Delano summer 2014

SUMMER 2014

UNDERSTANDING LUXEMBOURG CURRENT AFFAIRS • BUSINESS • LIFESTYLE

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EDITORIAL

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Cover photo Julien Becker shot Adrienne Chang, James Gorst and Sophie Kerschen, in the Delano garage.

Note to our readers The next print edition of Delano will be published on October 2. For news updates and our weekly what’s on guide, visit www.delano.lu.

T

he imminent appointment of Jean-Claude Juncker as the third Luxembourger to hold the post of president of the European Commission has left David Cameron looking rather foolish. The British prime minister had every right to oppose Juncker’s nomination, but did so for many of the wrong reasons and without fully considering the consequences of his vociferous hostility.

Yes, Juncker may be from the old school, someone who sees the great project of the European Union as a shining beacon of peace and prosperity--a view forged by his experience as the son of a steel industry worker who was among those Luxembourgers forcibly conscripted into the Wehrmacht under the Nazi occupation in WWII. But Juncker is not the committed super federalist that Cameron claims, and certainly not “the most dangerous man in Europe,” as The Sun so dramatically put it while shamefully making all sorts of personal insinuations.

As recently as January, Juncker was telling an Austrian radio station that “there will never be a united states of Europe,” and after his nomination by 26 of the 28 EU leaders, he reached out to Cameron and all but promised to do everything within his power to persuade the United Kingdom to stay in the Union.

Juncker is, after all, the king of compromise, even if, as he has admitted, he sometimes likes to make those compromises in secret.

Yes, Juncker can come across as being arrogant (though he does have a brilliant mind and there is integrity in his conviction), but his penchant for “secret, dark debates” as he once described it, has also been taken out of context and waved about by opponents and the Eurosceptic media as evidence of his disregard for the democratic process. Juncker was at the time specifically talking about monetary policy decisions, upon which financial markets were reacting in real time, “fuelling speculation” and “throwing in misery mainly the people we are trying to safeguard from this.”

Cameron, as a sop to those Europhobes, seemed to be willing to fight a battle he could only lose once Angela Merkel had, somewhat reluctantly, thrown her weight behind Juncker.

The British prime minister should perhaps feel more aggrieved with the German chancellor than with the president elect of the European Commission. Nevertheless, Cameron’s initial decision to attack Juncker from the outset does look ill considered. It has further damaged Britain’s public image in Europe, even if other government leaders may secretly have admired his case and will be now more willing to compromise on the reforms he wants. And it has left him open to accusations of being weak in his native country. Maybe he, too, should have chosen to negotiate in secret, dark rooms..

SUMMER 2014

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CONTENTS

LIFESTYLE

CURRENT AFFAIRS

18

50

SUMMER 2014 Trio on the Tour

Delano talks with Luxembourg’s Tour de France cyclists

Lost in history

52

A rare reflection on Luxembourg’s World War I history

56

LIVE SHOWS

What’s on this summer

08 TRANSATLANTIC DIALOGUE

64

KIDS

Action, adventure & exploration

Uni conference bridges the pond 20

TOUR DE LUXEMBOURG

Highlights from the hot race

POLICE SHAKEUP

Sweeping reforms proposed 22

ISL CLASS OF 2014

PM tells grads to follow dreams

REGULARS

10 BUSINESS

28

42 THINK LOCAL Artur Sosna The Berlitz executive explains why he is applying for Luxembourg nationality

Super manco fever

Will EU regulations boost “alternative” funds in Luxembourg?

26

HUB DOT LAUNCH

Networking group hits mark 32

BANGLADESH TALK

Developing the economy 34

EMPLOYEE BENEFITS

Perks don’t always pay

COVERSTORY

66

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. Delano asks expats which is the best region to live in the Grand Duchy. Plus: 40

RELOCATION TIPS

54

EDUCATION CHOICES

MY OTHER LIFE Niamh Bergin A financial sector staffer is a regional finalist in the Rose of Tralee competition

SUMMER 2014

5

CURRENT AFFAIRS Christophe Olinger (archives)

NEW BIERGER-CENTER The Ville de Luxembourg has opened its new Bierger-Center, grouping together a number of citizen registry services in the refurbished Verainshaus, which is adjoined to the Hôtel de Ville via a suspended glass walkway.

Designed by Steinmetzdemeyer architects, the building has retained much of the historical detail of the original building while gutting its rooms and creating a light and spacious environment. The building also incorporates a new wedding hall. www.vdl.lu

MARRIAGE LAW REFORM SETS PATH FOR SAME-SEX WEDDINGS

Charles Caratini

have granted its members a parliamentary committee hearing.

On the same bill are reforms to the age of consent for marriage, now requiring both parties to be 18 (though those aged over 16 can marry with parental approval), as well legislation that nullifies the legal requirements for a pre-wedding medical exam and the 300-day waiting period that had been imposed on divorcees and widows or widowers before they could remarry.

The bill is an amended version of legislation first drafted by the CSV when it was in power with the personal support of Jean-Claude Juncker. A similar bill was rejected by parliament in 2007, although civil partnerships between same-sex couples have been legal in Luxembourg since 2004.

Luc Deflorenne

Olivier Minaire

Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of reforms to ­Luxembourg’s marriage laws in June, paving the way for samesex weddings starting next year. The new legislation has been hailed as the most fundamental rewrite of Luxembourg’s laws on ­marriage since 1804.

The Chamber of Deputies voted 56 to four in favour of the bill, with opposition coming as expected from ADR representatives Gaston Gibéryen, Fernand Kartheiser and Roy Reding as well as Ali Kaes of the CSV. The bill also allows married same-sex couples to adopt children, a move that faced opposition from an ­initiative calling itself Schutz fir d’Kand, which failed to get the necessary 4,500 online signatures for a petition that would

ROYAL BABY

SAM GARBARSKI

CHRIS PAVONE

The latest addition to the Luxembourg royal family, Princess Amalia, was born to Prince Félix and his wife Princess Claire on June 17.

The baby is the third grandchild for Grand Duke Henri and Grand Duchess Maria Teresa.

The Belgian director’s next project for samsa film, Es war einmal in Deutschland, is one of the recipients of the total of €8,530,111 being distributed by Fonspa, the national audio-visual support programme.

The author of The Expats was in the news following an article he wrote for the New York Times titled What Would You Think of Living in Luxembourg? in which he described his 18 months in the Grand Duchy as an opportunity to reinvent himself.

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SUMMER 2014

PRISON RELIEF Parliament has voted almost ­unanimously in favour of the ­construction of a new prison facility in Sanem to provide relief for the overcrowded prison in Schrassig. The new facility, which will house up to 400 inmates, will cost just over €155 million and could be hosting its first inmates as soon as 2017.

