© Marc Hoscheid / RTL
Luxembourg's top court annulled a Ministry of the Interior decision, siding with former Schieren mayor André Schmit in a dispute over land reclassification and municipal autonomy.
In 2019, Schieren witnessed a significant change in its leadership when André Schmit resigned as mayor, paving the way for Eric Thill – now Minister for Culture – to become the youngest mayor in Luxembourg at the time.
Schmit’s resignation stemmed from a conflict with the Ministry of the Interior over the classification of specific plots of land under the municipality’s new General Development Plan (PAG). Disagreeing with the ministry's stance, the former mayor, along with other concerned parties, pursued legal action to challenge the decision.
Their efforts culminated in a recent victory at the administrative court of last resort, vindicating Schmit and his co-claimants in their dispute with the ministry.
The dispute involves approximately 65 acres on the Rue Lehberg in Schieren. In 1984, André Schmit purchased 25 acres for 1 million francs, believing at the time that the land was located in the urbanisable zone. It later emerged, however, that the entire area lay within the green zone. During the process of revising the General Development Plan (PAG), part of the land was removed from the green zone. By 2018, when a new PAG was being prepared, it was intended that the remaining area would also be reclassified.
In January 2019, however, the Ministry of the Interior’s planning commission opposed the reclassification, arguing that it constituted "tentacular development." André Schmit strongly disagreed with this assessment:
"Our land is in the second row, so it is by no means tentacular and is not contributing to further urban sprawl. Previously, a working group stated that second-row plots should be prioritised for development rather than allowing tentacular development along roads. Therefore, I cannot accept the accusation of tentacular development in this case."
In 2019, the municipal council sought discussions with the Ministry of the Interior. During the meeting, both André Schmit and then-municipal council member Eric Thill, whose parents were also affected, left the room due to conflicts of interest. Deputy mayor Tessy Kries and the municipal engineer presented the proposal that either no changes would be made or only the parcels owned by André Schmit and Eric Thill's parents would be reclassified, leaving two other parcels in the green zone.
According to André Schmit, "This could have been justified, based on the environmental impact study and the fact that those parcels were truly tentacular. But it would have been political suicide to prioritise personal interests over the public good. So we said we couldn't accept that and insisted that this was a direct admission that the parcels could be included in the PAG."
The municipality of Schieren reportedly faced threats that its entire PAG (General Development Plan) would be rejected. This pressure allegedly led to a decision on 11 March 2020 to comply with the objections raised by the Planning Commission. André Schmit interprets the Ministry of the Interior's firm stance as retaliation, following a recent dispute where the Ministry lost to the municipality over a presumed biotope.
"After that, they were furious with us. The head of the consulting firm that developed our PAG was told, 'Just wait until the Schieren PAG comes up. Just wait until the Schieren PAG comes up.' And they certainly followed through: virtually no extension of the urbanisable perimeter was accepted."
Now, however, the administrative court has annulled both the municipal council’s vote from 11 March 2020 and the corresponding decision by the Ministry of the Interior. The court ruled that the Ministry's threats to reject the entire PAG violated the principle of municipal autonomy. The case now returns to the municipal council. Mayor Jean-Paul Zeimes declined to comment on the ruling, stating that the matter will be reviewed in the new year.
