The MPs hope that by doing so, they can prevent a potential formal opposition to the text. In a small surprise, it appears that the 11pm curfew in the hospitality sector may be lifted as early as Friday evening – provided that the law is passed by the Chamber of Deputies at noon on Friday, as well as validated by the Council of State and published on Friday afternoon. In that case, restaurants and bars could already remain open past 11pm on Friday evening.
However, it remains to be seen whether most Horesca businesses would even be prepared for such a change on short notice.
While the Alternative Democratic Reform Party (adr) welcomes the new measures, the opposition party remains critical of the situation as a whole. MP Jeff Engelen explained that it is true that the party is satisfied with certain changes but “there’s still a lot left to be done”.
Engelen stressed that it is time to “get out of the labyrinth of measures”. The adr is in favour of lifting all Covid-19 measures.
Besides a number of technical notes, the Council of State also criticised that the government’s measures are not backed up by enough scientific data. The Christian Social People’s Party (CSV) has criticised this particular issue for weeks.
Party President Claude Wiseler stated that a few days ago, the CSV asked the government for an evaluation of the measures that had been taken. “We wanted to know how effective they had been,” Wiseler explained, adding that in this context, the CSV would also appreciate it if the government would tell them what it expects to accomplish with the new measures.
MP Mars di Bartolomeo from the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) defended the government’s decision, stating that the measures are, in fact, based on empirical data. Bartolomeo cited the occupancy rate of hospital beds, milder courses of the disease, and an increased vaccination rate as examples.
The Parliamentary Health Commission also specified that the 3G regime will become voluntary in both the private and public sector. This was another suggestion made by the Council of State.