The current prison at Schrassig opened in 1984 and, following an extension, has a capacity for 400 prisoners--though it currently houses around 700. The new facility will allow the separation of convicted criminals from remand prisoners.

CURRENT AFFAIRS

HOUSING PLEDGE The government aims to build new homes for over 37,000 people and reduce housing costs significantly over the next 20 years, its new sectoral ­planning scheme reveals. The new plan divides Luxembourg’s communes into 43 “priority ” and 63 “non-priority ” ­communes, which will be limited to 10 percent growth over the next dozen years. The state has plans to construct some 15,000 residential units, including apartments and social housing, on over 450 hectares of land that it has retained for development. Most of the residential development will occur in the ­centre and south of the country. It is likely to follow the example of Luxembourg City’s so-called Baulücken projects in constructing housing on vacant ­building land in existing residential areas.

LUXURY HOUSING

Creative Commons

GREENPEACE STATEMENT AFTER REVELATIONS THAT CHIEF PROGRAMME DIRECTOR PASCAL HUSTING WAS FLYING BETWEEN AMSTERDAM AND LUXEMBOURG SEVERAL TIMES A MONTH

AIR RESCUE FACILITY

Steve Eastwood

Luxembourg Air Rescue has broken ground for its new hangar ­facility at Findel airport. The move represents a milestone for the air rescue and air ambulance organisation, which started over 26 years ago with a caravan and a tent. Even recently, LAR helicopters and air ambulance jets have been housed under makeshift covers at night and all medical equipment has had to be removed to prevent it from being damaged by severe weather.

The new €9 million facility, financed without state aid, includes two hangars, an operations centre and modern crew quarters.

It will allow LAR to carry out the servicing of its McDonnell Douglas ­helicopters on site. LAR boss René Closter underlined the significance of the new facility, which should be operational by the end of 2015, saying that it allowed the organisation meet its current challenges and provide crew with adequate working conditions. www.lar.lu

LAR

KIRCHBERG PROJECT The Kirchberg plateau continues to be the fastest growing neighbourhood of the capital city, with new plans for a residential tower block and shopping facility unveiled at the end of June.

Patrick Gillen, president of the Fonds d’Urbanisation et d’Aménagement du Plateau de Kirchberg, says that a competition to design the 20-storey building should conclude in the spring of 2015. The tower block will comprise 20,000 m2 of residential units and a 3,500 m2 retail unit for “local shopping”. The new building will be located on the south side of the entrance to the plateau, close to the Philharmonie.

Currently just 4,000 people live in Kirchberg, although some 30,000 travel to work there every day.

Werner bureau d’architectes

Christophe Olinger

“PASCAL WILL TAKE THE TRAIN TO HIS FAMILY IN THE FUTURE”

Plans have been unveiled to transform the ancient ­cloister of Saint-François in the heart of Luxembourg city into luxurious apartments. Specially created developer Le Cloître SA is in charge of the project, which is being designed by the bureau of local architect Marc Werner. The foundations of the 8,000 m2 cloisters date back to the year 700 A.D., while newer parts of the building were added in the 17th and 20th centuries.

The building will hold a maximum of 19 generously ­proportioned apartments, including a showcase ­ 397 m2 loft-style duplex complete with original stained-glass windows in the former chapel.

Preserved historical elements, such as carved ceilings and original wooden beams, will be incorporated into the modern look of the apartments. The building is c­ entered around a common cloistered garden and will be equipped with lifts and a concierge service. www.lecloitre.lu

GOOD COUNTRY INDEX 1

Ireland

2

Finland

3

Switzerland

7

United Kingdom

10

Belgium

11

France

13

Germany

16

Luxembourg

21

USA

Luxembourg has placed 16th in the Good Country Index, which measures “what each country on earth contributes to the common good of humanity, and what it takes away.” Conceived by independent ­policy advisor Simon Anholt, the guide uses 35 ­reliable ­datasets covering issues such as education, science, war and peace, trade, culture, health, ­censorship, the environment, freedom and more. Anholt admits the index is not definitive, but he says “it’s surely better to get the debate going than to keep silent.”

SUMMER 2014

7

CURRENT AFFAIRS Hans-Peter Malter and Marie-Paule Ries

Guy de Muyser, Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, Adrienne Chang and Lama Jigme Namgyal

Education

TRANSATLANTIC DIALOGUE GALA

Piotr Bozyk, Anna Bulanda-Pantalacci and Dany Weyer

The eve of the University of Luxembourg’s third Transatlantic Dialogue conference was the occasion for a gala dinner for speakers, which was hosted at the Miami University John E. Dolibois European Center in the beautiful setting of the Château de Differdange. Its director, Thierry Leterre, welcomed guests who included several teachers from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio as well as specialists from Belgium, Sweden and the UK and special guest, the former Luxembourg minister of higher education Erna Hennicot-Schoepges. Aimed at sparking debate on the importance of culture in education and in the development of both teachers and students, Transatlantic Dialogue has grown significantly since its inception in 2006. This year the programme attracted over 250 participants from universities in Europe and the United States. DR

Johanna Suo, Venu Dhupa, Karl-Erik Norrman, Erna Hennicot-Schoepges, Lyudmila Nurse and François Carbon Janine Horsburgh and Ricardo Averbach

More photos online: www.delano.lu/Transatlantic14 Andreia Nuno and Megan Gerhardt

Photographed by Steve Eastwood

Steffen Hütter and Petra Garnjost

Judith Rodgers

Thierry Leterre, Jeannine Manes and Raymond Manes

8

SUMMER 2014

All information about

CONTINUING TRAINING AND TRAINING SUPPORT

for individuals and companies available in English at lifelong-learning.lu

An initiative of the “Institut national pour le développement de la formation professionnelle continue”

COVERSTORY

Location, Location, Location.

THE BEST REGIONS TO LIVE IN THE GRAND DUCHY The small size of Luxembourg may make the choice of where to live seem relatively arbitrary.

But real regional differences do exist within the Grand Duchy, and accessibility to services are not the same everywhere, making location an important decision for anyone looking to set up home here.

Reported by Stephen Evans (east), Aaron Grunwald (centre and Luxembourg City), Zuza Reda-Jakima (north), Duncan Roberts (south) and Wendy Winn (centre); edited by Duncan Roberts and Aaron Grunwald. Photography by Julien Becker

RELOCATION TIPS, SEE PAGES 40-41 EDUCATION CHOICES, SEE PAGES 54-55

10

  SUMMER 2014

COVERSTORY

SUMMER 2014

11

COVERSTORY

What they say

South

"The streets are busy with people, you can see a lot of life here."

ADRIENNE CHANG

Capital

"If you live in the city centre you can do pretty much anything on foot or by bus.

It makes life much easier and your job will be much closer as well."

