“This state council should be abolished”, The Left writes on Tuesday, announcing a press conference. According to research from reporter.lu, the council lacks transparency and is an undemocratic institution. The Left further alleges “conflicts of interest and cronyism”.
The report in question outlines that members of the council used to or still work for larger firms, including Alain Kinsch, who was a managing partner at Ernst and Young until 2020, or Patrick Santer, who is a partner at Elvinger Hoss.
The most blatant conflict, according to the report, is that the company owned by former LSAP minister Lucien Lux has Flavio Becca as its sole client. Allegedly, Lux sent the council’s opinion on a draft law regulating MRIs in private offices to Becca ahead of the actual vote.
Lux has since acknowledged that he did indeed forward the email, but stated that he forgot that the actual vote would have only taken place the following day. He further noted that he will apologise for it to the president of the state council, Christophe Schiltz, who has always guaranteed the independence of his institution.
Internal conflicts are now said to be resolved internally.
The task of the Council of State is to issue an opinion on all government and parliament bills and draft regulations. The Council of State is made up of 21 councillors who have a mandate of 12 years.
