Proposals on the table after two rounds of talks

After two rounds of negotiations on 9 and 14 July regarding several social issues, talks are now set to resume in September. Until then, the government and the social partners will be reluctant to discuss the proposals in public. In the meantime, here are the main topics under discussion, to the best of our knowledge, although this summary is likely to be incomplete.

Opening hours

According to RTL sources, the most recent proposals for retail opening hours foresee that shops will be permitted to open from 5am until 8pm on a regular basis on weekdays. Employers who want to open their shops from 8pm until 1am must negotiate this under collective agreements.

At weekends, the regular opening hours will run from 5am until 7pm. Any opening hours from 7pm to 1am should be negotiated under collective agreements.

Minister Lex Delles has proposed that shops be permitted to open until 10pm on weekdays and 7pm on weekends.

Sunday work

As a general rule, employers wanting staff to work longer than four hours on a Sunday should negotiate this through collective agreements. However, small businesses may be exempt from this rule, although the definition of a small business is still under discussion. According to RTL sources, the government suggests this should apply to businesses with fewer than 15 employees, as they do not require staff delegates, and the unions have accepted this. But representatives from the employers' association disagreed with the definition and asked for it to apply to businesses with fewer than 49 employees.

Pension reforms

In his State of the Nation Speech, Prime Minister Luc Frieden said the following with regard to pensions: "The length of time one must have worked to receive a pension will be extended by three months each year over a period of time." This is to bring the real retirement age in line with the legal retirement age of 65.

The General Inspectorate of Social Security (IGSS) has calculated the effects of this change (Aperçu; Numéro 29, June 2025). In comparison to the baseline scenario, in which the pension reserve would fall below the legal threshold in 2039 and be depleted by 2045, these measures would, in the best case scenario, if the economy grows, push back these deadlines to 2043 and 2050 respectively.

According to RTL sources, this proposition has been dialled back. Now, the period of pension contributions will be increased by eight months over five years, but only apply to employees taking early retirement at 60, not to people who have contributed for 40 years by the age of 57.

In concrete terms, this means for the first year of this reform, people can retire at the age of 60 and one month. This gradually increases by a month until year 5, when they can retire at the age of 60 and eight months.

The government has also proposed to increase contributions for employers, employees and the State by 0.5% each.

According to the 2012 Pension Act, no end-of-year allowance may be paid if the contribution rate is increased. The 2012 reforms state that the readjustment also depends on the financial situation of the pension system and will be reduced if current expenses exceed current revenues. According to the IGSS calculations, this should be the case after this legislature, without further reform.

RTL sources say the social partners are proposing to keep both the adjustment and the end-of-year allowance unchanged, reversing the 2012 reform on those points. After five years, the measures can be re-assessed.

CGFP proposal rejected

According to sources, the civil servants' union CGFP had made a proposal to lift the contribution cap everywhere and negotiate with all unions for the same maximum pension across the board, thus unifying the civil service pension regime and the private sector. However, the government has rejected these proposals. It is thought that the employers association objected, as they categorically ruled out contribution increases. If the cap in the private sector were to be abolished, employers would have to pay more contributions for higher salaries, as would the State and staff.

The government has also declined to retain any of the unions' other proposals for other finance sources for the pension system, such as new taxes.

Employer representatives insist that a package be negotiated, hoping for valuable counter-proposals. In the coalition agreement, the CSV and the DP government agreed to adjust the level of business taxes to the OECD average. But the government has already made efforts to improve taxes for companies, reducing the corporate tax rate from 17% to 16% in January this year.

It is not yet clear whether the negotiations will result in an agreement between all three parties - the government, employers, and unions - or agreements between two parties, or none at all.