JAMES GORST

Centre

East

"We want our four young kids to grow up in the countryside with lots of outdoor space to run around and clean fresh air, and also be close to the city."

"We have lived here for 25 years and the drive to the city is only a few minutes longer now than it was."

SOPHIE KERSCHEN

GILLY MATHIESON

Capital

"Luxembourg changes every day and to me that is fascinating. People just have to notice the change."

GEETA RAJARAMAN

North

12

Capital

"Foreigners are an actual part of the community; there is no division between the locals and the other nationalities."

"You don’t have to make a special effort to come in from neighbouring regions because you’re right there in the thick of the action."

SHARON MARCH

CARA DAVILA

SUMMER 2014

COVERSTORY

T

he south of Luxembourg is on the rise with the development of Esch-Belval and the imminent move of the university to the region.

The north will soon, finally, have a direct Northern Highway road link to the capital city.

The centre has easy access to both cultural life and beautiful countryside, while those living in the east can enjoy the vineyards of the Moselle and take advantage of cheaper grocery shopping just across the border in Germany. So just where is the best region to live in Luxembourg? Delano spoke with expats from a wide range of backgrounds and nationalities about why they choose to live where they do. Most are staunch proponents for their region and provide strong arguments in favour of living where they do, but factors such as commuter journeys, accessibility to the motorway network, house prices and languages can also provide problems.

The lungs and soul of it If you are in Luxembourg for good, the north is the option. “The local people of this area stand together and help each other where needed,” says Frans Roelofse, a 57-year-old South African who lives in Hosingen with his wife Letitia, a bulldog and three cats. “I did not find that total tranquillity and togetherness when living in town.”

The north is also the best place to learn and practice Luxembourgish. “The foreigners are an actual part of the community; there is no division between the locals and the other nationalities, as it happens in other parts of the country,” notes

Sharon March, originally from Miami, Florida.

The north was her first choice. “The doctors suggested that because of health issues we should move with our three kids to Switzerland.

Instead, we have chosen to settle in Troisvierges.

The northern air did the trick, its quality here is as good if not better than in the Alps,” she says.

Sharon spends half an hour to get home from the city when driving, and twice as much when taking public transport, but she sees it as an advantage: “Looking at the nature, the beautiful views on the way is so de-stressing.”

“We have become part of a community that stands by each other and the support system over here is truly excellent,” adds Frans.

But it’s not only the fields that make the north a good choice to live, but also the downto-earth part of it. The housing is a lot cheaper and they have shops open on Sundays (even an open hardware shop can be found).

Frans has had the best medical treatment in his life up there in the province of Eisleck and Sharon worships the old-time village atmosphere: “My kids actually know where the eggs and milk come from,” she says.

The only upgrade the northerners would want is the roads. “Having this opportunity I would like to ask the PM to finally connect Belgium and Holland with a highway which has been planned for the last three or four decades. It would help not only the trucks to move more easily but also the tourists to visit us more often,” Sharon says.

Best of both worlds “Here we have the best of both worlds: in the countryside, we are just ten minutes from town,” enthuses homemaker Pip Herbert about life in rural Roodt-sur-Syre, which is roughly halfway between the capital and Moselle river. Her husband Rory works in the financial sector, and they moved here from central London with their three young children 18 months ago. “We have a good, friendly community here,” Pip says. Their new house is in a recently built area, meaning other young families surround them.

The main downside appears to be that their closeness to town and the relatively high rent means there are no shops and only one restaurant in the village. They have to drive to the Kirchberg or Junglinster even for small errands. On the plus side, though, she enjoys the many nearby car-free paths for jogging and cycling.

Living in the east has the major advantage of there being fewer German cross-border commuters than French or Belgian.

“We have lived here for 25 years and the drive to the city is only a few minutes longer now than it was,” notes Sophie Kerschen, resident of the Moselle village of Ehnen. It takes her about 25 minutes to drive to the Kirchberg where she works at the British Chamber of Commerce. Her Luxembourger husband Jean had always been attracted to life near the river and Sophie does not regret the decision to move there. “When I drive through the lush vineyards each day it is really spectacular,” she points out.

House prices are starting to rise and so an increasing number of vineyards are being sold for property development, potentially putting the village’s character in danger.

As well, local cultural amenities are rare, but as Sophie points out: “If you really want to see something in town it is really not too far to drive.” On the plus side they can enjoy the spectacular river views each day, and then there are the wine festivals, which keep the region buzzing throughout the summer.

In the far east of the country, most shops are staffed by Germans, so it can be tricky if your only other language is French.

In the centre of things Realtors say it’s all about “location, location, location”, and that’s a real selling point for Deb and Steve Anderson, who have lived in Helmsange for the past 14 years. “Our realtor said that we’re in a prime spot here, and considers anywhere within 12 kilometres from the city as hot property. I’m connected to the city, but I’ve got a field and forests in my backyard,” says Deb. So why do they have a realtor? Well, if they weren’t moving back to the States they wouldn’t, but they might need one again; having been so active here (New World Theatre Club, Voices International, Radio Ara, City Mag) they’re considering buying a smaller “home away from home” to make extended visits here.

“I can easily go to Mersch, and people can’t believe it when I tell them I can get to Ara radio in the city in 15 minutes. But I know all the shortcuts! I often go through the Bambesch; it’s a beautiful drive.” But Deb doesn’t always hop in the car; she often hops on a bike. “The way to Mersch is especially easy.”

You’d think Katarina Johansson was a realtor: she’s so sold on Hesperange, she’ll have you wanting to move there. The Johanssons have lived in the town since 2006 and plan to stay.

“The commune takes really great care of the surroundings,” Katarina says. With two young kids, she spends a fair share of time in the park and is a huge fan of the Hesper Beach and its free pool. The park has biking,

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13

COVERSTORY

from the city centre on weekends--which “are expensive in Luxembourg.”

Living right on the northern edge of the city, Gilly Mathieson says “is an ideal location for us, because we want our four young kids to grow up in the countryside with lots of outdoor space to run around and clean fresh air, and also be close to the city, so the kids can be exposed to all the advantages that city life can bring: culture, sports facilities and access to good schools.”

However, property prices were a shock. “We swapped a gorgeous six-bedroom Victorian house located in the premier quartier,” near the home of author J. K. Rowling in Edinburgh, “ for our €1.15 million four-bedroom house in Helmsange in August 2012 but the house is in need of a massive renovation,” says Gilly, who works at Luxembourg for Finance.

Capital moves walking and running paths and facilities for basketball, football and tennis. “There’s even outdoor fitness equipment,” she says.

