For , chairman of the board of directors of the Idea Foundation--and current chairman of the board of directors of the Chamber of Commerce when the latter decided to extend the “2023.lu--Ambitions for the future” participative foresight initiative by creating the think tank in 2014 to continue the debate--Idea has always been conceived as an autonomous, open and transparent entity.

“Today, it must go even further in its empowerment in order to accompany a world in the throes of change. That’s why the foundation will have to broaden its areas of competence from the mainly economic and financial to the social field. Because the sociology of Luxembourg has changed, we must also try to think in terms of social cohesion. Issues such as education, health, living together and the cultural dimension are becoming essential. Ultimately, the team will have to broaden its remit.”

It’s an objective that requires transformation.

The stages of autonomy

Functionally speaking, Idea’s autonomy has been built up in stages. From this point of view, 2019 was a pivotal year. It was the year in which the not-for-profit organisation became totally autonomous from the Chamber of Commerce from an operational point of view. 2019 was also the year in which Idea reformulated its strategy and laid the foundations for its current governance and operations. Governance is based on three pillars: the board of directors, a 15-strong scientific council chaired by  and the non-profit association. In the words of director Vincent Hein, the way the not-for-profit association operates reflects “a high degree of autonomy.” “We define themes in work programmes over several years. These themes revolve around four major challenges for Luxembourg: a competitive economy, sustainable growth, guaranteed social cohesion and sound public finances. All our ideas are aimed at improving prosperity, competitiveness, attractiveness and social cohesion in Luxembourg.”

As for the way Idea works, the internal review process is “systematic,” explains Hein, citing a “scientific heritage.” The scientific council is there to help define and refine the work programme and to validate the scientific quality of the work. “It is also an interesting network for us, enabling us to seek out experts.”

Five years on, Idea is revisiting this strategy. “We’re thinking about our positioning, changes to the way we operate, our role with regard to megatrends and the diversification of our contributors. Nothing is set in stone other than the need to clarify our legal structures in order to facilitate these changes.”

The foundation’s reasons

This clarification will be the major announcement of this tenth anniversary: “To go further, we have proposed to the Chamber of Commerce to transform Idea ASBL into a public utility foundation. It has given its approval, and we will be transforming our articles of association in the coming weeks. It’s an extremely powerful signal, and will strengthen us as a think tank,” says Wurth. It’s “a transformation that will enable Idea to project itself into the next 10 years.”

“Ten years ago, the choice of a non-profit legal structure was the choice of simplicity. Today, the scope we have taken on and the new regulations requiring changes to the articles of association--particularly with regard to the certification of accounts--mean that we need to move closer to the legal constraints of a foundation. On the other hand, the new legislation also provides for a simplified transition from an ASBL to a foundation,” explains Hein. Legislation that prohibits non-profit organisations from using the word foundation. This prohibition has “precipitated reflection on the usefulness of converting to a foundation. There were other reasons for taking the plunge: the fact that an ASBL has more constraints than a foundation, the simplification of the procedure for changing from ASBL to foundation status, and the fact that there is no need to dissolve the current structure,” sums up Hein.

Diversification of income

The move to charitable foundation status will have a major impact on Idea’s sources of funding. At present, Idea is “very largely funded by the Chamber of Commerce,” explains Wurth. “We have a budget of around €800,000 and a few additional resources such as the subscriptions paid by members of the non-profit association. And even though the Chamber of Commerce is very generous with us, its financial contribution cannot increase forever. We had to think about additional sources of funding.”

These sources will be twofold: donations--tax-deductible contributions for the donor--and carrying out studies on behalf of third parties.

“For the future, we are open to the idea that someone such as a ministry or an institution wishing to have a study carried out can approach us--within the framework of our operating rules and our transparency. We would never sell our soul for a commission. We want to remain what we are, free to discuss subjects as we see fit, with procedures for re-reading and validation of our work by our scientific advisory board and by the team. If we lose these principles, we lose all our added value. On certain subjects, we have gained a certain expertise over the years and I believe that this expertise, if it is to be as useful as possible in meeting the challenges of the economy, must be exercised as close as possible to the decision-making process. I think there is room in this country for think tanks like ours to be called on to address issues in which expertise has been developed,” adds Hein.

This article was originally published in .