Delano June 2021

No. 79

JUNE 2021

Luxembourg in English

Claude Wiseler: Back in the game The new CSV president aims for an overhaul of the party, getting it ready for the 2023 elections

Training for recovery: upskilling & reskilling report €4

The backlash starts at home Two different events managed to spark outrage from commentators, politicians and social media warriors in the first 10 days of May. Both campaigns--hardly concerted, but definitely unifying--managed to force a public climbdown of some sort.

The appointment of Christianne Wickler as chair of the board of Cargolux elicited cries for a review of how public appointments are made. As a member of the déi Gréng party, for whom she even served as an MP for six months, the argument goes that Wickler was the recipient of a gift from that party’s transport minister François Bausch, who pushed her appointment.

The first female chair of Cargolux is undoubtedly a competent business leader and a refreshingly forthright personality.

But it was over her apparent support for controversial opinions on the covid pandemic promoted on the website of the ExpressisVerbis group, of which she was co-president, that was met with the most howls of derision.

Critics argued that appointing someone who has published these opinions to such a high-profile job was a slap in the face of those who have fought the pandemic on the front line or suffered the loss of a loved one. Wickler and Bausch initially dug their heels in, but when the backlash showed no sign of dying down, she resigned her position with Expressis-Verbis.

Ten days later, Bausch seemed to have emerged unscathed. But he must have been aware there would be opposition to Wickler’s appointment, so why push it through? Surely giving someone who publicly questions

a scientifically based pandemic strategy such a reward was asking for trouble and encouraging anti-maskers and covid deniers.

It was a serious misstep from the minister.

No sooner had that social media storm abated than another arose following a Facebook post by the Brideler Stuff restaurant. With indoor diners required to show a PCR or rapid antigen test result, the owner wrote that visitors to the café would have to show more papers than an asylum seeker entering the country. Again, the backlash was quick, and a half-hearted apology only served to fan the flames. Later, a more thoughtful comment from the owner, clearly stung by the accusations of racism levelled at him and the potential damage to his business, brought out support in the shape of the inevitable denunciation of censorship. A volley of well-worn straw man arguments was even launched by the cancel culture brigade and mister laugh-aminute himself, ADR MP Fred Keup, accused those who had criticised the original post as racist of failing to have a sense of humour.

Social media justice, it seems, can be swift and merciless, but equally thoughtless in its impulsiveness.

Editor-in-chief DUNCAN ROBERTS

3

JUNE 2021

Editorial #SocialMedia

PREVIEW ONLY

Contents June 2021

Ristretto

Recovery course: a look at employee education & training

“We don’t function according to party political lines” –

“Information security is a constant challenge”

38 Head to head PATRICK GOLDSCHMIDT VS FRANÇOIS BENOY

p. 2 4

Cycling in the city

Gilles Feith on Luxair’s post-covid future

40 Essay

–

Global tax debate

12 #FINANCE - ADELA BAHO

“Being on risk, you have kind of the full picture” – 14 #CULTURE - ELISE SCHMIT

“There is no way art and society do not connect”

16 Dashboard

Sick leave, banking sector and company failure figures Conversations 18 POLITICS - CLAUDE WISELER

“I feel the weight of responsibility”

44 Gusto

Into the wild 46 Business club 50 Pick’n’mix

Wine time

–

24 BUSINESS - GILLES FEITH

“We will fly on”

p. 18

Photos

Mike Zenari

Claude Wiseler on renewing the CSV party ahead of the 2023 general elections

p. 40 What is a fair rate of multinational corporate taxation?

JUNE 2021

30 Business report

08 #POLITICS - CHRISTOPHE SCHILTZ

10 #BUSINESS - JELENA ZELENOVIC MATONE

5

BRAND VOICE

6

Cryptocurrencies: investment of the future Sponsored content by SWISSQUOTE

2020 was a challenging year for investments.

How do you look back on last year?

DAVE SPARVELL The year 2020 began with record [stock market] levels, but in March, when the global pandemic hit, markets quickly experienced movements not seen since the credit crisis. 2020 ended with a 16% rise in the S&P 500 and a 43% rise in the Nasdaq, which is rich in technology shares that were less affected overall by the Covid-19 crisis. So, 2020 was a very good year for investors who were able to hold their nerve during the early part of the pandemic. Above all, we have seen the arrival of a new generation of retail investors, after several years of apathy towards active investment in shares.

Cryptocurrencies have also benefited from this interest in active investments.

Why is it attractive for investors to diversify into cryptocurrencies?

We are in an environment of historically low-interest rates. Investors are therefore looking for alternatives to savings accounts and bonds. This, in particular, is what has caused such an influx of capital into assets that are often considered to be insulated from the fluctuations of the stock market and whose supply seems limited, such as real estate, art, collectibles or even cryptocurrencies. Gold has long played this role as a safe haven but is – for the time being at least – of less interest to individual investors.

There is, on the other hand, a strong interest in cryptocurrencies. While cryptocurrencies currently represent only about 2% of our clients’ liquid assets, current trends suggest that this proportion will continue to grow.

Why is this asset class considered promising today?

Several major investment banks have recently come out in favour of a modest portfolio allocation to Bitcoin as a means of diversification. Furthermore,

Dave Sparvell, CEO of Swissquote Bank Europe.

some multinationals have chosen to embrace cryptocurrencies – PayPal, Tesla, Visa... Some have even started to invest some of their cash flow in Bitcoin.

Right now, the majority of asset managers do not have the option to add cryptocurrencies to their retail investment funds.

This creates a rather unique situation where individual investors can get ahead of institutions by investing

in cryptocurrencies before they can.

What kind of investor are these virtual currencies primarily attracting?

On the one hand, we see active traders who make transactions on a daily or weekly basis and, on the other, investors who manage their portfolio less frequently. The latter tend to allocate a small portion of their portfolio to cryptocurrencies,

Simon Verjus (Maison Moderne), Swissquote

Cryptocurrencies, starting with Bitcoin, are not only tempting individual investors but are increasingly attract­ ing institutional investors, too.

It’s a trend that looks set to continue.

Photo

JUNE 2021

Banks

7

Swissquote Bank Europe – formerly Internaxx Bank – is Luxembourg’s leading online bank for investors and traders.

It celebrates 20 years in business this year.

Swissquote Group’s global headquarters in Gland, Switzerland.

It is the holder of a banking licence issued by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) under the authority of the European Central Bank (ECB).

Jeremy Lauret, Head of Sales & Marketing at Swissquote Bank Europe.

mainly Bitcoin and Ether.

The cryptocurrency markets never sleep, which is a major advantage for traders.

Traders can manage their investments outside of their working day and continue to trade, for example, every weekend, every evening or in immediate response to exceptional macroeconomic events.

In what circumstances are cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin most interesting?

Cryptocurrencies are by nature highly speculative because there remains a lot of uncertainty regarding their adoption, not only by individuals but also by institutions, regulators and governments. The pace or lack of adoption by these participants is therefore going to be a determining factor in the success of cryptocurrencies.

Some decentralised exchange protocols offering smart contracts, such as Ethereum, also have the potential to execute

CRYPTOCURRENCIES IN FIGURES

12

Swissquote’s investment account allows you to hold and trade 12 cryptocurrencies in one portfolio

24h / day

Digital asset trading is open around the clock – you can trade cryptocurrencies 24/7

25

The minimum investment for a single transaction is €25 (maximum is €500,000)

complex financial transactions while reducing their costs. This could revolutionise the way we manage and use financial services in the future. We believe that by the end of the year, regulation will be on the table to increase consumer and investor protection and regulate these assets.

In this context, what can Swissquote Bank Europe offer?

Our goal is to offer our clients the widest

possible range of investment products under one management platform within the protective framework of a regulated bank. With this in mind, we became the first online bank in the EU to offer an investment account with built-in functionality for cryptocurrency trading.

This allows our customers to take their first steps in a safe and familiar environment. And because payment is instantaneous, they can easily sell their crypto­currencies, converting them into euros or dollars, and reinvest those funds immediately into the stocks, ETFs [exchange traded funds] or investment funds of their choice.

Additionally, our clients can borrow against the value of their Bitcoin and Ethereum, which can give their cryptocurrency holdings additional utility.

100%

Swissquote Bank Europe SA is wholly owned by Swissquote Group Holding Ltd. The group also owns Swissquote Bank Ltd, the leading Swiss online bank.

By adding cryptocurrency functionality to its online and mobile platforms, it has become the leading multiasset online bank in Luxembourg.

In addition to its multicurrency investment account, it offers Lombard credit for margin trading, Forex and CFDs, plus Smart Portfolios (a lowcost, automated ETF investment solution).

ut re abo o t rn mo To lea rencies, go r u c o t cryp

u uote.l

swissq

JUNE 2021

WHO IS SWISSQUOTE?

Ristretto #Politics

JUNE 2021

8

“We don’t function according to party political lines” At 42, Christophe Schiltz became the youngest ever president of Luxembourg’s Council of State in April 2021. To be credible, the institution must be impartial and leave party politics at the door, he says.

The Council of State functions somewhat like Luxembourg’s upper house of parliament.

Why do we need this institution?

The upper houses in other countries have a different role. It’s a lot more political.

Our role is more legal. That’s our main task--to examine draft laws and check whether they’re compatible with international treaties, with human rights regulations, with the constitution. I wouldn’t say we’re a senate or anything like that.

back then. For us, it’s important that once people arrive, they leave their party affiliation at the door and have a discussion on the legal aspects of a draft law rather than have political discussions.

It would also be a lot more difficult to come to an agreement within the Council of State if we started party-political discussions.

What is your role as president of this institution?

It’s twofold. On the one hand, representing the Council of State towards the exterior, be it in relations with other institutions in Luxembourg or internationally, or with the press, for example. Within the Council of State, the president decides what gets put on the draft agenda of our plenary sessions, and basically contributes to the organisation and the well functioning of the Council of State.

The council has been plagued by allegations of a lack of transparency, the potential for lobbying. Where do you think this stems from?

You’d have to ask the people that make these allegations. We have to look at the role and the functioning of the Council of State. Parliament takes decisions, votes on rules. We analyse draft rules from a legal point of view, and we give an opinion. We don’t take a decision.

Our role is different to the one of parliament. We don’t function according to party political lines. We look at the text, we discuss it, and then we usually come to a consensus. The influence of one person isn’t really there. It’s always an opinion by the whole Council of State.

You have a senior position in the government’s development cooperation and humanitarian assistance department. How can you combine these roles?

It is a lot of work. All the members of the Council of State have another job. It’s not a full-time mandate. It’s up to different counsellors to see how they organise themselves. There’s a lot of work in the evenings and on weekends. You have to be able to manage your time quite well.

You say that is not a political institution...

We don’t vote or discuss according to party lines and, that’s the second point, we don’t really vote.