But it’s not all play: Katarina works at a Kirchberg crèche and there’s a bus every 10 minutes, and she’s also a NuSkin exec and finds it easy to network. Husband Fredrik walks to work at SEB and the kids are both close to home at school and crèche. Add to that the ease of shopping. “I love the nearby Delhaize and Cactus, and we have a local butcher, wine cellar and more right at hand,” says Katarina. “We’re Swedish, and it’s okay not to be from Luxembourg here, even at the school, teachers speak in English, German, French… you feel welcome.”

Indeed just outside the capital is the sweet spot, argues Hakan Sekülü, who is originally from Turkey and has lived in the Grand Duchy for 15 years. Living in Bertrange also makes it easier to get into and away from town. While housing costs are lower, Hakan, who works at Clearstream, admits that he spends quite a bit on taxis--to get back home

A BOX ABOUT BOXES Thanks to Interdean Relocation Services for use of the cardboard containers seen in this edition’s coverstory photos. lu.interdean.com

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SUMMER 2014

“Moving here, one goal was to only have one car and we’ve managed that so far for three years, which is easy when everything is in walking distance,” says Cara Davila, who grew up in Dallas. She and her husband (who “walks to work as well”) chose Hollerich specifically so their two children could get to the International School of Luxembourg on foot.

Cara likes being so close to events “like National Day and the different summer musical festivals” and restaurants. “You don’t have to make a special effort to come in from [neighbouring regions] because you’re right there in the thick of the action.”

Like anyone living in a foreigner-majority city, getting to know natives “is a tough, uphill battle regardless, just based on language. The advantage [in the capital] is that you have multiple opportunities to learn the language because you’re near the INL,” the Institut national des langues, and other schools. Cara, who sits on the American Women’s Club of Luxembourg board, reckons it is easier to meet new people through other groups because they usually organise events in the capital.

It is “relatively true” that there is an expat ghetto effect when you live in the capital, concedes James Gorst, who moved to Luxembourg City from Salisbury, England, 12 years ago. “The fact is that you don’t really meet that many natives, I would say. But it depends where you work as well.” The office mix at a smaller Luxembourg firm is not the same as a big multinational outfit.

“But if you live in the capital, you’ d meet [more new people overall] than if you lived outside,” in the financial professional’s view.

“If you live in the [city] centre you can do pretty much anything on foot or by bus. It makes life much easier and your job will be much closer as well. If you live outside of town, you’ ll have all the traffic” with commuters from other regions and across the borders who work in the capital. On the other hand, you “probably can find something cheaper, much cheaper outside” of Luxembourg City to rent or buy.

When they moved to Cents four years ago, Geeta Rajaraman and her husband were the only expats in the building. “I actually did cookies and went door to door and introduced myself ” with her basic Luxembourgish and French. A retired neighbour initially “thought I was weird” but eventually they started shopping together at the now shuttered Bonnevoie Cooperative supermarket. Then “we’d go to all the local festivals and understand what they were all about,” explains Geeta, who is a host on Ara City Radio and long-time Red Cross volunteer.

Geeta, who is an Indian national, grew up in Washington DC, before moving to Singapore and then London. She says that Luxembourg “changes every day and to me that is fascinating.

People just have to notice the change. It’s unbelievable and I would never notice these changes if I lived in London. I’d probably still be whinging about how late the Tube is.” Her neighbourhood has fewer international residents than other districts, forcing her to develop her languages. “I could chose to live in Belair and only speak English and never get out of my comfort zone,” but she suggests, in jest, that she just might move to Differdange to improve her French and German because she would get to know a different group of folks.

A matter of perception The steel town in the south of Luxembourg is a million miles from the capital of the United States, but for another Washington DC native, Adrienne Chang, there are many advantages to living in Differdange. “It’s all a matter of perception, of what you dwell on,” she says.

Arriving to accompany new husband Thierry Leterre, the rector of Miami University’s John E. Dolibois European Center, Adrienne had few preconceptions about Differdange before she moved in the winter of 2011. “I knew it had a reputation as a steel town--you can’t miss the steel mills--but I have grown very accustomed to living here.”

Having worked at the US embassy in Limpertsberg for a year, Adrienne endured a commute of between 45 and 60 minutes twice a day. “Taking the bus and train was just as long as driving,” she says. Nowadays she only

COVERSTORY

residentsn by regio north *78,300 •29%

Centre, excluding Luxembourg City

Luxembourg City

*83,810 •39%

*100,390 •68%

east

south

*61,533 •31%

*193,652 •35%

*Total population

Sources: Ville de Luxembourg, December 2013; Statec, 2011 census for all other regions

travels into the capital for social or cultural events once or twice a week and finds the connection easy in non-rush hour traffic.

Even if Differdange is industrial, Adrienne can escape into nature within minutes when she goes running in the forests that cover the hills around the town. Although even then, she cannot fully escape the area’s industrial heritage--many of the trails she runs are former railway lines used to transport iron ore.

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• Foreign nationals

But Adrienne, who has lived in Asia, the Middle East and Africa, feels as though she fits in in Differdange. “It is a city of immigrants.

Everyone is speaking their second or third language.” Hailing from the suburbs, Adrienne loves being able to walk into town and buy her corn bread from a Portuguese baker or veal sausage from a Bosnian halal butcher.

“That’s something you just can’t do in the States.” And she and Thierry enjoy watching

the next generation of Luxembourgers growing up right next door at the local primary school. “They will be picked up by their parents, or grandmother or auntie, speaking in their native language, but in the playground the kids all speak Luxembourgish. I think that’s great.”

It is this sense of community that Adrienne enjoys most about living in the south. “The streets are busy with people, you can see a lot of life here.”.

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CURRENT AFFAIRS

Centenary

LOST IN HISTORY During World War I, neutral Luxembourg was the first country to be invaded and the last to be liberated. Yet this chapter of the Grand Duchy’s history is rarely dwelled upon.

Text by Neel Chrillesen Photography by Annabelle Denham

I

FURTHER READING

There is not much literature about Luxembourg under World War I compared to what has been written about World War II--and even less so in English.

To read the incredible and ­fascinating story about the ­Luxembourg spy ring during World War I, get a hold of The Secrets of Rue St. Roch

by Janet Morgan.

David Heal’s books, Victims Nonetheless: The invasion of Luxembourg, 1914 and Luxembourgers in the First World War, are available in Kindle version from Amazon. He also arranges tours and courses on the subject. www.luxembourg-battles.lu

18

SUMMER 2014

Luxembourg and the allies bombed the country throughout the war.” In all, 153 air raids hit the Grand Duchy, targeting mainly railways and mining areas. “This small country was the biggest rail hub for the Germans,” notes Heal.

“They couldn’t have supplied the western front without Luxembourg.”

