600) and the Multiannual Financial Programming Bill for the period 2025-2029 (Sessional Paper 8601) in Public Session 117. These debates will continue in the afternoon in public session 118. The vote is scheduled to take place at the end of these debates. In addition to voting on the settlement of the general account for 2024 (parliamentary file 8556), Members will also be asked to approve the Chamber of Deputies’ internal accounts for 2024. M.P.s will vote on the annual allocations to the CSSF (parliamentary dossier 8615) and the Insurance Commission (parliamentary dossier 8616). They will also vote on the start-up tax credit (bill 8526), on the transfer of data from the Direct Tax Administration to the Land Registry and Topography Administration (bill 8546) and on the terms and conditions for the exchange of tax information in the context of minimum effective taxation for multinational groups of companies and large-scale national groups (bill 8591), the issue of the Defence bond (Bill 8633) and on gender balance among directors of listed companies (Bill 8519).

Chamber of Deputies. The scientific unit of the Chamber of Deputies is presenting its study on Luxembourg’s tax competitiveness and, more specifically, on the difference between the applicable statutory rate and the actual effective rate of taxation for multinational companies based in Luxembourg. The authors of the study will present the results of their research from economic, historical and legal perspectives. Finally, they will pay tribute to Fernand Etgen (DP) who is retiring from political life.

Council of the European Union. Meeting in Brussels of an EU-Balkans summit.

Thursday 18 December

Chamber of Deputies. For the last meeting of the year, the deputies will validate three politically sensitive subjects: bill 8456 on Sunday working, the new rules on opening hours in the trade and craft sector (bill 8472) and the first part of the pension reform (bill 8640). They were also due to validate the new rules on the pre-financing of photovoltaic installations (Bill 8463), the State’s contribution to electricity network costs (File 8596), the transposition of the Data Governance Regulation (Bill 8395A).

Council of the European Union. European Council held in Brussels over two days. On the agenda Ukraine and the security of the continent and the European Union’s multiannual financial framework for the period 2028-2034.

Government. Defence Minister Yuriko Backes takes part in the traditional Christmas Eve celebration at the Grand Duke Jean barracks in Diekirch, in the presence of General Steve Thull, Chief of Staff of the Luxembourg Army, all members of the Army, sportsmen and sportswomen who are members of the Army’s elite sports section (SSEA) and the charities that receive donations from the military institution.