The Chamber of Deputies began debating Prime Minister Luc Frieden's State of the Nation address on Wednesday, with the ruling coalition defending its policies and the opposition decrying a lack of new solutions to social and economic challenges.

Debates over Prime Minister Luc Frieden's State of the Nation address commenced in the Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday, a day after the speech was delivered.

MP Marc Spautz, head of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV) parliamentary group, was the first to speak on Wednesday morning. His remarks largely echoed the Prime Minister's statements from the previous day.

Spautz expressed support for the government's decision to maintain the legal retirement age at 65, though he emphasised the need to account for the impact of physically demanding work – a point Frieden had not explicitly addressed. He defended the ongoing pension reform, stating it was not being negotiated "in the backrooms" but rather represented "democracy in action."

However, the opposition criticised the lack of new announcements in the address. Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) MP Mars di Bartolomeo, for instance, noted that many of the opposition's questions remained unanswered.

On pensions, Spautz highlighted the long-term implications for younger generations, who will bear the financial burden and need clarity on what to expect decades from now. He urged younger MPs to recognise their role in ensuring the pension system's stability, noting that today's policymakers will not be the ones debating the issue in 50 years.

Neither Spautz nor Gilles Baum, head of the Democratic Party (DP), who spoke afterward, provided additional details on the reforms. Spautz also touched on social dialogue, calling it a cornerstone of Luxembourg's stability. However, on contentious topics like Sunday opening hours and collective agreements, he deferred to pending opinions from the Council of State, noting that parliamentary committees would address the matters once those opinions were issued.

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Meanwhile, LSAP MP Taina Bofferding criticised the government's policies as lacking coherence, arguing that neither the State of the Nation address nor the broader agenda of the CSV-DP coalition demonstrated a genuine commitment to social issues.

Bofferding accused the government of "targeted attacks on social dialogue" and hindering social progress. She praised trade unions' responses as "correct and unsurprising," emphasising that social dialogue should not merely be "praised in speeches" but actively upheld in practice.

Over its 19 months in office, Bofferding claimed, the government has "eroded years of progress – trust, stability, predictability, and social peace. These are not things to be taken lightly."

In her view, the government treats social dialogue as "a mere formality," making the unions' planned June protest an expected reaction.

Debates on the State of the Nation speech are set to continue throughout Wednesday.

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