Though the railways were taken over by occupation forces and the first German military operations were led from headquarters in Luxembourg, the Germans did not interfere much in domestic political affairs, which became increasingly strained following the death of the prime minister of 27 years, Paul Eyschen, in October 1915.

DAVID HEAL As for the young Grand Duchess MarieGerman invasion Adelaïde, her unpopularity grew during the was a shock war, both within and across the borders.

“Many accused her of having German sympathies, just as some said Luxembourg was collaborating with the enemy--which is not true at all,” stresses Heal. The kaiser originally setting up camp in Luxembourg may have led to such assumptions, but “he left after three weeks because he found Luxembourgers so unfriendly,” Heal says with a smile, explaining that there was a massive spy ring in the Grand Duchy that gave vital information to British intelligence. his 40 years here has written several books Luxembourg was officially liberated on on the Grand Duchy and the Great War. November 22, 1918, with the arrival of In contrast with neighbouring Belgium, American soldiers, but the country’s fate Luxembourg did not receive any warning wasn’t sealed till later, as France and Belgium before it was invaded and occupied by the German army. “Everyone was taken completely fought over it for several months.

“Luxembourg was very lucky to survive by surprise,” he says. “And even more so because Luxembourg’s neutrality was officially as a country after World War I,” says Heal.

According to the historian, had it not been guaranteed since the 1867 Treaty of London for a British diplomatic blunder, Luxembourg by all nations involved in World War I [with the exception of the US]. Luxembourgers really would not have been able to maintain its independence. “Grand Duchess Mariehad no idea what was coming.”

Adelaïde abdicated after the war in favour Pleas and protests from the Grand Duchy’s parliament were made to no avail. During the of her sister Charlotte, who announced days, months and years that followed, no help her will to marry Prince Félix shortly after.

Britain, by a mix-up, sent a representative came from anywhere; no food was ever sent to the wedding, thus formally recognising the to the critically starving population. In fact: legitimacy of Luxembourg’s new monarch.”.

“Some of the war’s first air raids took place on n most history books, Germany’s invasion of Luxembourg on August 2, 1914, rarely takes up more than a few lines. A bit more unexpectedly, even in collective memory, what happened after doesn’t take up much space either. “For the majority of Luxembourgers, World War I is completely crushed by the overwhelming World War II,” says English historian David Heal, who during

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CURRENT AFFAIRS

Public security

A twist in the tail at the Bommeleeër trial and the ­implementation of fundamental reform has left the reputation of the Grand Duchy’s police force in tatters.

Text by Duncan Roberts Photography by Luc Deflorenne

T

he leadership of Luxembourg’s police force has been decimated by sweeping reform and personnel changes announced by security forces minister Étienne Schneider. The minister told parliament that his experience since taking up his post last November has indicated that the atmosphere in the police force is “extremely poor” and that the force “requires fundamental reform.” Schneider explained that he had decided to impose a change of personnel “because it would be difficult to undertake reform with the people who support the regime that is in place.”

Schneider held what he described as “positive” talks with Romain Nettgen at the conclusion of which the director of the police force decided he would not seek to renew is contract when his current mandate expires in February 2015--a decision that Schneider said he accepted.

A further casualty of Schneider’s reforms is Marc Zovilé, the director of the Inspection Générale de la Police, who requested that he could take retirement as of next year.

Another head to roll is that of Police judiciaire director Patrice Solagna, who was cited in a letter from the public prosecutor Roby Biever, who accused him of being more interested in the well-being of the police force than in investigating criminal activity.

The dramatic change is a consequence of a twist in the tail on the 176th day of the Bommeleeër trial, which saw six former gendarme officers charged with various counts of complicity and obstructing justice.

Schneider said that so far no other personnel changes have been discussed, but that a series of audits and legal measures to improve the efficiency and ambience of the police force were also being considered. Schneider is particularly concerned that the police force should be in good shape when Luxembourg assumes presidency of the European Union in the second half of 2015..

WRONG DIRECTION Étienne Schneider says the police force requires fundamental reform

20

SUMMER 2014

SIP

POLICE CHIEFS FOR THE CHOP World War II

D-DAY REMEMBERED

Grand Duke Henri commemorates father’s role in allied invasion.

Some 70 years after his father played a role in the allied invasion, Grand Duke Henri represented Luxembourg at a commemoration of D-Day on June 6. The then Prince Jean had joined the Irish Guards and actually landed in Normandy on June 11, 1944, and subsequently took part in the Battle of Caen and the liberation of Brussels and Luxembourg. The current grand duke, who undertook military officer training at Sandhurst in England, is pictured here with US president Barack Obama and Queen Margrethe II of Denmark. Sources claim that Obama was impressed when told about Grand Duke Henri’s father’s role in the allied invasion by prime minister Xavier Bettel..

CONSEQUENCES ˝ THE WILL BE THE DEATH OF PUBS. CORNER PUBS, ESPECIALLY, WILL FACE SERIOUS PROBLEMS˝

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CURRENT AFFAIRS

Congratulations to the ISL class of 2014

Matthew Rhodes presenting special awards

Timothy Barker

Education

ISL GRADUATES SET TO FOLLOW THEIR DREAMS

Creativity Action Service honouree Anna Thomassen

Mhari Glober accompanied by Annick Ernst

The International School of Luxembourg class of 2014 students received their high school diploma in June at a graduation ­ceremony held at the Grand Théâtre.

All 78 graduates, of 28 different n ­ ationalities, are now looking forward to fleeing the nest and embarking on a new journey in their adult lives. “We have been blessed by teachers from a multitude of backgrounds,” graduate Timothy Barker told his classmates.

Several special awards were presented

by Matthew Rhodes, ISL’s first ever graduate, in 1980, who explained: “I was the only child in that year.” Rhodes light-heartedly told s­ tudents: “You must knock on doors until your knuckles bleed. It’s the only way to achieve in life. You cannot change the world, but you can try. Go out there, prove me wrong and change it.” This year also marks ISL’s 50th anniversary, which was ­commemorated with a speech by prime ­minister Xavier Bettel, who noted: “Today you’re at the turning point; tomorrow ISL will be your old school.” Bettel advised the graduates to “make your life a dream and make a dream come true.” HP

Xavier Bettel

More photos online: www.delano.lu/ISL2014grads Photographed by Luc Deflorenne

Anna Leader and Bram de Vet

22

SUMMER 2014

ISL director Chris Bowman speaking Alper Bulut, Morgan Kibler and Adam Schlegel

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Turkcham

BUSINESS Charles Caratini

TURKISH CHAMBER

DIVING INTO THE DATA

Charles Minshew/KOMUnews/Creative Commons

European Council

Dusty_73/Creative Commons

crowd of between 10 and 30, who come to hear a case study, participate in Q&A, and usually share in some pizza afterwards, explained organiser Dzidorius Martinaitis. Each presentation focuses on a specific sector’s data challenges or a data science project, although speakers try to avoid being “too industry focused” because the group is composed of a fairly diverse set of members, he said. Participation is free thanks to support from the University of Luxembourg and Revolution Analytics, a Silicon Valley firm. Martinaitis added: “All presentations are done by members, so if someone has something interesting to show, we’re always open minded.”

