During the press briefing, where the focus was on the two-state solution in the Israel/Palestine conflict, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel of the Democratic Party (DP) was asked about growing signs of tension within the Luxembourg government with regard to the planned pension reform and a perceived lack of social dialogue.
As background to this question: Marc Spautz, parliamentary leader of the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) had publicly criticised the proposed legislation on shop opening hours, and reportedly faced backlash from the DP Minister for the Economy Lex Delles and CSV Finance Minister Gilles Roth. Meanwhile, within the DP ranks, frustration had mounted over the lack of detailed information provided about the pension reform ahead of the State of the Nation speech. DP parliamentary leader Gilles Baum had previously suggested that under Bettel’s leadership over the past decade, the government had operated in a more inclusive and accessible way, both with the public and with MPs. In contrast, he implied, Prime Minister Luc Frieden has adopted a more top-down approach.
Asked whether this pointed to internal discord, Bettel firmly denied it. He said there was no disagreement within the government and emphasised that he had received and read Frieden’s State of the Nation speech in advance. According to Bettel, the content had been discussed beforehand, and many points reflected contributions from the Democratic Party as well. While he acknowledged that some details might not have been shared across all parliamentary groups, he maintained that the general direction of the reforms had been discussed with DP deputies.
Bettel added that the decision to meet with social partners on 9 July had been taken jointly by the CSV and DP within the government, and he expressed hope that constructive solutions would emerge through social dialogue.
