6 May marks the start of the consultation process leading up to the tripartite energy meeting scheduled for early June. The Prime Minister, Luc Frieden (CSV) will meet in turn with the OGBL-LCGB trade union federation, employers’ organisations and the General Confederation of the Civil Service (CGFP), he announced, inviting the media to follow these meetings, even from a distance, as if to ensure that he was genuinely engaged in dialogue with the social partners. A step that should enable the government to “listen to the social partners’ views on the current crisis and its impacts”. The energy crisis. A strict focus. No question of addressing controversial social issues. Numerous issues raised by the OGBL and LCGB trade unions on the occasion of the 1st May.

Trade unions are up in arms and demanding action. It was a great opportunity for the OGBL president, Nora Back, and for the national president of the LCGB, Patrick Dury, to rally their ranks—namely the “125,000 members” claimed by the Union Syndicale. For these trade unions, whilst there may be an energy crisis, there is above all a social crisis and a crisis of purchasing power.

What if, to mark the 1st May, little was said about this energy crisis and its potential consequences, yet the bar for social demands was set very high. A jumble: a €300 increase in the minimum wage, a reduction in working hours, a sixth week of paid holiday, co-determination in the workplace and a cap on rents.

Energy retention

A very high bar has been set, but one which, curiously, sidesteps the central issue of the upcoming meetings. This caution is shared by the employers’ side. Does this mean that these issues will be set aside so that a united front can be formed on the energy question? This is Luc Frieden’s strategy; he has carefully avoided the soundbites for which he was criticised last spring, at the time of the major demonstration on 28 June or before the launch of the round of negotiations that followed in July.

However, the Prime Minister will not have been “out for a stroll in the woods”. A strategy reaffirmed before MPs during a session of questions to the government. During this session, he indicated that this clearly defined agenda would make it easier to reach concrete solutions than a general tripartite meeting, thereby deferring issues related to broader concerns to the State of the Nation address. That speech is scheduled for 19 May. Clearly, the Prime Minister is breaking the agenda down into smaller parts, hoping thereby to tackle the problems one by one, avoiding a bidding war and discord, and remaining in control of the timetable.

Healthcare crisis

A sequence of events that could be derailed as early as 6 May. A coincidence of the calendar? A coincidence that raises questions… On the very same day, the four-party committee meeting on health and maternity insurance is due to take place in Dudelange.

At the previous meeting on 14 November, the minister of Health, Martine Deprez (CSV) had announced the government’s intention to make savings of €140m in order to reduce the deficit of the National Health Fund (CNS). Against a backdrop where the CNS and the Association of Doctors and Dentists (AMMD) cannot agree on the pricing framework. The issue underpinning reimbursement, the future of the healthcare sector, is the main bone of contention highlighted by the unions. They fear the creation of a two-tier healthcare system based on the German model. So much so that they have made it the trigger for a general strike.

If no agreement is reached between healthcare professionals and the government, the law refers to a Grand-Ducal regulation to set the reimbursement rates for medical procedures and medicines. Does this mean the government will back down on this issue? It remains to be seen. But if a clash were to arise on this point, it would seriously jeopardise the chances of reaching an agreement at the formal tripartite meeting to ratify the decisions. A full tripartite meeting is due to take place on 2 or 3 June.