European Council

Technology start-ups often have a hard time breaking into the airline market because carriers still rely on systems built in the 1980s. So said Michael Farrugia, chief technology officer of Planitas Airline Systems, a specialist IT services firm, at the Data Science Luxembourg Meetup last month (pictured). Even giants such as Google have had trouble entering what remains a relatively “closed market” in terms of computer reservation systems. The session was hardly a geeky confab; rather it was one of the group’s regular talks where professionals and students of all stripes learn how counterparts in other industries approach data problems. The meetups typically attract a

The new Turkish Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg--chaired by Ali Tufan Demirkapu of real estate firm Villarc Prestige--has officially launched.

“The mission of Turkcham is to be the ­leading representative for Turkish and Turkey based international business in Luxembourg,” it says in a press release. The chamber plans to offer networking and business support ­services to Luxembourg firms. Turkcham is unrelated to the Turkey Luxembourg Business Club, which started in the Grand Duchy two years ago, TLBC notes. Separately the LuxembourgTurkish Business Council--a bilateral group backed by the Turkish trade board and Luxembourg Chamber of Commerce--held its first official meeting in Istanbul on June 6. The council was formed following last November’s state visit to Turkey by the grand duke and duchess. Members include CFL, ING and Luxinnovation.

The TLBC is part of the council initiative. www.turkcham.lu

BREXIT WARNING

BAILOUT SAVINGS

ZHENGZHOU FLIGHTS

FILLING UP

Risk consultancy Eurasia Group downgraded the UK’s “macro business environment” from “neutral” to “negative”, citing prime minister David Cameron’s proposed vote on quitting the EU and opposition to Jean-Claude Juncker as EU commission chief.

Kirchberg-based euro zone rescue fund ESM estimates Greece saved 4.7% of its GDP last year “compared to the assumed market cost of funding” via the EU programme. Agency head Klaus Regling says favourable loan terms “are an expression of solidarity.”

After an 8 1/2 week delay receiving Chinese government approvals, on June 16 freight airline Cargolux started service between Luxembourg and Zhengzhou, the base of HNCA, the Chinese firm that bought a 35% stake in Cargolux earlier this year.

Despite its reputation for cheap ­petrol, Luxembourg ranked 27th out of w61 countries in the Bloomberg Gas Price Ranking. Average prices are cheaper than in Norway and all Greater Region neighbours, but around 20% higher than in Australia and Japan.

24

SUMMER 2014

BUSINESS

GAINING CONFIDENCE

European Parliament

European family-run firms are increasingly positive, a recent survey of such firms in Luxembourg and 17 other EU countries has found. Seventy-one percent of family businesses indicate that they feel confident about the economic situation of their firm over the next six months, according to the second European Family Business Barometer, produced by European Family Businesses, a trade association, and consultancy KPMG. This compares to 54% in the previous survey, which was released in December 2013. Respondents cited factors including easier access to finance and credit. In the current poll, 21% were neutral and 8% had a negative outlook. This growth in confidence was accompanied by other positive signs: 40% of enterprises, for instance, indicated they plan to increase staff levels, and 49% said that they plan to retain the current size of their workforce (up 13% from six months ago).

However, “decline in profitability” was a top concern of 49% of respondents, up from 38% in 2013, and more than a third cited a shortage of skilled staff.

The Grand Duchy’s capital is the 19th most expensive in Europe and 58th most expensive city for expatriates in the world, according to ECA International’s most recent Cost of Living ­Survey. Luxembourg City rose from 69th position globally last year. “Prices of items in ECA’s basket of goods and services for expatriates for Luxembourg have gone up very little over the past 12 months,” a spokeswoman for the consultancy tells Delano.

“However, the strengthening of the euro against currencies including the US dollar means that it has become more expensive for many companies relocating staff to Luxembourg.”

In the European tables, Luxembourg City now ties with Antwerp at number 19, between Dublin and Strasbourg.

Oslo, Zurich and Geneva all figure in the global top five most expensive cities.

The European top ten also include Stavanger (Norway’s oil hub), Copenhagen, Helsinki, Stockholm and Moscow.

Luc Deflorenne (archives)

BRINGING LIFE SCIENCES TO LUXEMBOURG

“WITH NET SALES OF €410 BILLION, 2013 WAS A RECORD YEAR FOR THE EUROPEAN ASSET MANAGEMENT INDUSTRY”

LetzBio.lu--a site produced by the Ministry of the Economy, Luxinnovation, Fonds National de la Recherche and Luxembourg for Business--went live last month. Organisers say the aim is to attract international “researchers, businesses and investors in the sector” to the Grand Duchy. The space has been one of the government’s economic development priorities for the past several years, with Luxembourg already active “in molecular diagnostics, bioinformatics, health IT and medical devices.” The portal highlights both private biotech firms and public research institutions such as the University of Luxembourg’s Luxembourg Centre for Systems Biomedicine (pictured) and Life Sciences Research Unit, the Integrated BioBank of Luxembourg, and CRP Santé.

University of Luxembourg LCSB

France Bon Appétit/Creative Commons

COST OF LIVING UP 11 PLACES

ALFI CHAIR MARC SALUZZI

RENMINBI TRADING

INTEL APPEAL

PREGNANT WORKERS

The central banks of Luxembourg and China signed a deal paving the way for direct trading of China’s renminbi currency and the euro in the Grand Duchy. China will name a clearing bank at a later date.

The EU General Court in Kirchberg upheld the European Commission’s €1.06 billion anti-trust fine levied against US chipmaker Intel in 2009. The firm has until August 12 to appeal to the European Court of Justice.

The ECJ ruled in favour of a French nursery school teacher living in the UK who was denied the dole when she stopped working in her 6th month of pregnancy. The court said she was still officially a “worker”.

SUMMER 2014

25

BUSINESS Maria Luisa Alonso, Dorothea Bekker and Irene Wilkinson Maria Berg, Belen Irazola, Anja Reichert and Francesca de Bartolomeo

Nuria Soler Aguilar and Viviane Bumb

Community

CONNECTING THE DOTS After successful starts in the UK, Italy and US, international women’s networking group Hub Dot has launched in Luxembourg. The sessions feature ten female speakers from ordinary walks of life, followed by colour-coded networking. The best moments came from the guest speakers’ “amazing stories that touched people very much,” says one of the organisers, Carlotta Benedetti.