In general, the opinions are adopted by consensus. I think it’s very important to keep the party-political discussions out of the Council of State, so that it has credibility and so that the opinions have the credibility of having been analysed in a neutral, impartial way.

But the parties appoint the members.

Isn’t that something of a contradiction?

I wouldn’t say it’s a contradiction. It’s something that the parties wanted. It was discussed in 2017; the whole nomination process was reviewed

Speaking of time, this past year, the council has reviewed successive covid-19 laws at breakneck speed. How much longer can you uphold this pace of work?

I don’t think that we have much of a choice.

Just like the other institutions, we can’t just decide that the pandemic has to be over because we can’t cope with the work anymore. We keep up with it for as long as we have to.

Christophe Schiltz has been a member of the Council of State since 2013

Interview CORDULA SCHNUER Photo ROMAIN GAMBA

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Ristretto #Business

JUNE 2021

10

“Information security is a constant challenge” As the European Investment Bank’s chief information security officer and president of Women Cyber Force, Jelena Zelenovic Matone is on a mission: to promote the role of women in the field of cybersecurity.

Tell us: how often are you the only woman in a room?

More often than you can imagine. For cybersecurity matters, I am usually always the only [one]. There can be meetings with 19 men and myself [but] the meetings can be awkward only if you allow them to be...

the goal of getting girls and women interested in cybersecurity. Mixed partnerships will help allow the initiative to run training courses, and the team is hoping as well to launch its first hackathon, more information about which should be forthcoming.

What advice would you give young people considering a career in cybersecurity?

We can practically say that the use of the internet is one of the most critical global economic developments and international security factors. [P]olitical tensions between countries [and] leadership changes make it that much harder for cybersecurity cooperation among nations. And this will not end any time soon. It can only continue to advance as technologies advance...

I believe that we are gifted with the natural ability to plan, prepare and deliver in times of crisis intrinsically, or when significant events occur. No matter how devastating, we have the innate ability to “roll with the punches”, while sustaining our credibility and integrity and remaining whole, no matter what work or life will throw our way. I am a firm believer that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure and that it is critical to us, as women, to realise what all we have, above [all], our intelligence-- of course, [when] given opportunities and sometimes permitted to follow through on matters that are forward thinking.

I believe in the next generations to come, in their diversity, newly acquired skills that we did not have back then, capacities, abilities, and competencies. I believe that if you believe in yourself, the sky is the limit.

What could be done to address the shortage of women in the field of cybersecurity?

It’s a complex topic that starts at an early age and the culture girls grow up in. However, schools can introduce early Stem programmes to encourage girls more in this field... Mentoring programmes can [also] help encourage more women to join the field...

Why did you decide to work in cybersecurity, and how challenging is it to keep up to date in this rapidly changing field?

I loved Stem and, for me, it was natural that I would end up in such a field. Finishing a computer engineering major, I started as a consultant in the early stages of Sox and was lucky that I had a much-needed experience at that time. Excellent managers [supported me] to pursue it further and get my Cisa certification...

I kept acquiring more knowledge and skills, which was (and still is) very crucial to continue in this fast-paced environment...

I love the challenges and constant learning that this field provides and requires... The field of information security is a constant challenge in managing the evolving threats [but is also] immensely satisfying and rewarding...

You launched Women4Cyber through Women Cyber Force in March. What are the goals of this initiative?

Established as part of the European Cyber Security Organisation’s Women4Cyber Foundation, Women4Cyber’s aim is to boost women’s participation in the field of cybersecurity. We want to create long-lasting career choices for women, either via mentoring and empowering or keeping a network… The group aims to make more urgent

Jelena Zelenovic Matone leads the Women4Cyber Luxembourg chapter

Interview NATALIE A. GERHARDSTEIN Photo ROMAIN GAMBA

Green

cean

& LIQUIDITY

how the flow of liquidity into sustainable finance and the circular economy will change the post-pandemic asset management and insurance industries

G re e n Eve n t ( p l a st i c f re e 1 0 0 % )

The reference conference on sustainability for the asset management, investment fund & insurance industries 1.100+

Attendees

200+

Speakers

DEBATES & DISCUSSIONS

over the past 4 years over the past 4 years (200+ in 2020)

17 SDGs To be adressed by sustainable investments

3

MAJOR CLUSTERS

Keynote Speakers:

European regulatory framework, technical analysis and best practices

Live at

European Convention Center Luxembourg Salle Hemicycle

“For its 9th anniversary, I am pleased to see that FFF with its sustainable focus is attractive more interest than ever”

Claude MARX (CCSF) Romain POULLES (CSDD)

Daniel Capocci, FARAD Group General Manager CEO - FARAD Investment Managment

25+ EXPERIENCED SPEAKERS

10 th June

7.45- 16.00 Organised by

streaming zoom meeting Event Partner

Gold Partner

Registration at: www.faradfinanceforum.com

Silver Partner

Ristretto #Finance

JUNE 2021

12

“Being on risk, you have kind of the full picture” New EU green investing rules are changing the role of fund firm risk managers, says Adela Baho, co-chair of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry’s sustainability risk management subcommittee.

For someone who doesn’t work in the financial sector, what is the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation?

It’s a directive which asks financial market participants--portfolio managers, financial advisors--to disclose what they do in terms of sustainability.

What counts as “sustainability”?

From [my firm’s] point of view, it’s being in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the decarbonisation that is part of the Paris [climate] agreement. These two axes will be covered by sustainability-based measures and disclosures, meaning disclosure to investors.

What exactly are you disclosing?

For the sustainable goals, for instance, what is the contribution we make [via a company or project the fund invests in]? What is the environmental footprint... the greenhouse gas emissions? We can measure this, which is a good thing.

Did a lot of fund companies already have the required reporting metrics established?

No, they did not. This really was a big change for a lot of companies. It was a challenge, I would say. Some would argue because of the tight deadline; we had to have this [ready] for 10 March. I don’t know about all the companies, but there was a challenge as well from the current situation.

[Perhaps] people didn’t know how to [implement it] from their home office.

But the next step is more complicated, because it is the introduction of communication from the risk process point of view.

What are the key challenges?

Very short term will be the regulatory technical standards... So, the RTS will be a bit challenging from a quantitative point of view. It [takes effect] next year and the next thing for us will

Adela Baho is a director and conducting officer at the fund manager Foresight Group

be presenting the risk management process [to investors and to Luxembourg’s financial regulator, the CSSF].

More broadly, what is risk management, and what exactly is a risk manager’s job?

Risk does not [exist] alone. It works together with the portfolio manager and the valuation, so it’s always there, it always has to adapt to what they do. [With] the introduction of the new key risk indicators in the risk map, which ones you’d like to present or which ones are pertinent to the class, you’d think that the risk manager would know all the details or is an expert in solar, in wind, in biomass, in hydro, in batteries. So, you have the challenge of getting knowledgeable about this.

So a good risk manager really has to know a lot of technical details about the thing that’s being investing in and how the asset works?

Exactly. I’m not a risk manager because I was an investment manager for 10 years.

But being on risk, you have kind of the full picture. Because you need to know the investment part, the risk part and the valuation part. You need to know, not everything, but all these interactions.

So, of course, the Luxembourg regulator wants a responsible person for each of these tasks, that’s portfolio manager, risk management function and valuation function. [Under CSSF risk guidelines,] you need to know all the interactions of all these, because it starts with the investment, continues with the monitoring, so the risk part, and, of course, with the valuation, which is the impact on the price or the performance.

Which is the definition of risk, by the way. In the risk book, the definition of risk is an unexpected change of the price. This is the definition of financial risk.

Interview AARON GRUNWALD Photo ROMAIN GAMBA

SPUERKEESS.LU

Banque et Caisse d’Epargne de l’Etat, Luxembourg, établissement public autonome, 1, Place de Metz, L-2954 Luxembourg, R.C.S. Luxembourg B30775

Dreaming of becoming a home owner?

Ristretto #Culture

JUNE 2021

14

“There is no way art and society do not connect” Award-winning writer Elise Schmit has turned to the English language for her latest projects. She has also been vocal in arguing for the importance of inclusive language in culture.

You have just had a short story, Blue Like a Tangerine, published in English. What inspired you to write in English?

During the first lockdown, I started writing stories for friends of mine, to cheer them up basically.

And one of my friends is a writer who doesn’t speak German. So, I started working on two versions simultaneously, a German one and an English one. I was surprised, because I really try to showcase what I do when I write.

So, it became a very personal and important story for me. And that is why I gave it to Red Fox Press [with illustrations by Antic-Ham].

the problem, whereas it’s only a symptom of an underlying problem, of an underlying inequality that is there and that we have to face, and that we have to do something about.

Yes, surely the objective of literature and art is to reflect society.

It is. If it wants to or not. I wouldn’t say that artists have to reflect on every topic that comes up in public debate. But their work will be seen in the context of what is an important topic at the moment. So, there is no way art and society do not connect.

For me, it is important as this concerns language. This is my instrument.

You’ve also worked on a project for the Théâtre National, which, again, uses English as well as Luxembourgish?

It is a coincidence, really. I never thought of writing in English at all. I had this project, Under The Sun, that I developed with a British actor, Adrian Decosta. And the idea was that each of us would write one character, and we would do the dialogue together.

But our processes were so different that they were not compatible at all. So, we decided that I would write the entire thing. But it’s a good experience. It’s nice to know that I can widen my scope.

It’s set in a dystopian world where climate change has such an impact on people’s lives that they cannot go out. In fact, the restrictions are very similar to the ones we encounter during the pandemic. And then it asks the questions: how can people meet? How can they fall in love? It’s a love story. And you know, it’s one of my love stories, so it’s pretty bleak.

It will be staged in October, I hope.

You recently also had a letter published in Tageblatt arguing for the importance of inclusive language in the arts and against straw man fallacies surrounding cancel culture.

Why is this still a topic of debate in 2021?

Some people do not want to let go of their privilege. Many people who engage in this debate pretend like there’s no problem at all, or that it’s just a joke. And they treat language as if it were

Do you think Luxembourg lags behind other western countries?

It does. But Luxembourg is so small.

And I think that is a problem. Our debate cannot be as diverse, because we do not have that many people. Absurdly, sometimes it is more difficult to be heard in such a small environment where it seems that the positions are fixed. And also, we have different languages. So, we can connect to many different debates in different countries.

But we don’t have this one debate going on here.

Do you wish more public figures or more people from the world of culture would jump on the barricades with you?

Yeah. I mean, I’m surprised that I’m on the barricades at all. Because I think there are people who are more qualified to engage in this debate than I am. I just got upset in the moment and I wanted an outlet for this rage. Somebody has to do it. But as I also said on Twitter, the debate doesn’t need me, and I do not need this space for myself.

