Days before parliament’s summer recess, Friday’s cabinet press conference became Prime Minister Luc Frieden’s review of the political year, ranging from competitiveness and housing to defence finance and Ukraine.

Congratulations for graduating pupils and thanks for their teachers set the tone. Frieden recalled presenting diplomas at the Lycée Technique du Centre a day earlier, where he had seen proud parents and students celebrating the result of years of work.

A good education system was needed to prepare people for the challenges they would face and to give them a route into employment, he said. Frieden described that link between education and work as part of the basis for social cohesion.

From there, he turned to Luxembourg’s economic performance. The country had climbed from 23rd to 14th place in the IMD competitiveness ranking since the government took office, including a six-place gain over the past year.

“Rankings can always be debated,” Frieden said. But the result mattered, he argued, because young people leaving school needed companies that could offer them work.

“We want young people leaving school to find a job, and for that we need businesses that function well and an attractive economy,” he said.

Legislation before the break

Among the measures singled out was legislation giving journalists a statutory right of access to information, which Frieden said the profession had sought for years.

The measure had been launched by Frieden in his previous role as media minister together with Justice Minister Elisabeth Margue. Its adoption would strengthen professional journalism, he said, at a time when unchecked information was circulating widely online and through social media.

“We need a pluralistic, independent press,” Frieden said. “At a time when a great deal of unchecked information circulates online and on social media, the professional press verifies information.”

The law also clarified financial support for the media, he said, while putting journalists’ access to information on a statutory footing. Frieden presented both elements as serving transparency and democracy.

Broad parliamentary approval of the first legislation implementing the latest tripartite agreement also featured in his review. Energy-related and tax measures had been adopted in time for people to feel their effect, he said, while further elements would return after the summer.

Cabinet had also approved around €4 million in support for farmers facing additional costs, including about €1.5 million from the EU budget. Frieden linked the measure to the effects of the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and the pressure already created by extreme heat.

Farmers’ representatives had been invited to the Tripartite talks for the first time in years, he said, because they were particularly exposed to the consequences of the conflict involving Iran.

Housing and faster decisions

Housing dominated the domestic part of the briefing. Frieden presented a further package intended to speed up construction before handing over to Interior Minister Léon Gloden for a detailed account of the proposed reforms.

“We want to build more and build faster,” Frieden said. He described the package as a major simplification of existing procedures and noted that the measures still had to pass through the legislative process.

The government had completed its preparatory work, he said, presenting the latest measures as part of the 10-point housing plan announced the previous year.

Renewable-energy projects were another area in which the government wanted shorter and simpler procedures. Frieden linked the push for more domestic renewable energy to the disruption caused by the wars in Ukraine and Iran and to the need to reduce dependence on imported energy.

The same emphasis on speed also extended to justice. Frieden pointed to a fast-track criminal procedure approved the previous week for cases in which the facts had been established.

Those cases should be capable of reaching a court decision within a month, he said, while preserving the right to a lawyer and a fair trial. The proposal followed earlier increases in police and judicial staffing and the introduction of local policing.

One further business announcement was the confirmation that Benoît Elvinger will become chief executive of Spuerkeess from 1 October, succeeding Françoise Thoma. Doris Engel will become deputy chief executive on the same date.

Former environment minister Joëlle Welfring will meanwhile return to the civil service before being seconded to the European Investment Bank. Frieden said the move would strengthen Luxembourg’s role at the institution and argued that former ministers who had come from the civil service should be able to return after leaving government.

AI, NATO and finance

International affairs occupied the final part of the briefing. After attending a UN summit on artificial intelligence in Geneva, Frieden said Luxembourg wanted a role in defining the international rules governing the technology.

Luxembourg had already presented strategies for data, AI and quantum technology, he said, but also needed to help shape the framework within which AI developed.

“We are in favour of AI, but only AI that serves people and in which people ultimately continue to decide,” Frieden said.

At the NATO summit in Ankara, the prime minister said he had found support on both sides of the Atlantic for preserving the alliance, while acknowledging that European countries would have to carry more of the burden.

Luxembourg would continue increasing defence spending gradually, he said. Frieden also called for member countries to have greater scope to specialise, pointing to Luxembourg’s capabilities in satellites and finance.

The financial role was reflected in his renewed support for the planned Defence, Security and Resilience Bank. Nine countries had so far indicated that they were prepared to participate, he said.

The bank would be headquartered in Canada, with its European hub intended for Luxembourg. “We are a financial capital of Europe. We are number one in the funds industry. We want to remain so,” Frieden said.

On Monday, the prime minister is due in Paris for a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing supporting Ukraine. He said the conflict concerned more than territory in the east of the country, describing it as a question of whether Russia could permanently take part of another country by force.

Frieden will remain for France’s 14 July celebrations on Tuesday, when a Luxembourg army detachment carrying the national flag is expected to take part in the parade.

He said he would watch with pride as the Luxembourg flag was carried along the Champs-Élysées, presenting the appearance as a symbol of European countries being stronger together than apart.