She states that 350 women participated in the event, including those originally from Argentina, Brazil, France, Italy, Luxembourg and Spain, among other places. Women from Brussels and Rouen, in western France, came to the Grand Duchy event after reading about Hub Dot in a Times article. In fact, the Luxembourg launch was bigger than the group’s Milan kick-off, which attracted about 300.

Premieres in London and Naples drew nearly 500 women each.

The next step is for Luxembourg organisers to plan a series of “smaller, thematic events.” Benedetti explains that they will focus on specific topics, such as the arts or entrepreneurship, and be limited to between 50 and 100 people “because it’s much easier to connect” in a smaller circle. AG

Camilla Sardelli and Fatiha Charti

Eleonora Pasti speaking at the launch of Hub Dot in Luxembourg

The dots explained at: www.delano.lu/HubDotLaunch Hub Dot’s Carlotta Benedetti, Inma Soto Welch and Francesca Bruneau

Cathy Peiffer and Marlene Deltgen

26

SUMMER 2014

Photographed by Steve Eastwood

Liane Wagner, Caroline Engelmann and France von Roesgen

Ulrike Hettler, Anne Mignon-Da Col, Elisabeth Cohaus, Sabrina Agostinucci and Kerstin Jaeger

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BUSINESS

Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive

SUPER MANCO FEVER

On July 22, a one-year transitional period ends and new rules come fully into force covering Europe’s “alternative” investment fund industry.

Such funds are meant for professional or savvy investors--such as hedge, private equity and real estate funds--and represent roughly €2 trillion in assets, reckons BNY Mellon, a bank.

The Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive (AIFMD) was introduced by the European Commission in the wake of the financial crisis and Bernard Madoff’s $65 billion Ponzi scheme, and “introduces sweeping changes to how alternative investment funds are managed and sold to European investors,” BNY Mellon says in a report.

Generally speaking, alternative investment fund managers in charge of more than €100 million in assets “will be subjected to harmonised rules, regardless of the fund types they manage”.

It changes the way alternative funds “deal with risk, market their funds and pay staff,” explains the Economist. Many of the new rules are somewhat similar to the regulations that have long applied to UCITS funds, the type of retail investment fund that forms the backbone of Luxembourg’s financial centre. And many in the Grand Duchy believe that gives Luxembourg and its fund industry service providers a competitive advantage despite a backlog of license applications at the financial regulator.

Text by Aaron Grunwald

28

SUMMER 2014

BUSINESS

GLOBAL MARKET SHARE, BY ASSETS UNDER MANAGEMENT Sources: ALFI, CSSF, Oliver Wyman (latest published figures)

O

Hedge funds Private equity funds Real estate funds

ne benefit of the AIFMD for the industry is the ability to manage and market their funds more like UCITS retail mutual funds, which potentially could save money and help firms move into new markets. Certain functions will be able to be run under contract by professional third party firms called “management companies ” or “mancos ”.

And dozens of Luxembourg firms are vying to be what’s called “super ” or “universal ” management companies, meaning they can look after both UCITS and AIFMD funds.

One of the first to receive super manco status in the Grand Duchy--in early March of this year--was service provider Crestbridge, which in the alternatives space primarily focuses on private equity and real estate funds, says the firm’s Daniela Klasén-Martin. And the outfit wasted no time selling its upgraded authorisation.

YCAP Asset Management, which had already hired Crestbridge as its UCITS management company, is adding alternatives to the mandate because “I appreciate their risk management approach,” says YCAP’s Lisa Backes.

The three year old asset manager, which has €800 million in assets under management, is run by former executives of German state savings bank LBBW’s fund arm in the Grand Duchy.

“So we have been here in Luxembourg for a long time, but we are a start-up,” explains Backes. And while typically fund administration is done in the Grand Duchy with portfolio managers based in another financial centre, “we are one of the rare asset managers who really sit and work here in Luxembourg.”

“It was clear for us that AIFMD would be quite a big improvement” although the firm quickly realised that it could not do two things well at the same time, explains Backes. “Our decision to concentrate--and not apply for an AIFM license--was mainly because we would like to grow our company. We are fundamentally an asset manager” and it wants to focus on that strength.

However, “when we have more critical mass in a few years, in my opinion, there could be the decision to apply for a license and insource these things.”

“For smaller players it’s the ultimate flexible solution,” says Christopher Stuart-Sinclair of Deloitte, a consultancy. Since the regulations are still new and “people are not quite yet sure how this is going to work out long term,” outsourcing is the simplest approach at the moment.

Stuart-Sinclair also notes the current global crackdown on multinational taxation, called “BEPS ” (see page 38), which in his view plays to the strength of service providers. Fund managers do not know what kind of isnvestment they will have to make to achieve “substance ”--which demonstrates a company has real activities in a jurisdiction and is not just a shell corporation out to take advantage of favourable tax treatment--and so “a third party manco is a very good halfway house.”

Obtaining authorisation “was more difficult than I thought,” says Klasén-Martin. As it expected, Crestbridge fielded “many questions in regards to our structure, our people and our procedures.”

But the main challenges were “the CSSF being a little bit overwhelmed with applications” and “this being new for everybody.”

Indeed, for months many in Luxembourg’s fund sector have grumbled--as diplomatically as possible in public, and more candidly in private--about the agency’s license application backlog.

During the annual spring conference of the Association of the Luxembourg Fund Industry, Simone Delcourt of Luxembourg financial regulator CSSF pledged that handling the applications was one of her agency’s top priorities.

There were 10 approved alternative investment managers at the end of last year, the CSSF’s 2013 annual report states. As of June 20, that figure had grown to more than 60, according to a document on the agency’s website.

And Stuart-Sinclair understands there are “130 or 150 in the pipeline” waiting to be reviewed.

“The only country that has more to deal with is the UK, where we’re seeing 485, maybe 500” applications, with other jurisdictions topping out around 150. “The CSSF is not sacrificing quality for speed” which will be a huge plus in the longterm since later licensees “can’t be attacked for

Luxembourg 3%

€129 billion

Hedge fund assets under administration in Luxembourg

4%

€18.9 billion

Approximate net assets of Luxembourg private equity and venture capital investment vehicles

9%

€30.1 billion

Net assets managed by Luxembourg real estate funds

Bermuda 4%

Less than 1%

Less than 1%

British Virgin Islands 11%

Less than 1%

SUMMER 2014

Less than 1%

29

BUSINESS

Cayman Islands 52%

7%

5%

Delaware 22%

72%

65%

Guernsey Less than 1%

11%

7%

Ireland 3%

1%

1%

Jersey 5%

5%

8%

STRUCTURING SEMINAR

Part of the Association of Luxembourg Fund Industry’s “Leading Edge” conference series, this summit offers technical insight for alternative investment fund managers and management company providers. Topics include setting up and structuring management companies, oversight of outsourced functions and reporting requirements.