Author and literary critic Elise Schmit has twice won the Concours Littéraire National

Interview DUNCAN ROBERTS Photo ROMAIN GAMBA

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Dashboard #Economy

16

LUXEMBOURG FUND ASSETS Total net assets in Luxembourg-domiciled investment funds increased by 19% in the year to March 2021*, although this includes recovery from an early pandemic dip.

JUNE 2021

Source

Luxembourg Financial Sector Supervisory Commission (CSSF)

€872.9bn

Aggregated balance sheet of Luxembourg banks on 31 March 2021, up by 1.1% over the previous month, but down by 3.2% from 31 March 2020.

Oct 2019 Nov 2019 Dec 2019 Jan 2020 Feb 2020 March 2020 April 2020 May 2020 June 2020 July 2020 Aug 2020 Sept 2020 Oct 2020 Nov 2020 Dec 2020 Jan 2021 Feb 2021 March 2021

Source

Luxembourg Central Bank (BCL)

+24%

Rise in the total amount lent by Luxembourg banks for real estate located in the grand duchy between the fourth quarters of 2019 and 2020 (to €3.9bn).

The figure rose by 67% between 2016 and 2020.

€0trn

€1trn

€2trn

€3trn

€4trn

€5trn

€6trn

Source

Luxembourg Central Bank (BCL)

* Figures for the last day of each month.

26,059

TOP ONLINE PURCHASES DURING PANDEMIC 85% of Luxembourg consumers shopped online during the first lockdown, March-May 2020. Here were the most popular items.

Source

Statec

Clothing

Total number of employees at Luxembourg banks on 31 December 2020, a figure that has been more or less steady for the past five years.

About half are Luxembourg residents.

Restaurant delivery Books, magazines and printed newspapers Furniture and home accessories

Source

Computers, tablets, mobile phones and accessories

Luxembourg Central Bank (BCL)

Sporting goods Toys and children’s items Medicines and dietary supplements Meal kits White goods and household appliances Cleaning and personal care products Films Music Bicycles, mopeds or other vehicles and accessories 0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

“ We represent nearly 50% of the employees in the financial centre, but they want to push us aside.”

Roberto Mendolia

The chairman of the Aleba financial sector trade union, on Aleba’s battle to regain its charter to negotiate collective bargaining agreements.

Read the full interview on delano.lu or paperjam.lu.

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE INDICATOR The central bank’s indicator* has regained the ground lost during the height of the pandemic.

Source

Central Bank of Luxembourg (BCL)

5 0

-15 -20 -25

Jan

Feb

2018

March

April

May

2019

June

July

2020

Aug

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

2021

* The indicator represents “the difference between the percentages of respondents giving positive and negative replies” across four components. Seasonally adjusted.

Photo

-10

Romain Gamba (archives)

-5

17

COMPANY BANKRUPTCIES The number of Luxembourg firms declared insolvent each month.

Source

Registre de Commerce/Statec

JUNE 2021

180 150 120 90 60 30 0 Feb

Jan

March

April

May

June

2018

July

2019

Aug

2020

Sept

Oct

Nov

Dec

Oct

Nov

Dec

2021

COMPANY LIQUIDATIONS The number of Luxembourg firms definitively wound up each month.

Source

Registre de Commerce/Statec

200

150

100

50

0 Jan

Feb

March

April

May

June

2018

July

2019

Aug

2020

Sept

2021

EMPLOYEES OUT SICK Absences from work* due to illness or disability, select EU countries.

Source

FRANCE

1,200,000

NETHERLANDS

200,000

4,369,200

160,000

1,000,000 4,000,000

761,400

800,000 600,000

BELGIUM 153,200

30,000

20

4Q

3Q

20

20

20

20 2Q

20

1Q

4Q

20

19

19

20

19

20

3Q

20

20

20

20

20

4Q

3Q

20

20

20

20 2Q

19

20

1Q

4Q

20

19

19

20

3Q

20

20 1Q

20

20

20

4Q

3Q

20

20 20

2Q

19

20

1Q

20

19

20

4Q

3Q

20

19

2Q

20

19

* Workers aged 20 to 64, seasonally adjusted; 2020 German data not available.

19

3,000

20 1Q

20

20

20

4Q

3Q

20

20

20

20 2Q

1Q

20

19

19 4Q

20

19

20

3Q

20

19 20

4,700

4,000

29,800 25,000

100,000

1Q

6,000 5,000

157,200

2Q

1Q

4Q

35,000

6,400

LUXEMBOURG

7,000 35,200

150,000

19

20

20

20

20

20

20 2Q

20

1Q

3Q

19

20

19 4Q

20

19 3Q

20

19

20

20

2Q

IRELAND

40,000

2Q

200,000

100,000

1Q

20

20 4Q

20

20 3Q

20

20 2Q

1Q

20

20

19

19 4Q

20

19

20

20

3Q

1Q

2Q

20

19

3,000,000

150,200

876,400

2Q

4,039,000

150,000

20

EU 27

5,000,000

Eurostat

MAY 2021

18

Claude Wiseler has gone from CSV faction leader to PM candidate to party president

Conversation

Conversation Claude Wiseler

“I feel the weight of responsibility” Rocked by a leadership crisis and the resignation of president Frank Engel, the CSV elected Claude Wiseler in April 2021 as his successor. He is faced with the task of uniting and renewing the party in the run-up to the 2023 elections.

Interview CORDULA SCHNUER Photos MIKE ZENARI

First of all, congratulations. groups we have already created. And I Did you have any doubt about want to renew the party, its personnel, the outcome of this vote? giving the opportunity to a few young I had no doubt about the outcome from people to take charge. We have to prethe moment when I was the only candi- pare the next generation. date. But I had doubts about my candidature. I decided two years ago that I You’ve been the head of the CSV’s would make politics because I love pol- faction in parliament, you were the itics, but that I would just concentrate party’s lead candidate in the 2018 on one or two topics which interest me. elections. What does this job mean?

Being in difficulties as a party, we had a It means a lot. Not the fact of being preslot of discussions and people said to me: ident, but there is a job to do, which is “Do it, we support you.” I felt that the not an easy one. We are where we are, party needed someone who could put and I know where we have to go. And the pieces back together. That was the that’s a long way. It’s a challenge, which first thing. The second thing was that I is tempting for me. I have to transform set the condition to put together a team a lot--transform our contents, transform I would like to work with. Politics is a our way of working, transform our party tough job. I wanted to have the possibil- structures, get new people in. This is very ity to get people around me whom I trust, challenging. I feel the weight of responwho trust me. I succeeded in doing that. sibility, but it’s not about the office.

There was maybe an impression that you are a president despite yourself.

I like the job. It’s not what I had planned, but I accepted it with pleasure because I feel that it’s a good solution for the party and for me. It gives me a different perspective of what my goals are. If you held polls now, I don’t think we would have good results. My goal is to get these numbers up, reorganising the party, getting a new discussion culture into the party, taking everybody on board, not just taking decisions as the president.

Creating a new dynamism and a new enthusiasm is absolutely necessary if we want to win these next elections. The second goal is that I want a renewal of our ideas, which will begin with working

CV Beginnings Claude Wiseler joined the CSV in 1984 while working as a teacher.

Climbing the ladder Between 1995 and 2000, he was the CSV’s secretary general.

He was first voted into the Chamber of Deputies in 1999 and was part of the government under Jean-Claude Juncker from 2004 to 2013.

Post-Juncker era After the CSV moved into the opposition in 2013, Wiseler succeeded Juncker as the head of the party’s group in parliament and in the 2018 elections became the CSV’s pick for premier.

As a group, you issued a candidacy statement, setting out what you want to happen in the next few weeks and months. You pledge to be a centrist party for everyone. What will make you stand out in a political landscape that is fairly centrist to begin with?

In our history, we have always had this specificity that we try to get everybody in and find solutions for the whole of society. Our policies aren’t easy to explain, because we have to compromise. It’s more difficult to explain what we are doing, because we can’t be specific to one group of people and have just one goal. This was the problem I had in the last campaign, because we tried to make a plan for Luxembourg that included everything. And we didn’t succeed in having a message in four or five sentences, four or five ideas, which we could put forward. It was too complex. We have to change our communication, focusing on the main points, which everybody can understand.

Is it too complex or do you have to compromise so much that you end up with no strong position?

That’s the problem of being a people’s party. You have to compromise to find solutions for everybody, making your message less clear. But it’s our DNA. We have to find solutions for society, not just for one group in society.

Looking at some of the topics, the environment, digitalisation, circular economy and qualitative growth are all also on the government and other

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parties’ agendas. What do you want slowing down demographic growth and to offer that is different? changing this growth into qualitative We want to offer solutions. For housing, growth, which is possible if you choose for example, everybody’s talking about the industries well, the companies which it, everybody knows there’s a problem, you want to try to get to Luxembourg. but there’s no result. You have to open And I think that especially Mr [Etienne] the building perimeter. You can talk about Schneider, the former minister of the housing but if you don’t do this kind of economy, didn’t choose. thing, it doesn’t work. Introduce a tax, a real tax, on houses that are unoccupied The pandemic has dominated politics and buildable land that isn’t used because for a year and a half. In a survey people hold it back for speculation. For published in March, 80% of people all the topics you just mentioned, every- said that they trust the government body knows what they mean, but you to lead the country out of the crisis. have to transform them into reality, and Three-quarters said they were satisfied with the government’s that’s what we want to do. work during the last three months.

How difficult is it being an opposition In regards to housing, you could party in this environment? argue that the CSV was in power It’s very difficult for every opposition for 34 years, pre-2013. Did the party party when you are in a crisis like this, miss the signs or the opportunity because crises are always a time for govto anticipate this crisis?

We made a lot of errors, not realising ernments. Knowing this, our position is how fast the growth would be. It was that we have to make it clear when we difficult to anticipate that we would have don’t agree with what the government is 15,000 to 20,000 people every year com- doing, putting the finger on where we ing in. Nobody expected that. So yes, see that there is a lack of coordinated there was not enough anticipation, there policy. And that’s the case for the moment. were a lot of errors made at that time. The government has a lot of delay in putBut now we know what’s happening. ting in place the strategy for rapid antiAnd this kind of development isn’t sus- gen self-tests. This could have been done tainable for the next 10 or 20 years. We three months ago. The purchasing of have to implement two kinds of policies. these tests could have been done earlier.

Firstly, develop housing to catch up with The same thing with the [digital] green the backlog we have. And the second is certificate. We are just waiting until the [European] Commission comes out with such a certificate, such an application.

Why not use the time now to make preparations? On the [digital] green certificate you have [the option of] being vaccinated, DOUBLE ELECTION YEAR that you have antibodies, or a PCR test, In June 2023, nationals and but people should not be excluded from registered foreign voters will elect doing things. You have to put in place a new leadership for the country’s 102 communes. Just four months later, testing scheme where those who don’t in October, Luxembourgers will have the green certificate can take a rapid head to the polls to elect their test on site. This needs preparation and parliament, paving the way for the next government to take office until we’re losing time.

