Just over eight months after Grand Duke Guillaume's accession to the throne, the Maison du Grand-Duc is being restructured. MPs were presented with the institution's new organisational chart in the parliamentary committee on institutions on Monday.
The Maison du Grand-Duc was created six years ago following the Waringo report, which had called for clearer organisation at the Court after irregularities were identified. It is an administration intended to provide organisational and logistical support to the Grand Duke, or, in other words, to separate professional and private matters at the Court.
Laurent Zeimet, committee chair and parliamentary group leader of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), said Court Marshal Sasha Baillie had come before the committee and explained with full transparency how she wanted to slightly restructure the Maison du Grand-Duc in order to make it more flexible. He said she had the committee's full trust and support.
As the administration is currently organised, there are several unclear areas and overlaps. The director of the Court Marshal's office, a position currently held by Yves Arend, was responsible for protocol, which overlapped with the duties of the aide-de-camp, the military officer who assists the Grand Duke with organisation and security during official duties.
Infrastructure, including the palace, castles, garages, and gardens, was also managed separately from heritage assets such as the library, archives, and collections.
According to Baillie, who has been Court Marshal for just under a year and a half, not everything is clear at present. People manage and things move forward, she explained, but the setup is not optimal.
Captain Pierre Schroeder, as aide-de-camp, will also take over responsibility for protocol, as he is already responsible for the organisation and security of the Grand Duke.
Baillie explained that by bringing infrastructure and heritage together, the administration is logically placing everything linked to the management and preservation of assets under one directorate. Everything that needs to be maintained, conserved, and promoted will therefore fall within one coherent area of responsibility, she added.
The right person for that position is now being sought. Baillie said that the position will be advertised shortly, once the relevant Grand Ducal decree has been amended accordingly.
Alongside this future appointee and aide-de-camp Pierre Schroeder, Grand Duke Guillaume's adviser Tim Kesseler and head of staff Françoise Jaminet will form part of the management team under the Court Marshal. As Yves Arend is set to become the government's head of protocol, the Court Marshal's office will no longer exist in its current form.
Baillie is expected to receive external support to implement the internal changes over the coming years. At present, she said, she is handling this alone, which is simply too much. She explained that one has to manage the normal operational day-to-day work while also planning where the organisation should be heading.
The external consultancy still needs to be budgeted. The Maison du Grand-Duc has around €20 million available each year, roughly a quarter of which is spent on securing and maintaining buildings.
MP Sam Tanson of The Greens (déi gréng) said she could understand those costs, noting that the Chamber itself had also seen how expensive such work can be. She said MPs would wait for the presentation of the figures in autumn, including those relating to the new organisation.
As the administration's 120 employees have been and will continue to be involved in the changes, Taina Bofferding, parliamentary group leader of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP), had no objections. MP André Bauler of the Democratic Party (DP) also welcomed the approach.
Bofferding said this was the right path, arguing that when such major structural changes are planned, staff must be involved. She expressed hope that this dynamic could be maintained, so that the Court would no longer face the kind of strange situations seen a few years ago.
Bauler explained that the goal at the time of the creation of the Maison du Grand Duc had been to bring greater clarity to the organisation of the Court and to separate professional and private matters as far as possible. In his view, things are moving in the right direction.
