The week ahead: New heads of home affairs, Caritas committees to be chosen

Luxembourg MPs this week will choose the successors to Marc Lies and Stéphanie Weydert at the head of parliament’s home affairs and Caritas committees. Another highlight will be the presentation to MPs of the review of the public finance system carried out by the OECD at the request of the government.

This is a highly political week in the Chamber of Deputies, with two elections for the heads of key committees on Monday 3 February: the home affairs Committee and the special parliamentary committee on Caritas. The chairmanship of the latter is in turmoil. The last two incumbents resigned: on 13 November and . At the last meeting, opposition MPs spoke of creating .

The committee on home affairs is to replace (CSV), who has decided to step down for a period of “a few weeks” from his duties as mayor of Hesperange and member of parliament. He has also resigned as chairman of the committee. Traditionally, the chairmanship is held by a member of the same party as the incumbent minister, in this case, (CSV). (CSV) and Stéphanie Weydert (CSV) are the favourites to replace Lies.

MPs will also be presented with the OECD’s review of Luxembourg’s public finance system. The government had commissioned specialists to draw up proposals for reforming the budgetary procedure, with the involvement of the chamber. A budget that is readable and tangible for citizens, results-oriented and goal-oriented, respectful of well-being, the climate and gender equality; a budget that makes public finances resilient and enables the state to absorb a crisis such as the one linked to the pandemic. Here are just some of the issues that will be discussed.

As the government presents its 2024 review of asylum, immigration and reception on Monday, MPs on Tuesday will also be looking at the creation of new channels for legal migration and regularisation at the request of the LSAP.

Monday 3 February

European Council. For two days, EU leaders will debate European defence at an informal meeting to be held at the Egmont Palace in Brussels, Belgium. The discussion will focus on the development of defence capabilities and funding. Nato secretary general Mark Rutte has been invited to lunch and UK prime minister Keir Starmer to dinner.

European Council. Informal meeting of trade ministers in Warsaw, Poland on 3 and 4 February 2025. At the same time, also in Warsaw, there will be an informal meeting of competitiveness ministers (internal market and industry).

Government. Léon Gloden (CSV), minister for home affairs, and (DP), minister for family affairs, solidarity, living together and reception of refugees, present the results of the year 2024 in terms of asylum, immigration and reception.

Chamber of Deputies. The special Caritas committee and the home affairs committee meet to choose their chairs.

Chamber of Deputies. Presentation of the OECD review of Luxembourg’s public finance system to the finance and budget implementation committees.

Chamber of Deputies. Orientation debate on the European defence industrial strategy and the defence industry programme. Debate initiated by the subcommittee on European affairs of the committee on foreign and European affairs, cooperation, foreign trade and the Greater Region.

Chamber of Deputies. Meeting of the Luxembourg delegation to the Benelux Interparliamentary Assembly (BIA) on the organisation of the Luxembourg presidency. The Luxembourg delegation to the Interparliamentary Conference on Stability, Economic Governance and Governance within the European Union (SCEG) will focus on preparations for the interparliamentary conference on the SCEG on 17 and 18 February 2025 in Brussels.

Chamber of Deputies. The committee on family, solidarity, living together, reception of refugees, gender equality and diversity and the committee on home affairs will debate the care and accommodation of people who have applied for international protection throughout the process--a request from the LSAP political group on 22 January 2025--and the creation of new channels for legal migration and regularisation--a request from the LSAP political group on 23 January 2025.

Tuesday 4 February

Chamber of Deputies. The environment, climate and biodiversity committee and the finance committee will examine the motion by MP (LSAP) on financial aid to developing countries to finance their climate transition and will look into Luxembourg’s investments in international climate financing.

Chamber of Deputies. Exchange of views in plenary session with an Armenian parliamentary delegation led by the president of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, Alen Simonyan.

Wednesday 5 February

European Commission. Henna Virkunnen, executive vice-president of the European Commission responsible for technological sovereignty, security and democracy, will give a presentation on the challenges posed by e-commerce platforms.

Government. Presentation of the “Green Triangle” business park densification pilot project. The aim of this pilot project is to optimise the use of limited resources, meet the growing needs of businesses and promote sustainable economic development, by incorporating innovative approaches such as pooling infrastructures or renewable energy installations, encouraging a mix of economic activities and maximising the use of existing surface areas, whilst incorporating circularity principles. (DP), minister for the economy, SMEs, energy and tourism, will review the principles of densification that could be applied nationwide.

Government. Presentation of the report “Health System in Transition (HIT)--Luxembourg,” drawn up by the National Health Observatory under the supervision of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies. This report provides an in-depth analysis of the health system in Luxembourg, highlighting its organisation, health policies and recent and ongoing reforms.

Chamber of Deputies. Committee examines bill 8365 on the climate. The aim of this bill is to transpose the legislative changes that have taken place in terms of the European Union’s climate policy, in particular those relating to the emissions trading scheme. The session will be broadcast on the chamber’s website.

Chamber of Deputies. Meeting of the special Caritas committee. The programme includes an exchange of views with representatives of Hëllef um Terrain ASBL.

Chamber of Deputies. Presentation to the members of the home affairs committee of the preliminary draft law on the exchange of information between the law enforcement authorities of member states. Bill 8430 on the European Corps of Border Guards and Coast Guards, transposing a European regulation, will also be debated. A draft report, prior to the vote on the text in plenary session, is expected to be adopted. The LU-Alert national warning system and trade union demands in the face of social conflicts in certain municipalities are also on the agenda, at the request of LSAP and déi Gréng respectively.

Chamber of Deputies. The issues of opening hours in the trade and craft sector (bill 8472) and Sunday working hours (bill 8456) are also on the agenda at the request of the LSAP group. The members of the labour and economy committees will return to these texts, which the unions have turned into a .

European Court of Auditors. The court unveils its report on EU military mobility. In its current long-term budget, which runs from 2021 to 2027, the EU has, for the first time in its history, earmarked €1.7bn specifically for dual-use (military and civilian) transport infrastructure projects. The Military Mobility Action Plan published in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine has four main pillars which cover not only dual-use infrastructure projects, but also administrative and procedural aspects of military mobility, namely multimodal corridors and logistics hubs, regulatory support measures, resilience and preparedness, and partnerships.

Thursday 6 February

Chamber of Deputies. The mobility and public works committee examines bill 8251 on the creation of a Digital Mobility Observatory. A rapporteur will be appointed during the session.

Chamber of Deputies. Exchange of views within the justice committee with the new chief public prosecutor John Petry, who was sworn in on 29 January 2025 by justice minister (CSV).

Chamber of Deputies. Following the recent signing of a public service pay agreement, MPs are studying bill 8040 on the harmonisation of the lower career brackets of civil servants and public employees. It’s a text that has its origins in the salary agreement of 5 December 2016, signed between the government and the General Confederation of the Civil Service (CGFP).

Friday 7 February

Government. Inauguration of the new premises of the Luxembourg’s employment agency (Adem) and the Luxembourg Inland Revenue (Administration des contributions directes, ACD) in Differdange in the presence of labour minister (CSV), finance minister (CSV), Adem director , Luxembourg Inland Revenue director and Differdange mayor Guy Altmeisch.

Chamber of Deputies. Meeting of the standing committee of the Interregional Parliamentary Council (CPI). The agenda includes discussions on the reintroduction of border controls.

This article was originally published in .