In light of the tense international situation and Luxembourg’s NATO commitments, the size of our armed forces will be expanded in the coming years. Today, the Democratic Party’s MP Marc Hansen presented two draft laws in Parliament aimed at improving the salaries of voluntary soldiers and increasing the allowances and benefits granted to both voluntary (*) and professional soldiers (**) in the context of their participation in training and instructional exercises.
The Luxembourg Army will place even greater emphasis in the future on competent, well-trained and committed personnel, the President of the Defence Committee underlined in Parliament. This makes it all the more important to provide appropriate financial recognition for voluntary soldiers.
To this end, the basic pay of voluntary soldiers will be increased by at least €530 per month, bringing it up to at least the level of the unskilled minimum wage. At present, this level is only reached after 18 to 24 months of service. In addition, the seniority bonus will increase by €83 per year. At the end of their voluntary service – currently set at four years – soldiers receive a demobilisation bonus. Under the new law, this bonus will rise by €2,212 to €14,278.3. For each additional year of re-engagement, the bonus will increase by 15 index points.
The second law establishes a new framework for the benefits and compensation granted to soldiers for their participation in training and instruction activities as well as certain national operational deployments. A key change is that voluntary soldiers will now also be able to benefit from these allowances, which were previously reserved for professional soldiers. The allowances themselves have been increased under the law: for professional soldiers, they will rise from 5.10 to 11.50 index points, and for voluntary soldiers from 2.55 to 6.50 index points.
(*) Professional soldiers undergo a specific military training, such as officer or non-commissioned officer training, following their recruitment procedure and basic training. They hold positions of responsibility and pursue careers either as officers (A1 & A2), non-commissioned officers (B1 & C1) or corporals (C1 & C2).
(**) Voluntary soldiers commit to a limited basic period of service, which currently lasts four years. After this period, or after a possible extension through re-engagement, their military service ends. As part of the recruitment and attractiveness package for the armed forces presented in December by Defence Minister Yuriko Backes, it is planned to extend the basic period of voluntary service to five years.
