© François Aulner
During a session of the special parliamentary commission concerning the Caritas embezzlement scandal, PM Luc Frieden defended the government's decision not to rescue the organisation, citing legal risks and financial constraints, while opposition parties criticised the lack of coordination, transparency, and action.
PM Luc Frieden, alongside Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Minister Xavier Bettel and Justice Minister Elisabeth Margue, appeared on Monday before the special parliamentary commission investigating the financial scandal involving Caritas. While there were no major new developments, Frieden reiterated that the government's objective had always been to safeguard Caritas' national operations in Luxembourg.
In his view, the organisation as a whole could not be saved, as any public funds would have gone directly to repaying multi-million-euro loans to banks. Frieden also responded to recent comments by former Caritas director Marc Crochet, who claimed the organisation could have been rescued, particularly through one of its branches, Caritas Accueil et Solidarité.
Frieden explained that from the government's perspective, both then and now, using a different entity within the Caritas group would have created a legal risk. It could have led to the state being accused of facilitating the organisation's avoidance of debt repayments, raising concerns about potential complicity.
Up to this point, the government has defended its decision with the argument that rescuing Caritas was not legally or financially feasible, since state-provided funds would primarily benefit banks rather than preserving social services, Frieden stated. That is why, relatively early on, the decision was made to create a new entity, a solution also supported by the crisis task force at the time, according to Frieden.
The parliamentary commission now wants to see the legal opinions on which the government relied to justify that Caritas could not be saved. During the meeting, rapporteur Taina Bofferding of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP) noted inconsistencies in the government's narrative.
While Frieden said his administration had worked intensively on the matter over the summer, he also admitted that the creation of a new entity came as news via the press, according to Bofferding. She voiced further concerns, questioning why, even after Frieden declared the Caritas affair a top-level government priority, no roundtable discussions were held during the summer involving the Diocese, the banks, Caritas management, and state officials.
At the same time, Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Minister Xavier Bettel came under scrutiny for the abandonment of Caritas' international operations, a point that drew further criticism. MP Djuna Bernard of The Greens (Déi Gréng) commented that Bettel had clearly expressed regret about the outcome and emphasised that efforts had been made by his team in September.
However, she argued that these efforts only came about in response to political pressure, as Bettel had previously been largely absent from the matter. She added that the fact civil servants reportedly learned through the media that international activities would not continue spoke volumes about the lack of communication.
MP Marc Baum from The Left (Déi Lénk) concluded that the day's session highlighted a much deeper issue. In his view, the government's inaction was so concerning that he could only hope similar situations are avoided in the future, as such lack of responsiveness could lead to major problems down the line.
