Although a decision could have been expected in June, Orpea's request for approval to open an assisted care residence in Luxembourg-Merl is still being examined by the ministry of family affairs and integration. After a first official communication from  (DP) on the subject on --announcing that she had requested additional information--new questions were put to Orpea, as Cahen announced to the members of the family and integration committee on Friday.

"The minister was very transparent: she explained to us that she had received a lot of information from the French group, but that she had sent a new letter in order to have further clarification on certain points, in particular concerning the procedures that Orpea will put in place to prevent situations such as it has experienced in France from happening again,” MP (LSAP), vice-chair of the family and integration committee, explained.

Good treatment as a "top priority"

The ministry therefore asked in its new letter what Orpea intends to do or has done to --which led to the book Les Fossoyeurs by journalist Victor Castanet--but also with regards to the report by the IGF (General Inspectorate of Finance) and that of the IGAS (General Inspectorate of Social Affairs) of March 2022 in France, both of which damned the group.

"In Luxembourg, we have rules, laws, and Orpea must comply with them if it wants to open its residences in the country. And if the file corresponds to what the ministry is asking for, there is no real reason not to grant it approval,” Asselborn-Bintz said. "I don't think that if Orpea opens in the Grand Duchy, it will have a negative impact on our image, and we will be extremely vigilant about the conditions under which the elderly will be treated.”

Cahen had already expressed this sentiment in June, explaining that her priority "is that good treatment is guaranteed. We can never have 100% guarantees, we never know what is going on behind the closed door of a resident's room, but I want to have the maximum guarantees to make my decision."

This article was originally published on and has been translated and edited for Delano.