2028. Wiseler says any discussion about who will lead the CSV into the elections is premature and that he didn’t become party president to get a second shot at the prime minister position. The double election year is a challenge for parties in how they draw up their lists of candidates as well as managing campaign funds and resources. “It has its difficulties,” Wiseler stated during the interview.

“It’s a lot of work and it costs a lot of money,” he said, adding the party would have to recruit administrative staff to manage.

You’ve also said that you don’t want to oppose the government’s policies in principle, but only where you disagree with them.

On 80% of the texts in parliament we vote the same as the majority. There are only 20% of texts--which are, of course, big political texts--where we have other positions. But we do constructive policy.

We work in the committee and a lot of improvements to these texts are made

based on our proposals. And if we didn’t support the government, the text could never be voted at such a fast pace. We disagree at the end on the content, but, nevertheless, we help the government to get a text.

One of the big questions about the crisis is who’s going to pay for it?

Your predecessor floated support for a wealth and inheritance tax, which he then later had to apologise for. What is the future of this debate?

The future of this debate will come with the next budget. For the moment, we are in a specific situation. We know and accept that there will be deficits. But this deficit policy can’t become normality. You can run this deficit policy for two or three years to restart the economy, but you have to get back to a balance. Otherwise, you will run the country into a deficit it will never come back from. I expect from the government to plan now how it will turn the situation around. The restart of the economy doesn’t go together with tax increases in the next years--not just for companies, but also for persons, because you’re taking away their purchasing power and if we take that away, we won’t get this restart. But what’s necessary in state spending and what isn’t, where can we save in the budget and where not? These questions must be posed now.

The crisis is also seen as a catalyst to have fundamental discussions about the kind of world that we want to live in. How do you begin having talks that go right to our core?

We have to begin by starting the discussion. Everybody says, we have to discuss, but the discussion isn’t taking place. We have asked for an orientation debate in parliament to make a start, to get to a point where every party, I hope, will say we can’t just go back to what was before as soon as possible. The next step is to say what this means and what we expect.

Another step of the discussion is to say that in Europe, and also in Luxembourg, we want to be more autonomous, because the crisis has shown that being dependent on China or India for some essential things is dangerous. What does ‘being autonomous’ mean? They are difficult questions, but it’s just the right moment at the end of the crisis to ask them.

Claude Wiseler

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“ We have to be ready as an alternative and for the moment, we are not.”

The CSV must be a party for everyone, Wiseler says, even if that risks leaving it without a clear message

Conversation Claude Wiseler

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During the speech you gave at the party congress in April, you made it sound as though the coalition is brittle.

That’s my opinion. For the last seven years, every time a tough decision came up, it was resolved by putting more money in. It was an easy way of resolving problems. But we are coming to a point now where our financial situation doesn’t allow this anymore. You have a certain amount of money, it’s not enough for everything, you have to make choices.

Philosophically, the three partners in government have big differences. And that, for sure, will put in place some tensions. We have to be ready as an alternative and for the moment, we are not.

Looking forward to 2023, how do you see the landscape of voters changing?

We have more than 50,000 new voters every five years. The big challenge for a party like the CSV is to be credible for these new voters--young people voting for the first time, but also a lot of people having been naturalised, coming from other political horizons, not knowing who we are, not knowing our history, just knowing Xavier Bettel as prime minister and us as an opposition party. We have to be near those people, and we haven’t opened our party enough.

You want the party to become more diverse, more multilingual.

How difficult is it to address the international community?

It’s difficult because you have language barriers. If you have a group of people where one person is talking Portuguese, the other English, the other French, that makes it difficult to have a common language. I want one or two people in the new national committee to be responsible for relations with different commu-

Claude Wiseler Party president

Elisabeth Margue Party co-president

Paul Galles Vice president

Anne Logelin Vice president

Christophe Hansen General secretary

Stéphanie Weydert General secretary

Martine Hansen Parliamentary bloc leader

Gilles Roth Parliamentary bloc leader

nities. We have to make clear that we care about the problems these communities face, which are different from one community to the next. That’s a lot of organisational work. Everybody has to play their part.

Do you see any scope for the question of whether foreigners can vote in national elections being revisited?

Not for the moment. No party is prepared to start this discussion again. We ran this campaign in the referendum saying ‘no’ to voting, but I proposed the law opening access to becoming a Luxembourger. Félix Braz, who was minister of justice at the time, accepted to take on this law. We have to look at the results.

There is a huge number of non-Luxembourgers accessing nationality from that point on. It’s a way to integrate, learning Luxembourgish, even if you don’t speak it perfectly. At the time, the referendum started a lot of discussions, which weren’t good for the country. All these discussions about identity, about what being a Luxembourger is, what our language is.

They’re important questions, but they were put in a way that wasn’t positive.

Let’s not start that again.

What role do local chapters have in getting people involved, since non-nationals can vote and run in municipal elections?

We have to open our lists to the international community. It’s a necessity. It’s obvious that we have to do it. The problem is we have to find the people. We have two and a half years, looking for people who could be successful and getting them on our local lists, because they have their place there.

A lot of politics happens on a local level.

Of course. And those are the next elections. I said at the beginning that one of my main goals is to renew the party, not just in alternative ideas, but also in changing to a new generation. I have to use these local elections to get that half done. And that’s why we’ve changed the statutes of our party. Normally, if you put together a list for national elections, you have to be done six months before the elections. I want to wait for the local elections before putting together national lists, because I will see what results young people and new people will have in local elections and then taking the ones who have performed well and putting them on the national lists, giving a chance to young people to use the local elections to take the next steps at national level and hoping to be successful.

CSV

Do you see the government coalition-the DP, LSAP and déi Gréng-- agreeing in this discussion?

The crisis has made clear for everybody that some changes are needed, even in the majority. This kind of discussion will take place. When you’re in government, you’re in charge of the immediate future, of what happens now. When you’re in the opposition, you have, let’s say, the luxury of being freer to think about tomorrow and the day after.

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JUNE 2021

CSV LEADERSHIP In April the CSV took the unusual step of doubling up on its party leadership posts. The idea, Claude Wiseler says, is to give new faces prominence and to make the party more youthful.

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Gilles Feith took on the role as Luxair CEO in June 2020

Luxair CEO: “We will fly on” Despite pressures across the airline industry, Luxair CEO Gilles Feith--who took on the role one year ago--sees plenty of opportunities for the airline to reinvent itself and be a force of positive change.

Interview NATALIE A. GERHARDSTEIN Photos MIKE ZENARI

If you could describe your first year as Luxair CEO in one word what would it be?

I have different words in mind, but the first word was ‘perseverance’. That’s also something which I have like deeply ingrained in my character... perseverance is what we need here, basically to just keep going when you have these really adverse conditions.

Perseverance is also a very difficult thing to [have] when you don’t see the end of it. It’s like crisis management: you have to keep going, but you don’t know how hard and for how long you have to push. This also leads me to one of the books I would like to associate with the Luxair story. Simon Sinek wrote The Infinite Game, and, basically, running a company like Luxair is like keeping it flying forever, making it self-sustainable... You must be ethical, you must look at the environment, you must be social... if not, you will stumble... And that’s actually how I see that you can get out of this crisis. Everybody has to understand and to persevere.

That’s why one of the main things I introduced into the company here is transparency. I want to be transparent with how we--all together--get out of this situation.

Let’s compare it to a flywheel: basically, you start pushing it--and you have to push hard in the beginning because you have to get out of the situation--but then, afterwards, the wheel gets quicker and quicker, and it starts to auto-rotate.

But that push? We’re still doing it today, every factor. It would be easier to just and nobody would have expected that. wait and see. If you don’t persevere, you In December, we said, ‘Okay, now we’re don’t have the effort part to go on. in spring ’21, everything will be fine’, but it wasn’t. We flew less in January and You’ve given us some insight into February than in the months of Septem- how Luxair was impacted at the start ber, October and so on... but we kept of 2021, but what are the projections, going. Since the beginning, we achieved now that we’re heading into the our cost base on the flights we made, but summer months? that only comes with perseverance. You What we see today is that leisure is comhave to constantly adjust the network, ing back. People are reassured because Luxair chose to go deeper in its quality DNA and offer maximum security and safety to all passengers. In the hotels we offer full testing, and we have a safety concept which every hotel has to sign...

We are very flexible also on the booking CV side... People start to notice [this], and Education they fly a lot more with us. We even see Haute École Groupe ICHEC – ISC Saint-Louis – ISFSC, Brussels: customers we didn’t have before... Whereas master’s degree, sciences the Luxembourg people know Luxair, commerciales et financières – and many expats know Luxair as an airRévisorat (1997-2001) line, they don’t know LuxairTours, and Career they start to see that this is actually a cool Luxair Group, CEO (June 2020-current) thing, where you don’t have to worry about anything, you get the full package.

Ministry of foreign and European affairs, head of cabinet to the Then again, we have the airline, where minister of defence (2018-2020) we have 11 small Q400s, and business CTIE, director (2014-2018), deputy travel is very, very low. Some companies director (2010-2014) start because they see the benefit of faceMinistry of the civil service and to-face. Then... some routes, like Munich… administrative reform, senior civil there’s no connecting to go from there service member (2007-2010) to somewhere else. And because the airPost Luxembourg, management line industry is more heavily impacted position (2003-2007) by the covid measures than any other Arthur Andersen Business industry.

We had passengers who wanted Consulting, senior audit assistance to go to Milan, who didn’t get the test in (2001-2003)

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Conversation Gilles Feith

Conversation

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NEW DESTINATIONS FOR 2021 time. We refunded the tickets, no problem. But then they simply took the car and drove there, no questions asked...

Testing is important, but it is posing us a problem. We choose to integrate it into our packages, for example, but this also has a cost which goes on to our margin.

But that’s how it is now, so we have to constantly adapt... [For] 2021 and 2022, there’s one word which will frame this: diversification. I have to diversify the network and see what works... But if you diversify, that’s one thing, but afterwards you have to consolidate again.

Let’s talk about some of those routes.

Some routes planned for 2020, such as Manchester, have been impacted.

But you’ve also launched several other new destinations...

Manchester is a good comparison. We started Manchester--and I still believe in Manchester--but [it]’s a route which is also dependent on how Virgin is operating, because it’s their hub. Also [with] Brexit, that means that we don’t have fifth-freedom rights, so we cannot land in the UK, take passengers and fly somewhere else in the UK, which would be a cool thing to combine Manchester with Edinburgh or whatever, which reduces [the] exposure on those routes.

My whole strategy, also for our pilots and all the people working at Luxair, is to do as much as possible, and not just wait till this is over because that will kill you for sure. We were looking at new routes... It’s not an easy thing, just to launch a route takes effort from many people at Luxair... It is not the CEO who does that, it is only the people who do it.

