It turns out that Valorlux had indeed sent a letter to the Environment Agency in January, pointing out that Moulin Dieschbourg, a mill owned and operated by Minister for the Environment Carole Dieschbourg’s family, was not complying with regulations regarding the recycling of packaging.
Read more: Minister for the Environment rejects accusations of applying double standards
The minister confirmed this information herself on Thursday and retracted her statements from Wednesday. The opposition had previously written a letter to the president of the Chamber of Deputies, demanding access to the document which, according to their own information, was sent to the authorities on 21 January.
Following this letter, workers at the Environment Agency once again looked for the document and ended up finding the 200-page letter from 25 January, which contained replies from Valorlux regarding a report from 2019. Among the attachments was also a list of companies which at the time did not hold a membership with Valorlux.
Carole Dieschbourg stressed that it is “not standard practice” to hand in a list in this way, adding that she had not been informed of this process. Another peculiarity about this affair is the fact that the letter stated that the attached list was the same that had already been forwarded to the authorities.
However, this was not the case. Moulin Dieschbourg was not on that first list. On the list from January, on the other hand, the company is listed as one of 37 businesses which do not pay for the collection and recycling of their packaging. The opposition now accuses the Minister of using “salami tactics”.
MP Gilles Roth, co-president of the Christian Social People’s Party’s (CSV) parliamentary group, stated that either the minister knew of this violation, or she did not. Both scenarios are “serious”, in Roth’s eyes, because if Dieschbourg did not know of the violation, it would imply a flawed organisational system within her own ministry.
MP Myriam Cecchetti from the Left Party (Déi Lénk) also stated that the Minister’s explanations are “not credible” for her party. Cecchetti stressed that MPs had to apply a substantial amount of pressure to exercise their right for access to information, adding that this is far from “transparency and democracy”.
Meanwhile, the minister stressed that she is furious with the Environment Agency for overlooking the list. The Agency’s director, Robert Schmit, has already formally apologised to her, Dieschbourg stated. It is now planned to internally retrace the mistake and understand how it occurred.
However, the Minister also expects explanations from Valorlux and has summoned those in charge for a meeting on Friday. A procedure which once again bewilders the opposition, as a request from their MPs to speak to Valorlux officials was turned down on Wednesday.
MP Marc Goergen from the Pirate Party criticised that the minister is now calling in the Valorlux President after a representative of her own party demanded the Valorlux audit on Wednesday. According to Goergen, his party considers this course of action “akin to mounting pressure all the way to blackmail”, with the minister seemingly threatening consequences if further information is revealed. “This is not how we should proceed in a democracy”, Goergen concluded.
Dieschbourg clarified that her goal is for everyone involved to work well together. She wants to meet with Valorlux to “clear up misunderstandings” and find a “pro-active” solution together.
