It’s a busy political week ahead of the Carnival holidays, which start for schoolchildren on Friday evening. On Wednesday 12 February at 9am, in the Chamber of Deputies, the minister for cooperation and humanitarian action, (DP), will deliver his speech on development cooperation policy, and it’s a safe bet that the subject of Caritas will come up. Another highlight of the week will be the visit of prime minister (CSV) and the minister delegate to the prime minister, responsible for media and communications, (CSV), to Paris from 10 to 11 February, where they will take part in the summit for action on artificial intelligence.
This is also a plenary session week for the European Parliament. It’s a week during which many political issues will be discussed. On Wednesday, Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, will present the commission’s work programme for 2025 and the main strategic actions and legislative initiatives planned for this year.
Monday 10 February
European Council. Informal meeting of development ministers in Warsaw on 10 and 11 February.
OECD. From 10 to 14 February, the OECD Forum on Due Diligence in the Clothing and Footwear Sector brings together representatives from government, business, trade unions, civil society and international organisations to discuss the challenges and risks as well as the learnings and solutions related to the implementation of due diligence in global clothing and footwear supply chains.
Government. The ministry for gender equality and diversity and the ministry for research and higher education invite the press to attend the signing of the agreement for the 4th edition of the “Women & Girls in Science” campaign, a project supported by both ministries and carried out by National Research Fund, the University of Luxembourg and Research Luxembourg.
Council of Europe. Committee of Experts of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML): report on Cyprus.
Council of Europe. The Committee of Experts on the Evaluation of Anti-Money Laundering Measures and the Financing of Terrorism (Moneyval) will publish its fifth round mutual evaluation report on Guernsey.
European Parliament. On Monday afternoon, MEPs and the European Commission will debate the escalation of organised crime in Sweden, which is currently “experiencing a wave of gang violence, often involving teenagers recruited by criminal networks to commit violent acts, including vandalism, bombings and contract killings. In January 2025 alone, around 30 gang-related explosions were reported in the country, often in residential areas and mainly concentrated in the capital, Stockholm.”
European Parliament. European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde will brief MEPs on the state of European and global economic affairs and the activities of the ECB.
Government. Prime minister Luc Frieden and the minister delegate to the prime minister, responsible for media and communications, Elisabeth Margue, will take part in the summit for action on artificial intelligence, which will be held from 10 to 11 February in Paris.
Tuesday 11 February
Chamber of Deputies. On the agenda for the public sitting scheduled for 2pm, among other things, is an extended question from Ben Polidori (LSAP) on the compliance of the MyGuichet.lu platform with the requirements of Directive (EU) 2019/882 of 17 April 2019. Several agreements and approvals between Luxembourg, the European Union and the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China, the Republic of Indonesia, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Republic of Armenia and the member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations will be discussed. A topical hour on the mental health of minors has also been requested by the LSAP political group.
Government. (DP), minister for the economy, SMEs, energy and tourism, (DP), minister for education, children and youth, (CSV), minister for sport, and , CEO of the Luxembourg Space Agency, present a new edition of the national “Astronaut for a day” competition.
European Parliament. On Tuesday and Wednesday, MEPs will debate the impact of Russia’s three-year war against Ukraine and the repression following the assassination of Alexei Navalny. On Tuesday, they will also debate a number of major political issues, such as the Trump administration’s tariff threats, the EU’s future strategy for the Middle East, and the EU’s workforce needs and how to guarantee quality jobs in the healthcare sector.
ECHR. The European Court of Human Rights will notify in writing 12 judgments concerning Azerbaijan, Croatia, Georgia, Malta, Russia and Turkey.
Council of Europe. On the sidelines of the AI 2025 Action Summit hosted by France, the Council of Europe will organise a side event focusing on developing Africa’s engagement in global AI governance.
Multidisciplinary Group on the Environment. Governments, intergovernmental organisations and representatives of civil society will meet in Strasbourg for the third meeting of the Multidisciplinary Group on the Environment (GME) from 11 to 13 February.
Wednesday 12 February
Chamber of Deputies. The day’s programme includes a statement by Xavier Bettel, minister for cooperation and humanitarian action, on development cooperation policy in the public session in the morning, followed by debates in the afternoon. The subject of Caritas should certainly be raised. Then the afternoon public session will include a topical hour on relations with the United States, at the request of the political group déi Gréng, in the context of the new American administration under Donald Trump and the formation of the new European Commission.
Luxembourg presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. “All together for greater gender equality in sport” on Wednesday and Thursday at the Coque. Sports mininster Georges Mischo will open the event with Matthias Kloth, head of the digital governance and sport department at the Council of Europe, and Normunds Popēns, deputy director-general for education, youth, sport and culture at the European Commission.
ECHR. The European Court of Human Rights will hold three Grand Chamber hearings. The Commissioner for Human Rights, Michael O’Flaherty, will intervene in the three hearings concerning the summary deportations of asylum seekers by Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to Belarus.
European Parliament. The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, will present the commission’s work programme for 2025 and the main strategic actions and legislative initiatives planned for this year. MEPs will also debate the withdrawal of the United States from the World Health Organisation and the Paris Agreement.
European Court of Auditors. The European Court of Auditors (ECA) will publish a special report on “CARE,” the EU’s “Cohesion Action for Refugees in Europe” programme.
Thursday 13 February
Chamber of Deputies. Two public sittings at 9am and 2pm, with an interpellation by (DP) on the promotion of extracurricular activities at primary school age on the agenda in the morning. In the afternoon, a topical hour will be devoted to moral harassment in the civil service and local authorities, at the request of (déi Gréng), followed by a motion by (LSAP) on the reintroduction of internal border controls. Several bills will be discussed, including bill 8430, which transposes into Luxembourg law a European legislative framework concerning the Frontex agency. It should enable “the grand duchy of Luxembourg to contribute to the quality of the smooth functioning of the Schengen area and to ensure a capacity to react at any time at national level to challenges that could arise at its external border.” (CSV) will ask an extended question on the steel sector.
Luxembourg presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. On Thursday and Friday, the Chamber of Deputies is organising a conference on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment at Neimënster Abbey, bringing together parliamentarians from the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). The aim of this event is to contribute to monitoring the application of the measures in Resolution 2545 (2024).
European Parliament. MEPs will debate threats to the EU’s sovereignty over communications infrastructures and the EU-Mercosur free trade agreement.
ECHR. The European Court of Human Rights will notify in writing 52 judgments and/or decisions concerning Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, France, Italy, Malta, the Republic of Moldova, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.
Friday 14 February
Chamber of Deputies. Continuation of the conference on the right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment at Neimënster Abbey. The committee on the environment, climate and biodiversity and the Luxembourg delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will be present.
This article was originally published in .