Dubai was a big success... it’s really at the end of the reach of our planes, so we

“ Nothing here is done by me alone.”

Luxair La Rochelle (France), Toulon (France), Bologna (Italy), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Bucharest (Romania), Oslo (Norway), Belgrade (Serbia), Rostock (Germany), Usedom (Germany/Poland), Krakow (Poland) LuxairTours Tunis (Tunisia), Tivat (Montenegro), Podgorica (Montenegro), Thessaloniki (Greece), Santorini (Greek island) Mykonos (Greek island)

had to check how many passengers we can take there... We launched it in February to test it, and the flight sold out in one hour and a half. We were blown away.

But that rotation cost us an awful lot of money. I will not say the amount, but that’s a very big financial exposure... it’s a little bit of gamble, but we believed in it. It’s an expensive operation because we have two crews who sleep there, then come back the next day and so on. That’s why we also continue, to launch it as of 30 September, with the World Expo. It will be a success as well... People want to go to the World Expo, to warm places in the winter.

And do you know the business-leisure split here?

It’s mainly leisure. We have two phenomena: one is that it shifted from business, connecting and leisure, the mix went to, I’d say, 80% leisure. The other shift is that people book very late which, combined with the regulations in the EU to cancel [and] protect the slots, is a very hard thing for us to manage because we lost some slots because we have to cancel at least three weeks or four weeks in advance, given the slot regulation, and people don’t book four weeks in advance.

So, it’s a gamble.

Have there been other considerations to further extend routes outside of Europe, such as Dubai--even if just for special events, like the expo?

We’re going to have some surprises for the winter and next year. I think we have some opportunities to deliver some really cool, innovative things to the Luxembourg market which has not been there

before... We’re going to bring some very new concepts. Demand is shifting, so we have to offer the whole thing.

Could you tell us more?

I’ll reveal one. We’re thinking about surprise getaways for weekends, for example, with very attractive prices, at very short notice.

Let’s switch gears then... the airline industry tends to be controversial because of its carbon footprint, but are there ways in which Luxair is trying to offset this?

I won’t reveal too much now, [but] I’m preparing to have a concept. For me, the environment is a very important thing.

And this brings me back to The Infinite Game: no company can make their business [at the expense] of nature or people...

This is not acceptable anymore in Europe in these times... There we have to see what aviation can do... you cannot greenwash aviation, but you can do what you need to do to be as correct as possible. I would love to invest because aviation is a very technology-driven business and innovation leads to a thing where aviation gets cleaner each year. But that means aviation must be sustainable, for the environment, from an investment point of view, and for people. That’s why I always said flying should not get cheaper.

If you fly for a price, let’s say €10, and you have €8.5 taxes on one leg and take two [legs] back and forth, you already lose on airport taxes... I would not buy meat that costs €5 a kilo because that’s totally irresponsible. It’s the same discussion. Flying should not be a convenience, it should be an experience, create added value... I don’t want to stigmatise any industry, but there is a lot to do in many other industries. Aviation has already done a lot and is already compensating for its CO2, largely. I’m working on this.

I’m conscious this is a problem, and we’re looking at what we can do to be responsible in that field.

Do you think the health crisis will continue to impact the way people travel?

Definitely. I’d be very naive not to think so. Aviation will change... I think there will be a reduction by at least 30% in business travel because these small meetings, you will not do them anymore.

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Gilles Feith

Feith shares a Luxair Tiktok dancing video which at the time of publication had reached around 90,000 views

Also, there will maybe be fewer people including Tiktok. Is this also to capture of our pilots, crews and all the people in who will fly... Your delegation will be a different demographic? the airline are very proud of what they five people instead of ten. Also, the fre- Yes and no. We’re 3,000 people in this do. They are [our] best ambassadors.

With Sumo, we wanted to develop a quency will be reduced. [But] if you do company. One of my aims is that the a Zoom interview, it’s not the same 3,000 people are proud to work here, mood... it is not a marketing push we because you don’t have the interaction, understand what we do, and that we have needed. We wanted to have people feel the human factor... so it will not disap- a culture of ‘we are Luxair’. That’s one of fresh again, light again. And this was the pear completely. my big aims. It may be cheesy, but it’s a mood we wanted to develop… for our On the leisure side there’s also a shift little bit like what Southwest did: the clients and internally. Because, also, because people also get more eco-con- people are happy to work at Southwest, imagine you work in a company where scious, more individual. We have to and I want people to be happy to work you don’t see the future, you have a salbroaden our customer base, and diversify at Luxair. This is why one of the other ary freeze... that’s also why one of my our offer, individualise our offer... We’ve words I thought about is ‘together’. Noth- jobs is to reassure all our people that, yes, taken the opportunity of this covid situ- ing here is done by me alone, or anybody we will fly on. It’s a culture thing, inside ation to invest heavily in IT, new prod- alone, we achieve this together. It is this the company and outside the company. ucts. We’re going to launch in June, togetherness that will also help me get We have to look into the bright future. hopefully, an active holiday concept where Luxair out of this crisis...

I told people, ‘If you want to share we will offer full guided tours with coaches and everything. This will be something something, do it.’ Crews told me [they] very new because there are a lot of peo- wanted a bit more freedom with hair, ple [who] do biking and hiking in the tattoos or earrings, and we developed Canaries and so on, and we will organise the ‘work as you are’ concept, where peothis so people don’t have to worry, because ple get a little freedom. We’re one of the a lot of people don’t have time anymore. first airlines in the world to allow [this] Unfortunately, in Luxembourg, you need because that’s how we are. That’s how to work a lot to sustain your living, and our society is... If you put people in a cage, that kills some of the time you would [they] are not happy... Why should you invest into looking into travel... we have not be allowed to wear some jewellery, to offer the perfect service. or have a small tattoo? We told them we don’t have a lot of money to do marketLuxair seems to have really boosted ing or communication, we have to do its marketing efforts over the last year some. That’s why we also wanted to let or so, also through social media, people share their views because most

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“This is the first time that all of the branches will be gathered on one single platform, so that the client can easily access them,” explains Ralph Zeimet. All 24-hour hotlines are reachable within the app, including the Home Assistance service to solve household issues.

A gateway for clients to access all insurances and services, digital and personal coexist in this evolution: the application is a complementary way of communicating between the client, the agent and LALUX, making the client more autonomous while maintaining close contact with their agent.

“This is the first time that all of the branches will be gathered on one single platform, so that the client can easily access them.”

Ralph Zeimet Digital Marketing Manager

Transparency Get a clear view on all insurance contracts

?

Assistance Benefit from a 24-hour assistance in case of emergency or need

Proximity Guaranteed contact with the agent who remains involved in the process

Accessibility Access all the useful documents related to contracts (tax certificate, insurance certificate, driver accompanied driver attestation or civil liability for dogs, etc.)

load Down on P P easyA

lu

lalux. www.

JUNE 2021

Tracking the progress of claims

Business report

JUNE 2021

30

20,000

Recovery course

15,000 TOTAL JOBSEEKERS BY AGE GROUP FROM 2010-2021 Unemployment remains stable in Luxembourg despite the financial crisis. Keeping long-term unemployment levels down will require upskil­ ling the working population.

Source

10,000

Adem

30+ 25-29 20-24 Under 20s

5,000

2011

2012

2013

2014

2015

Education & training

1 Adult education New centre to help upskill employees for the workplace demands of tomorrow. p. 32

2 Mental health

training

JUNE 2021

The economic crisis has resulted in new needs and opportunities for training in Luxembourg. Delano examines three elements: upskilling the unemployed, mental health training and support, and new immersive training models.

31

Data suggests that working conditions are deteriorating in Luxembourg. p. 34

3 New training methods VR and AR is being used to train staff faster at a time when in-person training may be off the table. p. 36

20,000

15,000

10,000

5,000

2016

2017

2018

2019

2020

32

Education & training

Business report

1 1

“We will have a social crisis with this pandemic”

“We will also have a social crisis with this pandemic,” says Pierre Reding, advisor for the national education ministry. Reding is coordinating the establishment of a Luxembourg Université Populaire, a centre bringing together all state-supported adult education facilities that work on reskilling and upskilling people so they can find meaningful work.

“We have a lot of proposals in the domain of adult education and lifelong learning, but they are not connected. So, adults have to go here and there, and also when they are looking for a new job, they need some upskilling or reskilling. Until now we haven’t had the tradition of the Scandinavians and the Germans, with their ‘folk school’,” explains Reding.

Due to launch in spring 2021, the project was delayed “because of the pandemic”.

Nevertheless, things are happening, assures Reding. The ministry has already hired 11 orientation agents who will be based out of the ministry’s former offices in rue Aldringen. “This will be the consulting and information centre for everybody who has questions about adult education,” he explains. The first learning centre will open in Belval for the September 2021 school year. Two more centres will follow

Pierre Reding

in Luxembourg City, in 2022, and in the Nordstad (Diekirch or Ettelbruck).

Two tracks “There will be two types of offers: professional and academic upskilling or reskilling,” and personal interest courses.

Language learning, which will be coordinated by the Institut National des Langues, the country’s main language training body, will be central to both tracks. The professional element will focus on identifying and filling gaps in a person’s academic career. It will also host the Diplome+, a flexible vocational programme launched in 2020 for high school graduates who are unable to find work.

It is hoped that this first segment will help plug the growing skills gap, in particular for IT skills. Eurostat data shows that in 2018, 64% of large companies and 56% of

small and medium sized firms hiring ICT specialists reported difficulties filling positions. A survey of members of Luxembourg’s industry federation, Fedil, earlier this year found the most sought-after IT profiles were for developers, information engineers and system administrators, while demand was growing for full stack developers, business intelligence experts, security systems and IT project management roles.

Meanwhile, in the lifelong learning segment of the centre, Reding expects to see a broad range of new short courses spanning anything from citizens’ rights and home construction to sustainable agriculture and well-being. And there will also be regular webinar and workshops on different themes. While there will be some new elements, Reding stresses: “The Université Populaire will be a quality label for existing offers. We do not want to destroy existing initiatives.”

1

OECD Employment Outlook 2020

Words JESS BAULDRY

NIGHT SCHOOL

Participation in evening classes for adults organised by the government.

Source

Statec

20,000

15,000

10 000

5,000

0 2014/2015

2015/2016

2016/2017

2017/2018

2018/2019

Secondary studies for adults

Language classes

Various courses

Technical secondary studies for adults

Typewriting, stenography, business, accounting and computer science

Civic courses

Matic Zorman

Unemployment in eurozone countries is expected to reach a 9.5% peak 1 in the second quarter of 2021.

There were 18,689 jobseekers registered with Luxembourg’s Adem jobs agency in March 2021. Training will be critical to avoid numbers spiralling.

