Five petitions were added to the Chamber of Deputies' platform on Friday. They will be open for signature until 24 December and if they reach 4,500 signatures or more will be debated by MPs and the government.

Housing remained a prominent topic on the agenda, with petitioner Peter Moss calling for the publication of the prices at which homes are sold as well as the transaction dates. Moss argues that the grand duchy's housing market has been assesssed as being less transparent that those in the UK, US or elsewhere in the EU by different international reports. The information could help combat speculation and price inflation, Moss says.

A second petition is demanding smoking bans at bus, train and tram stops as well as in pedestrian passages. For petitioner Ruslan Baidan smoking bans have to extend beyond restaurants, bars and other venues. "The situation has become more complicated and contradictory because of covid-19 restrictions and recommendations. People who smoke take off their masks and while waiting for a train, a bus or walking through underground passages, start smoking. All those around them have to struggle while breathing through the mask and simultaneously fight cigarette smoke," he says, arguing that the introduction of such a ban could potentially also reduce the spread of the coronavirus. 

A petition to ban smoking on restaurant terraces previously gained enough signatures for a public debate but the government decided against introducing stricter curbs.

The full list of new petitions–-which also include a return to the old Adapto system, an on-demand bus for people with reduced mobility, as well as a call for amendments of police recruitment procedures–-can be found on the Chambre of Deputies’ website. Any legal resident in Luxembourg aged 15 or over can sign a public petition.