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Luxembourgish MEP Tilly Metz has been elected as vice president of the European Parliament

Luxembourgish Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Tilly Metz has been elected as vice president of the European Parliament, following a vote held on Thursday. Metz, who represents The Greens (Déi Gréng), will now join the Parliament’s leadership, known as the Bureau, which comprises the President and 14 vice presidents.

Metz’s candidacy faced a challenge from Rada Lakaykova, an MEP from Bulgaria. Lakaykova is a member of the right-wing group European Conservatives and Reformists (known as Europe of Sovereign Nations, ESN), which includes Germany’s Alternative for Germany (AfD) among its ranks.

Metz had been officially nominated as the Greens’ candidate for the vice presidency following an internal selection at the end of October, where she prevailed over two other contenders. The last Luxembourgish politician to hold the vice president post was Marc Angel of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP), who served between 2023 and 2024.

Also today

• PM Luc Frieden is representing the Benelux region at the European Political Community summit in Dublin.
  
• On Wednesday, the National Health Fund voted to increase its health and maternity insurance contribution rate from January 2027. Employers and workers will pay a little more each month.
  
• Luxembourg will open the NEOS Space Campus in Kockelscheuer within two years to boost innovation and high-skilled employment.
  
• As the Uerschterhaff prison nears capacity, the association ‘eran, eraus… an elo?’ is urging alternatives to building new facilities.
  
• Vladimir Putin has refused to compromise on annexed Ukrainian territory or foreign peacekeepers, in talks with US envoys.
  
• The Spanish parliament has passed measures restricting evictions and aiming to make housing more affordable.
  
• Technology shares have come under pressure as Jensen Huang resigned as chief of AI giant Nvidia.

On air

Tom was joined in the studio by Tom Rees from Kollektiv Logementskris, (the housing crisis collective) and RTL's very own Gaël Arellano, to discuss the real estate issues and planned demonstrations.

Figure of the day

Luxembourg's defence spending is to rise by 0.1% next year, to 2.1% of the country's Gross National Income.

• For 2028, the Grand Duchy's defence budget will increase to 2.2 percent, and to 2.3 percent the following year. These figures were presented by the DP's Minister of Defence, Yuriko Backes, to MPs on the Defence Committee at the Krautmaart.
  
• Backes said there is still time to reach the 5 percent target by 2035, which NATO members set themselves at the summit in The Hague in June this year. Among other things, the budget for the army will increase by 14 percent next year from 198 to 226 million euros. This increase is primarily due to recruitment and the increase in spare parts and ammunition, according to a statement on the Chamber's website.
  

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