Photo

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34

Education & training

Business report

2 2 Mental health

Patrizia Thiry

sion compared to 2019. Thiry believes this is because so few people are in the workplace and in normal times, the majority of contacts are made through HR referrals. Her suspicions are, however, backed up by figures from the 2020 chamber of employees’ quality of work survey, showing a gradual increase in private-professional life conflicts, in physical health problems and burnout, and a decline in general wellbeing.

The cause is the increased workload, “because people are sick, in quarantine or on extraordinary leave because the kids don’t have school.” Added to this, Health training the demands of remote working: sin- The survey also notes a decline in workgle-parent families juggling work and place training, although here Thiry believes homeschool and the isolation of young employers are stepping up. “For the professionals working from “their moment, they are doing a lot of training 25-square-metre studios.” It is a challeng- around homeworking and health measing time and yet ASTF did not record a ures,” she says. Demand for ASTF trainspike in contacts for burnout or depres- ing in stress management and personal EMPLOYEE SENTIMENT National worker survey shows deteriorating work conditions.

Survey participants were asked to issue a score from 0 to 100.

Source

Chambre des Salariés Quality of Work Index

100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 2014

2015

2016

Physical health problems General wellbeing

2017

Burnout

2018

2019

Private-professional life conflicts

Prevalence of workplace training

2020

development, among other things, has grown so much “we don’t know where to put them in our agendas,” says Thiry.

Employers have also found their own solutions. UBS, a bank with offices in Luxembourg, focused on a combination of tools and resources supporting physical, mental, financial and social wellbeing. Among them are a mindfulness app offering sleep, nutrition and physical activity coaching, and a confidential service with access to health professionals, lawyers, financial specialists and counsellors. Additional training and tools were given to line managers to help support team wellbeing. The solutions have been well used: some 17,000 employees registered for the app and completed 185,00 meditation sessions.

Relaxation pods Staff at PwC Luxembourg would have made good use of the relaxation pods and sleep room installed in early 2020, had they not been closed because of the pandemic. Nevertheless, the firm, which counts around 3,000 employees, stepped up when it became clear that the second wave of the pandemic presented increased challenges for staff. In January 2021, it launched “Ready, Set, Recharge”, a sixmonth wellbeing programme with mon­ thly themes and events aimed at empowering staff. Already, some 446 staff have participated in the programme.

The International School of Luxembourg spends up to 10% of its personal development budget on mental health-related support, including paying for substitute teachers. It subscribed to a mental health programme from global experts Icas and the private school introduced mental health first aid training for staff, ideas “which have been on the planning for some time, but the pandemic has really brought the need for these things to the fore,” a spokesperson said.

Words JESS BAULDRY

ASTF

The pandemic pushed conversations about mental health and the workplace out in the open. “I can tell you a lot of people are experiencing a bad period,” says Patrizia Thiry of ASTF, an occupational health outfit serving some 52,000 employees in Luxembourg.

Photo

FEBRUARY JUNE 2021

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36

Education & training

Business report

3 VR and AR

Matthieu Bracchetti

Not all are so dramatic. When we spoke in April, Virtual Rangers had just received an order for a mobile game dedicated to financial literacy training for children and young people.

“AR is definitely exploding now, with the lockdown, because everyone has a smartphone, which isn’t the case with a Yet VR is a hard sell during a pandem- VR headset,” says the entrepreneur. ic when you can’t “put VR headsets on people’s heads or put them in a room,” VR still viable Bracchetti and his team have not comsays Bracchetti.

With the market crying out for more pletely abandoned VR and the segment immersive digital training, Bracchetti continues to occupy a small niche of Virleaned back on what his team does best: tual Rangers’ training solutions. “We games. He figured out a way to switch worked with ArcelorMittal where we did out the e-learning solutions like Pow- a precise, technical crane simulator […] erPoint presentations, passive videos Before, they would train people using and quizzes for augmented reality and PowerPoint, then send them out into the gamified content that could be accessed field. There was a step missing,” he says. via smartphones. While a little unor- Despite the current issues related to shared thodox for conservative workplac- use of VR headsets, Bracchetti is confies--Bracchetti describes the approach dent that VR solutions will be viable in as “like Pokémon Go” for the office-- future for specific settings. In 2020, the the entrepreneur says that the resulting firm’s digital training solution for hospiproducts increased engagement while tal staff during a pandemic situation was lowering costs. “That’s where 30% of one of 15 to be selected and receive econour revenue last year was, with this emerg- omy ministry grants in the StartupsVsCovid19 contest for innovative solutions ing market.” to combat the health and economic crisis.

Hospital evacuation training “It’s a pandemic simulator where you have Among the immersive training projects to see how to equip yourself, how to enter Virtual Rangers has already deployed in a covid scene, how to do a patient triage Luxembourg, some--like the AR safety […] It’s something that we will deploy in course for a Luxembourg hospital--feel Luxem­bourg,” he says. like a high stakes game. “You put yourself in a situation where there’s a fire next 50% of the business to you so that you can see every proce- Training currently occupies 50% of the dure to evacuate correctly. It completely firm’s business and according to Bracchanges from traditional video. You have chetti, “it’s literally exploded”. Digital to make the right decision, or you burn marketing using AR, meanwhile, represents another emerging area related the hospital down,” he explains.

to the pandemic, demand for which is global.

Bracchetti will further test the wider market when he visits the US in June, with meetings scheduled in New York and at the Gener8tor startup platform in Wisconsin. The goal is to launch the hospital VR pandemic simulator as well as a ground-breaking game to distract young people undergoing painful treatments.

Words JESS BAULDRY

VR AND IMMERSIVE TRAINING FOR SOFT SKILLS Source The VR Advantage: how virtual reality is redefining soft skills training, PWC US

Classroom VR

E-learning

Average emotional connection felt to learning content 4.29 5.29 20.43 Time to complete training 120 min 45 min 29 min Immersive VR learning means fewer distractions and better focus How many times were you multitasking or distracted during this experience?

0.78 1.93 0.48 How many minutes do you estimate it took to get back on task?

1 2.63 0.48

Virtual Rangers

For Matthieu Bracchetti, CEO and founder of virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) agency Virtual Rangers, VR and AR-based training offer “a way of taking a boring subject and making it fun and easier to learn with gamification”.

Photo

JUNE 2021

Training with greater engagement

We ensure that everyone in our community becomes inspired, resilient and passionate about achieving what matters, anywhere in the world. www.islux.lu

Head to head

38

JUNE 2021

Cycling in the city Patrick Goldschmidt is the DP alderman in charge of traffic for the City of Luxembourg

Cycling lobby groups have taken to the streets and social media to demand better accessibility and improved safety in the capital.

There has been plenty of criticism of the cycling infrastructure in Luxembourg City recently.

Is this justified?

PATRICK GOLDSCHMIDT What does ‘justified’ mean? Of course, you can always improve things. You have to look at where the criticism comes from and also where we were 20 years ago. The impulse [to promote cycling in the capital] came in 2005 when Mr Bausch (déi Gréng) entered the council with Mr Helminger (DP) as mayor.

I think the criticism is sometimes a bit too aggressive and often not entirely fair.

We take action and then directly people say ‘that’s not enough’. There’s always a follow-up instead of praise for what we’ve done. What’s more, often, the people who launch criticism are doing so anonymously. I would rather talk around a table with people like Mr Benoy. We invited [lobby group] ProVelo to talks, but only one of them turned up, a young student. Constructive criticism is always good, it allows us to make progress. But they also have to accept if we say we can’t do that, or that project is currently being

“ We take action and then directly people say ‘that’s not enough’.”

executed or will take another two or three years. But I don’t take these attacks ­personally. I sleep well at night.

FRANÇOIS BENOY I think there has been a huge step up in quality with the new cycle lane along avenue de la Liberté, parallel to the tram tracks. Also with the refurbishment across the Viaduc and along boulevard Roosevelt. But now, it is the connection points that are missing. And I don’t see that the City of Luxembourg is making it a priority to tackle this seriously. Cycling is the most effective mode of transport for short routes in a city like Luxembourg.

PG The point is that as the city we are working with the state, and trying to create façade to façade solutions. It’s strange that I get criticised if I remove three parking spots somewhere, but if two lanes of traffic are removed from avenue de la Liberté, nobody says anything.

One particular complaint seems to be that “paint is not infrastructure”.

What can be done to improve this?

FB It is clear that paint is not infrastructure, and that’s why we need a network that allows all cyclists to reach point B from point A safely. Of course, you can’t have a secured cycle lane on every street, it’s not even necessary. But we [déi Gréng] submitted a concept that would create secured cycling lanes along the main axes so that I could safely cycle with my children. That can be done with barriers or measures to limit [motorised] traffic or by creating dedicated roads just for cyclists.

PG Oh, thanks for reminding me. We were the first commune to create d ­ edicated cycle roads.

FB A concept that we had proposed back in 2019. And in a much better way and for more logical places than what you have done.

PG Well, we have done this in a test phase that will be evaluated in the autumn. But to return to the question of paint. There

Mobility

What sort of awareness campaigns are being considered to improve safety, and are all traffic users being targeted?

PG Cyclists are the most vulnerable of traffic users. Pedestrians have their pavement. Car drivers can get annoyed, but not much is going to happen to them in a collision with a bicycle. Of course, we would have more cyclists if we improved infrastructure, but those who do cycle in the city have to pay attention. I think overall, they can cycle safely if they know their way. But all road users have to learn to use public space together.

FB Conflicts between road users arise because the infrastructure is not good enough. Where the separation is much clearer, there is less conflict.

PG We will be launching an awareness campaign in the summer, including in City mag. I’d like to do one every year, because new problems keep arising. And above all, it is the motorised vehicle users that need to be targeted. But also, in the city park, we need to look at how cyclists and pedestrians share the paths.

Mayor Polfer has said that Luxem­ bourg is a fortress city which brings its own challenges for cycling infrastructure. Is it fair to compare Luxembourg to other cities like Paris or Copenhagen, for example?

PG Comparisons can’t be made. I mean, Copenhagen is a flat city, which is advan-

“ Conflicts between road users arise because the infrastructure is not good enough.”

tageous. But maybe, in winter, it’s a bit colder. I agree we need better infrastructure, and don’t forget that, 20 years ago, hardly anyone cycled in the city. We can’t really talk about the problems of going uphill because, these days, nearly every other bicycle is an electric bike.

FB Luxembourg City is absolutely predestined to have a good cycling infrastructure. The examples we have cited are evidence of that. The statement from Mme Polfer, that it is a fortress city and therefore not a cycling city, shows exactly how she thinks about mobility. And as mayor, she is responsible for the current mobility policy in the city.

PG But she supports all the efforts we are undertaking.

Moderated by DUNCAN ROBERTS Photos MIKE ZENARI

JUNE 2021

are some places where you can’t create a truly separate cycle infrastructure because we have a series of roadworks planned over the next two years.

