Le Groupe parlementaire du Parti démocratique informe que M. Gilles BAUM assumera la fonction de président du groupe parlementaire pour la période de législature 2023-2028.

The annual press conference of the DP parliamentary group pertaining the last parliamentary session was dominated by the long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the direct consequences of the war in Ukraine.

Gilles Baum recently requested a debate on viticulture in the Chamber of Deputies. In his eyes, viticulture is not only an important economic sector of our country, but also an essential part of our national heritage. The DP therefore insists on a regular discussion of the topic in Parliament.

Lex Krieps was born in Guildford, England in 1946. Why in England? Because his mother - a native of Ireland - felt comfortable giving birth to her three children there. Even though a year earlier she had gone to live with her husband - the Resistance member, officer and later minister Emile Krieps - to Luxembourg. That is why Lex’s passport says AlexandER and not AlexandRE.

The “Luxembourgish way” – the mixture between vaccination and sanitary measures – is the right way in the fight against the pandemic. This was our parliamentary group’s leaders’ message at the concluding press conference of the DP parliamentary group.

At the end of April, there was a major orientation debate in Parliament on the Cultural Development Plan 1.0. A plan that has occupied the work of the Parliamentary Committee on Culture for several years, and which today - in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic - has a very different meaning than in 2018.

What does the work of the DP members of parliament in Chambers look like?

Sebastien Gudenburg and David Wilson

With Paul Helminger, Luxembourg loses a politician who has strongly shaped the country and the city of Luxembourg. Paul Helminger was a politician who moved things. A man for whom modernization was not a slogan, but a task for which he committed himself wholeheartedly: as a diplomat, as chief of staff, as secretary of state, as deputy, as member of parliament, as mayor of Luxembourg-city, and as entrepreneur.

After the last legislative elections, the president of the eastern electoral district has made her entrance to the Chamber of Deputies and is now one of the youngest MPs. We spoke with the attorney about her political priorities, her concerns about local enterprises, and the challenges of her native town Echternach.

It has come to our attention that some liberal midwives have not yet received an invitation to the Covid-19 vaccination. DP MP Carole Hartmann has asked the Minister of Health whether this problem is known and whether other health professionals are affected.

"The first role of the state and the municipalities is to guarantee the safety and security of their citizens. There is a huge lack of security at the railway station, in its neighbourhood and in Bonnevoie, but this is not a new phenomenon", said the mayor of the City of Luxembourg, Lydie Polfer, in the Chamber of Deputies during a news hour on public security.

In 2015, Luxembourg's creative industries created a value-added of around 400 million euros and employed more than 7,000 people. In an extended question to the Minister of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, our MP André Bauler addressed the evolution of the sector and its future prospects.

Especially now, during the pandemic, young people need perspectives to deal with the psychological strain. In an extended question, DP MP Claude Lamberty wanted to know from the Minister of Education what the effects of the crisis are on the mental health of young people, and what is being done about youth violence prevention.

The Corona pandemic with its more or less severe lockdowns has slowed down our economy and made it difficult to restart its activities. The government has therefore adopted a series of financial aids and measures to counteract the economic uncertainty and secure jobs.

The pandemic is affecting many people mentally. It's about time to talk more about mental health.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, our health and our health care system have once again moved to the forefront of interest: healthcare professionals in particular. For this reason, the subject was discussed in Parliament in an interpellation.

The European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation between France and Luxembourg is an initiative of the European Parliament to strengthen cooperation in the border regions.

The COVID crisis has shown how important a well-functioning health system — including hospitals – is.

What is the role of technologies that filter carbon dioxide from the air in the context of climate protection? The Chamber of Deputies addressed this question in a debate.

A greater use of flexible working hours! In the first edition of our DP Magazine we talked about teleworking, a concept we’ve been pushing for quite a few years. We want reduce people’s time spend in traffic jams and instead give them more hours to enjoy with their family. Besides the idea of teleworking, offering flexible working hours are one of our top concerns when it comes to improving work-life...

Teambuilding In October, the parliamentary group organised a day during which the team analysed projects for the next parliamentary year. At the new Mama Shelter hotel, parliamentary group collaborators worked, laughed and discussed together. With the significant increase in the number of employees in recent months, this was an opportunity to promote team spirit. In the next two pages of the magazine,...

The DP is convinced that every employee knows how to work best. Both employees and employers want more flexibility - for a better work-life balance or to be able to better adapt work to the economic environment.

Anne Glesener

Vaccinations are the best way to get back to normal. They help us protect our health care system and regain our freedoms.

The Minister for the Middle Classes Lex Delles has launched three additional aids, which are particularly helpful to those sectors most affected by the Corona crisis: hospitality, tourism, culture and events.

Together with MP Simone Beissel we talk about the Luxembourgish constitution: its history, its importance for our society and the work that is currently being done to adapt the text to the realities of a 21st century.

A new media law will soon be passed in the Chamber of Deputies. On this occasion, we had a conversation with Guy Arendt, the chairman of the parliamentary commission in charge of the issue.

“The 2021 budget is an extraordinary budget for extraordinary times”, said Finance Minister Pierre Gramegna during the presentation of the budget in October. Thanks to the forward-looking fiscal policies in recent years, public debt has been gradually re-duced despite record investments. And without the corona crisis, the debt would have even gone down to the level of 2011. Luxembourg was financially...

The liberal MP Gusty Graas has been President of the Benelux Parliament for the last two years. The Parliament submits reports and recommendations to the governments of Brussels, The Hague and Luxembourg on issues affecting the three partner countries.

Luxembourg is one of the few countries in the world to enjoy the highest possible Triple A rating. The triple A is awarded by independent rating agencies and relates to a country's creditworthiness. The rating guarantees the good reputation of the Luxembourg financial center.

The Democratic Party held their traditional concluding statements press conference just ahead of the political summer break. Fraction president Gilles Baum said that the fraction started into the legislative period with great eagerness and willingness to put in a lot of hard work. With the increase of the minimum wage, the implementation of an additional holiday and the shortening of the probation...