FB For instance, we proposed restricting traffic in avenue Pasteur, in Limpertsberg, while still allowing accessibility for those who live and work there. It’s an ideal connecting point for the neighbourhood. But instead, we have a cycle lane that just goes halfway along the street.

PG But we went and spoke with people in Limpertsberg numerous times, and we agreed to create the cycle lane halfway, so that we at least had a starting point.

And we had to retain the bus route. Just because the tram is there doesn’t mean we can get rid of the bus.

FB But not every street needs a bus. There are buses along avenue de la Faïencerie and avenue Victor Hugo. It’s about setting priorities.

39

François Benoy is the party leader for déi Gréng on the Luxembourg City municipal council

Essay

JUNE 2021

40

Seismic: will global corporate tax rate work?

US president Joe Biden’s proposed reforms have given fresh momentum to calls for a global consensus on taxing company profits. Even Pierre Gramegna seems to be on board. But is creating a more level playing field really fair and desirable?

Words DUNCAN ROBERTS Illustrations SALOMÉ JOTTREAU

As the world strives to recover from the impact of the covid pandemic, finance ministers are exploring ways to reboot their economies. Several countries--most notably the United States under the fresh stewardship of president Joe Biden--have even announced bold infrastructure investment programmes as a way of providing much needed economic bounce. But that will require finding additional income through the implementation of stringent fiscal policies.

Raising income taxes that would additionally burden the general populace after they have gone through close to two years of hurt is anathema to most politicians.

Biden’s solution is to seek redress from the corporate world, while trying not to punish the middle classes who own the small

businesses that successive presidents have tax of 21%. This would end what she called claimed are the backbone of the country. a “30-year race to the bottom” and ensure So, he eschewed plans that had been mulled a more level playing field that would spur over to increase payroll tax contributions “innovation, growth and prosperity”. for social security, for example.

The backlash was swift. Fortune magBiden is going after big business and azine said the plan would “create an Opecthose companies that use base erosion and like tax cartel” that “amounts to tax profit shifting (Beps) to minimise tax on policy imperialism, trampling over the their profits. Biden wants, for example, to economic sovereignty of small export-oridouble the US minimum rate for global ented countries”. Foreign Policy said it intangible low-taxed income, or Gilti, from was a bad idea whose likely failure would 10.5% to 21%--the current rate of corporate not only embarrass Biden, “but could also tax in the States, which the president also empower countries seeking to undermine wants to increase to 28%. the liberal international order, especially A cornerstone of the Biden adminis- China and Russia”. tration’s proposals has been the call, outlined by treasury secretary Janet Yellen in Inclusive framework a speech to the Chicago Council on Global So, where does that leave the Inclusive Affairs, for a global corporate minimum Framework efforts of the Organisation

Tax

for Economic Co-operation and DevelAmong experts in Luxembourg there opment and the G20? Negotiations, which also seems to be agreement that Biden’s have been ongoing since 2019 and now backing was crucial to the negotiations. involve over 139 countries, are seeking “Reaching consensus is going to be a bit to implement measures targeting both easier, of course, with the US on board,” Beps and a global minimum tax. says Bart Van Droogenbroek, partner Well, the Biden announcement has and tax leader at EY. “Maybe the US will certainly given the negotiations fresh want to discuss taxation of the digital momentum and on 4 May International economy in Europe, or through the rest Monetary Fund managing director Kris- of the world. So, there may still be a talina Georgieva lent her institution’s chance that consensus could not be weight behind the idea. Saying the IMF reached. But I think the international was “particularly optimistic” that agree- community has a good opportunity here.” ment could be reached this year, Geor- KPMG’s partner and head of tax Sébasgieva argued that it was urgently needed tien Labbé says that although negotiato avoid, “down the road, the risk of spi- tions among the 139 countries at OECD/ ralling into a chaotic tax or trade war G20 level “remain confidential at this where everyone loses”. And sources say stage”, the “shift in position of the new that representatives leading the OECD US administration towards multilaternegotiations are confident an agreement alism” and the content of Yellen’s speech could even be tabled by mid-summer. “have been globally seen as having an

accelerated impact on the prospects of reaching an agreement”.

However, Labbé stresses that the implementation of measures reallocating country taxing rights and establishing minimum corporate taxation really “only constitute an additional step” to multiple recent achievements in reforming the international tax system. These include EU antitax avoidance directives ATAD I and ATAD II, mandatory disclosure requirements under the DAC 6 EU directive on administrative cooperation, and country-by-country reporting requirements for large multinationals.

Luxembourg’s finance minister Pierre Gramegna (DP) also appeared to come out in favour of creating a more level playing field. “We need more solidarity.

We need to break the mould of many multinationals trying to reduce their tax-

STATUTORY TOP CORPORATE INCOME TAX RATES 2020 Sources

OECD, KPMG and Tax Foundation

HIGHS AND LOWS Comoros at 50% has the highest top corporate tax rate, while Barbados is the lowest at 5.5%.

Luxembourg at 24.94% is slightly above the EU27 average of 21.47%.

Portugal at 31.5%, Germany at 29.9% and France at 28.4% have the highest in the EU. The lowest rates in the EU are Hungary at 9%, Bulgaria at 10%, and Cyprus and Ireland both have a top rate of 12.5%.

Below global average Average = 23% Above global average

JUNE 2021

41

Essay Tax

JUNE 2021

42

ation close to zero,” Gramegna told Bloomberg in an interview on 8 April.

“Luxembourg is very pleased that this discussion is taking place. The global direction is the right one.”

But, writing for The Conversation, University of Sheffield professor Sharif Mahmud Khalid says a global minimum rate will not end creative accounting.

“Yellen’s proposal is no magic bullet and it’s targeting a problem that is not what it appears.”

Small countries, specific considerations Gramegna did concede, however, that OECD/G20 INCLUSIVE Sovereign flexibility EU countries like Luxembourg or Ireland FRAMEWORK Another argument is that introducing “have specific considerations to value and Source OECD put forward that need to be taking into global minimum rates would remove the consideration.” This is a view shared by flexibility for different nations to pursue Talks are taking place on 15 measures Ireland’s finance minister, and current policies that might mitigate the impact to tackle tax avoidance, improve head of the Eurogroup, Paschal Donoof crises like the coronavirus pandemic. the coherence of international tax hoe. “I believe that small countries, and This doesn’t quite wash with Van Droogenrules and ensure a more transparent tax environment.

Ireland is one of them, need to be able broek. “The decision of how a country to use tax policy as a legitimate lever to taxes its residents and non-residents on compensate for the advantages of scale, income derived from that country is a location, resources, industrial heritage, totally sovereign decision. That’s clear.”

Countries are collaborating on the And Labbé concedes that while there and the real material and persistent advanimplementation of the Beps package have been discussions on the impact on tage that is sometimes enjoyed by larger at the OECD countries,” Donohoe said at a 21 April sovereign flexibility surrounding the prowebinar on international taxation. But posed rules, in the end they are “a globIreland, Luxembourg and the Netheral solution... that should be seen as a new lands, which has also used lower tax rates way of helping governments to preserve Countries and jurisdictions to eke out economic advantage, have all their tax base and to raise funds to finance have signed the Multilateral Instrument on Beps come out in favour, in principle at least, their investment projects”. of bringing stability to the international In any case, even those countries in the tax framework. Dutch state secretary for EU seeking to lower their rates this year finance Hans Vijlbrief was cited in the will not be too seriously impacted. France Financial Times on 14 April saying that has passed legislation that will see its corthe Biden plan was a “huge step towards porate rate progressively reduced to 25.83% finding global solutions and developing by 2022. Sweden’s new rate of 20.6%-Are lost annually due effective rules”. down from 22%--is only just below the to tax avoidance by The public sentiment is there, but sevproposed 21% threshold. That would still multinational companies eral observers think that when it comes to allow companies like Spotify to thrive in Sweden, which is a hotbed of new-econthe final furlong in the negotiations several omy entrepreneurship. countries may play hardball. In an indicaAs for affecting Luxembourg’s comtion of how Malta might react, its six MEPs broke ranks with their respective political petitiveness, Gramegna reckons that “taxnew rules. Finally, benefits need to outgroups in the European Parliament to vote ation will play less of a role in the future weigh the costs,” says Van Droogenbroek. against levying a 21% minimum tax on in attracting companies if we have a com“Otherwise there may not be such a big digital-based companies in the EU. And mon framework”. He cited the grand global consensus. And the consequences Cyprus’s finance minister Takis Klerides duchy’s AAA rating status as a draw. “Comwill be that headquarters will move to said the Yellen proposal was “impractical panies choose to establish themselves in those countries that are not part of the and makes no sense in its current form”.

Luxembourg because of its geographic framework, and then it will totally lose Indeed, how the new rules will affect location, its multilingualism which can’t its purpose. Then the dangers are high the EU is another question altogether. For be found in the same way in any other that there will even be more profit shiftcountry, the general regulatory frameyears, attempts to introduce similar tax ing, basically.” work making it easy to do business, and harmonisation have been stymied by the The other problem is that the investpotential of a veto. Labbé adds a note of its economic and political stability,” says ment in administrative oversight that’s caution. “The EU should.... be sensitive Labbé. Van Droogenbroek says that talkgoing to be required is going to be huge, ing to clients, they are much more conwith respect to timing of implementation according to Van Droogenbroek, and he and ensure appropriate guidance and overcerned about how it is possible to integrate warns against unduly burdening SMEs. “It all coordination among all the countries a company. Luxembourg’s attractiveness, will be important that the focus on the to make sure that EU companies are not he argues, is “about the total value chain, new rules remains on large multinationals, at a disadvantage.” and it’s much less about tax”. and that small and medium sized compa“Smaller countries may face a bit more nies are kept out of scope,” adds Labbé. of a challenge to implement the possible

139

90+

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44

Into the wild Delano goes foraging with Michelin-star chef René Mathieu, famous for his plant-based dishes at the La Distillerie restaurant in Bourglinster.

1 Stonecrop The stonecrop leaves are juicy, as the succulent family name suggests.

They can be found nestled among grasses, often alongside paths.

Mathieu combines them raw with artichokes and an arancini, adding some zest, but they can also be lightly fried in some olive oil, for example to go with fish.

2 Beech sprouts The young sprouts can be found this time of year right underneath beech trees. They are eaten raw, and taste “of the forest”. It’s all about the mix of flavours, as Mathieu combines them with bittercress, woodruff, dandelion blossoms and hazel shoots as a topping for chopped cucumber and strawberry mixed with cream whipped with a splash of vinegar.

Words CORDULA SCHNUER Photos ROMAIN GAMBA

Yarrow Found in grasslands and forest clearings, yarrow is packed with proteins, Mathieu says. Added raw to a stir-fry of spring vegetables, it adds a sweet, flowery flavour.

The plant can also be deep fried in batter, resembling fried sardines.

Other herbs for the spring vegetable dish include chickweed and mint.

4

“It’s a philosophy of life.

It’s happiness.”

René Mathieu

Tip s

3

g fora ing r fo

Comfrey The leaves of the comfrey plant closely resemble the poisonous foxglove and it’s crucial to know the difference. Mathieu fries the leaves in a tempura batter with a mushroom farce between two leaves, saying it tastes of sole fish. “It’s the sea in the forest.” The leaves can also be used as a wrap or juiced as a sauce.

THIEU CHEF RENÉ MA

Foraging is a skill that needs to be honed.

1 Be cautious Don’t pick what you don’t know.

Plants can closely resemble one another and it’s important to be sure you pluck the right thing.

2 Right time Go foraging in the morning and in dry weather.

3

5 Ground-ivy Not to be confused with common ivy, which is inedible, ground-ivy adds a minty and fresh taste when used to infuse drinks or added pressed, for example with apple juice. The plant can also be used in patisserie or sorbets.

Mindfulness Only take what you need and forage in different locations to allow plants to grow and recover and leaving enough for others.

4 Prep Before eating, bathe your bounty in a solution of oregano essential oil and vinegar for around eight minutes. The oil is a natural disinfectant. Rinse in water.

JUNE 2021

45

Welcome to the Club

Business Club

JUNE 2021

46

Flashback Your events

In numbers

1,300

COMPANIES The number of companies that are members of the largest business club in Luxembourg.

18,000 MEMBERS

The number of individuals who are part of the vibrantly active Paperjam + Delano Club community with whom you will get to interact.

383

EVENTS

The number of digital and on-site events. Choose from about 400 conferences, training, networking and workshop events each year.

Our two biggest events this month focused on “New ways of living” and “ESG”. Our 10×6 Architecture event examined how we can live life with less space and caused us to reflect if we should change the type of building materials used to prevent additional destruction of the planet. Following the 10 March deadline for SFDR submissions (article 8), the funds industry was keen to hear from the regulator regarding the numbers of prospectuses that had been updated. 1 Claude Marx took the opportunity to give us the good news that 80% had responded on time, indicating a broad acceptance of the principles and benefits of the new ESG regime.

The Delano Breakfast featured expert insights from 2 Reinhard Krafft on which investments we should

consider as the world emerges out of the lockdown.

Especially important as it is likely that inflation will rise causing the value of cash to fall.

“A 1,000% increase in social issuances in 2020 compared to 2019.”

Julie Becker Bourse de Luxembourg

500 HOURS

The number of annual training hours for your employees to develop their hard and soft skills: an additional benefit for you and useful extras for your teams.

1

3

HOW TO ATTEND PAPERJAM + DELANO CLUB EVENTS ?

You’re already a member Please check our website club.paperjam.lu. Select, among all the digital and on-site events listed, the ones you would be interested in, fill in the registration form at the bottom page and register.

You’re not a member yet Please email the Paperjam + Delano Club via club@paperjam.lu and an account manager will be in touch to introduce you to all the perks offered by the largest business club in Luxembourg.

47

Programme June

JUNE 2021

Tuesday 08 June

Start-up Stories Round 3 TIME 18:00 – 19:00 Livestream SPONSORS Startup Luxembourg, Office Freylinger PARTNER Luxembourg-City Incubator Thursday 17 June CLUB TALK

Tackling bias in artificial intelligence, and eventually in humans

2

TIME 18:30 – 20:00 Livestream Thursday 24 June 10×6

HR: new ways of working

Claude Marx CSSF

TIME 18:30 – 20:00 Livestream SPONSORS Luxembourg for Finance, Prolingua

Photos

“It is a huge success and it also shows the industry is embracing this change.”

Simon Verjus

1

Sign up on the Paperjam + Delano Club site: club.paperjam.lu

011 BY MIKE K N2 OE DI DI DE

N GE

R

FO UN

48

JUNE 2021 EDITION EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

JUNE 2021

Mike Koedinger EDITORIAL DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

Editorial Phone (+352) 20 70 70-150 E-mail news@delano.lu DESK EDITOR

Aaron Grunwald (-152) JOURNALISTS

Jess Bauldry (-153) Natalie Gerhardstein (-154) Abigail Okorodus (-155) Cordula Schnuer (-163)

Nathalie Reuter EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Duncan Roberts (-151)

Brand Studio Phone (+352) 20 70 70-300 E-mail regie@maisonmoderne.com DIRECTOR

Youcef Damardji STRATEGIC BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ADVISOR

COMMUNITY MANAGER

Francis Gasparotto (-301)

Christophe Lemaire

HEAD OF SALES OPERATIONS AND PEOPLE

PROOFREADING & FACTCHECKING

Lionel Scaloni

Lisa Cacciatore Sarah Lambolez Manon Méral Elena Sebastiani

HEAD OF MEDIA SALES AND SOLUTIONS

PHOTOGRAPHY

MEDIA ADVISORS

Romain Gamba Mike Zenari Matic Zorman

Publisher

Dominique Gouviaux (-338) COMMERCIAL ASSISTANT

Céline Bayle (-303) Nicolas Galtier (-318) Mélanie Juredieu (-317) Virginie Laurent (-322) Aline Puget (-323) Léo Santoro (-335) Mikaël Spezzacatena (-326)

www.maisonmoderne.com Phone (+352) 20 70 70 E-mail publishing@maisonmoderne.com FOUNDER AND CHAIRMAN

Mike Koedinger CEO

Geraldine Knudson ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL DIRECTOR

Etienne Velasti Maison Moderne is a partnership between Francis Gasparotto, Mike Koedinger and Etienne Velasti.

PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

Mike Koedinger STRATEGIC BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ADVISOR

Francis Gasparotto DIRECTOR, BUSINESS CLUB

Melanie Delannoy DEPUTY DIRECTOR, BUSINESS CLUB

HEAD OF CONTENT STRATEGY

Ana Wiscour-Conter

Emmanuelle Thivollard

CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

Viktor Dick

Jeremy Leslie

HR MANAGERS

ART DIRECTOR

Anaïs Bouillet/Sylvie Notarnicola

José Carsí

ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER

LAYOUT

Sylvia Leplang

Sophie Melai (coordination), Stéphane Cognioul, Elina Luzerne, Charlène Pouthier, Marielle Voisin

DIGITAL PROJECT MANAGER

MANUFACTURING MANAGER

Kévin Thirion

Myriam Morbé

Meryem Alamy DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

IT MANAGER

Matthew Dixon

To contact staff members

All rights reserved. Any reproduction, or translation, in whole or in part, is prohibited without the prior written consent of the publisher. © MM Publishing and Media S.A. (Luxembourg). Delano™ and Maison Moderne™ are trademarks used under licence by MM Publishing and Media S.A. ISSN 2220-5535

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Save it, pass it on or recycle it!

In accordance with article 66 of the law of 08.06.2004 on the freedom of expression in the media, the following statement is obligatory “one time per year, in the first edition distributed”. We have decided to publish it each month.

The company that publishes Delano is indirectly held, by a stake exceeding 25%, by Mike Koedinger, a publisher registered in Luxembourg. Geraldine Knudson is chartered with general and daily management.

JUNE 2021

49

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Pick’n’mix

50

Wine time

GENERAL MANAGER, VINSMOSELLE

What characterises the 2020 vintage?

The beautiful harvest.

An early start, a dry summer, ripe grapes, great results!

Healthy and ripe grapes resulting in particularly flavourful and full-bodied wines.

Sun and rain at the right moments brought freshness, density and grape typicity to the 2020 vintage.

An early bud break and flowering, a pleasantly hot and dry summer.

Grapes in perfect condition for harvest early in September.

Are you optimistic about the future of Luxembourg’s wine industry?

The odds are in our favour, with better quality and more interest in lesserknown labels, it’s up to us to bring our best to the table!

Yes. We produce an exceptional quality of fine wines and crémants and we are constantly innovating and making progress.

Increasing knowledge mixed with long-term traditions bring quality and growing fame for Luxemburg wines.

Very optimistic! The concentration on small yields results in quality wine.

Protecting terroirs and the environment is a priority for all winemakers.

French, Italian or New World red wine?

I have a lot of favourites… from the latest additions: Domaine du Comte Liger Belair, La Romanée, the smallest AOC in France, simply exceptional!

Actually, a Luxembourgish one. Luxembourg produces excellent red wines today, not too heavy of course, but still very interesting.

The Groärd located at the Grevenmacher Fels.

I always have a smile on my face when I am in this vineyard.

The Wuermer Köppchen, for its splendid view of the Moselle.

What aperitif wine should we be drinking this summer?

Placing the bottle upright in the fridge.

Don’t do it.

As we are celebrating our 100th anniversary, I can only recommend our new crémant, the “1921”.

An extremely high temperature and an inappropriate place.

Our Summerwäin in white or rosé are the must-haves this summer, fresh, vinous and refreshing.

CO-OWNER, SUNNEN-HOFFMANN

Brunello di Montalcino from Tuscany.

Our home garden, quiet and relaxing, the Bistrot Gourmand terrace.

Don’t expose your wine cellar to irregular temperature fluctuations.

Bubbles: sparkling wine (crémant rosé) or still wine (Auxerrois 2020).

Luc Duhr

Anouk Bastian

MANAGING OWNER, CLOS MON VIEUX MOULIN DUHR FRÈRES

DIRECTOR, DOMAINE MATHIS BASTIAN

For red wines, Luxembourg’s Moselle will pleasantly surprise you. Our pinot noir has been in high demand for years.

Ahn Palmberg nature reserve: its Mediterranean microclimate grows boxwood, orchids and extraordinarily tasty Rieslings.

No two harvests are alike.

In 2020, the sun was out.

It is a promising vintage.

The industry’s strengths will be enhanced through communication, customer centricity, and adapting to the constant evolution of the ecosystem.

I am very fond of pinot noir, its ruby red color and its red fruit flavours seduce me.

The Goldberg on the heights of Remich with its beautiful nature.

Upright bottles and longterm storage in extreme temperatures are harmful.

Drastic temperature changes and keep a bottle in the fridge to share with friends.

The Auxerrois aperitif is making a comeback.

Rediscover its delicate fruity aroma, moderate acidity and charming freshness!

Bubbles! The crémant (cuvée rosé) made mostly from pinot noir. A fine string of bubbles runs through its salmon color, giving off a subtle berry aroma.

Provided by participants, Maison Moderne archives, Shutterstock, Freepik, Visit Moselle

GENERAL DIRECTOR, BERNARD MASSARD

Corinne Kox-Sunnen

Photos

Patrick Berg

A wine storage faux-pas?

Antoine Clasen

What is your favourite place on the Moselle?

JUNE 2021

A rediscovery of Luxembourg’s wineries through the eyes of five wine makers.

let us inspire you Showroom: 7, rue de Godbrange L–6118 Junglinster

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