July 10, RBC building, Esch-sur-Alzette, all day event, www.alfi.lu

30

SUMMER 2014

not having sufficient substance in Luxembourg.”

In his view, it is “probably tougher to get authorisation through in Luxembourg than one or two other countries,” and other jurisdictions “might be quicker but could be challenged later.”

In the agency’s defence, it “is working Saturdays, which is unusual for any regulator unless they’ve got a major crisis to handle,” adds Stuart-Sinclair.

Over the winter, the European investment industry was abuzz when France’s fund association announced French financial regulator AMF had approved 30 AIMFD management companies (more than three times the Luxembourg figure at the time) and suggested his country would pull ahead in the space.

The fracas was, for the Grand Duchy, “a little bit damaging because bad press is never good,” says Klasén-Martin. At a law firm conference in France last year, she felt obliged to answer back.

“I said, you cannot compare Luxembourg and France. It’s a completely different market. The CSSF is, as we all are, exposed to asset managers from different countries, while France is quite an inhouse market, with French managers managing French domiciled funds for French clients. So you cannot really compare when the CSSF has to review files from asset managers from the UK, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland; obviously it’s more complex because you have to take into consideration the differences between these managers.”

She adds: “I was very happy to defend Luxembourg.

That said, I think that the fact that unfortunately Luxembourg has been slow, it’s true, has been a little bit damaging because we face competition.

More than France, I think we should be careful with the UK. Because the UK is traditionally an alternative asset management place” and its managers “are used to having these kinds of structures.”

Last year 13 of the top 100 alternative asset managers had their main domicile in the UK, and 32 were in fellow English speaking countries

Australia, Canada and the US, according to a study by consultancy Towers Watson. The only Luxembourg fund in the ranking was CVC Capital Partners.

Stuart-Sinclair says the UK equally has the advantage of a deep bench of service providers, but Luxembourg, for instance, “does have a decent palate of specialised depositories where other countries have been struggling [and] that will compliment mancos”.

He is referring to depositary banks, which are responsible for safeguarding the money investors place in funds. They had long been mandatory for UCITS funds, but are newly required for alternatives. Local fund service providers, like home grown Alter Domus, have been encouraged to launch depositary services under the AIFMD regime, which is yet another completely new market to tap.

When searching for a management company, money managers ought to “take the time; I think this is something essential,” Backes suggests.

“Discuss their approach to risk management, get in touch with all the key people working for the company, and have a clear look at the licenses as well. There is not only one AIFM license, there are several, which not everyone in the market is aware of.”

The CSSF treats each asset class separately, Stuart-Sinclair explains, meaning mancos need discreet permission to work with hedge funds or private equity funds, for example.

Whether or not the Grand Duchy can attract more alternative funds remains to be seen, of course. But the new rules are at least giving Luxembourg’s fund sector a new chance to shine. Backes says: “I was quite surprised by the number of companies I never heard of before that could provide such good solutions and highly qualified staff. That wasn’t clear to me before we did the beauty contest for the AIFMD.”.

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BUSINESS

Victor Kneip, Maximilian Von Hochberg and Artur Sosna

Simone Van Schouwenburg and Johny Basher

Business lunch

BANGLADESH CHALLENGES

Roy Suhash, Bangladesh ambassador Ismat Jahan and Thierry Reisch

Bangladesh ambassador Ismat Jahan was the guest speaker at a luncheon at the Sofitel Kirchberg hosted by Amcham and the Bangladesh business chamber (BBCCL). She explained that Bangladesh’s issues include a poorly ­educated workforce, natural disasters, lack of investment, and unemployment.

Nevertheless, the country has enjoyed economic growth of 6% over the past decade, Millennium development goals are being achieved and help from the EU, including an EBA (everything but arms) tariff exemption on exports, has greatly contributed to the economy.

However, Luxembourg has yet to expand its investment in Bangladesh and Jahan wants to encourage the government here to help with energy development, transport, and investment in technological education and training.

She added that a pending double tax treaty and an agreement with ­Cargolux would constitute a great help towards further developing B ­ angladesh’s economy. NP

Yves Cheret, Philippe Salomon, Pierre Leyers and Shahram Agaajani

Ambassador Ismat Jahan

More photos online: Sudhir Kohli

www.delano.lu/Bangladesh14 Photographed by Benjamin Champenois

Tapan Kanti Ghosh and Jed Grant

Lene Pedersen and Isabel Oakes

Paul Schonenberg

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SUMMER 2014

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BUSINESS

COMPANY CAR

In the financial sector, a company provided car typically “kicks in at management level”, explains Anita De Viell of financial recruitment firm Fast.

Although some firms, such as the Big Four consultancies, offer lease cars to more junior staff--with fees taken out of their salary--as a way to “attract people into the industry”. But she adds: “Outside of audit it’s not commonplace at all.” On the other hand, employees who have a company leased vehicle will be taxed on “the value of the advantage” either based on actual mileage driven or a fixed percentage of the total amount of the car, currently 1.5% per month, according to a report by Ius Laboris, an international network of HR lawyers.

LUNCHEON VOUCHERS

Although widespread and popular, chèques repas (subsidised, pre-tax meal vouchers accepted at most restaurants and supermarkets) are an entirely optional benefit in Luxembourg, says De Viell (aside from employers covered by a collective agreement). Several firms withdrew them during the financial crisis as a cost-savings manoeuvre. While some organisations “have reintroduced them, some have not; it’s entirely up to the company.”

13TH MONTH

The 13th or 14th month is “often misunderstood”, notes De Viell. “You still have the same annual salary” but the company is simply paying it in 12, 13 or 14 increments.

“The advantage of 12 months is that you’re taxed normally. If a company decides to pay you on a 13 month basis”, there is no change in gross pay, but the 13th or 14th payments are “taxed as a bonus, so you lose half in tax,” she explains. “You will be much better off if you receive [your annual salary] on a 12 month basis.”

BUSINESS

HR

PERKS DON’T ALWAYS PAY Companies adding more employee benefits are not entirely effective, and sometimes come with drawbacks to employees.

TRAINING

“If you have e-learning or distance study and that topic is relevant to your work, some companies may give you a financial subsidy and some paid study leave”, since the firm can claim those as expenses, states De Viell. There are also governmentsponsored training schemes and most private employers are obliged to grant employees a certain amount of time to pursue language courses.

HOLIDAYS & OVERTIME Employees of organisations covered by the Grand Duchy’s banking and insurance collective agreement have additional paid leave, notes Anita De Viell of consulting firm Fast in Luxembourg. Such staff receive 8.5 more vacation days annually than the state-required 20, and two more bank holidays than the 10 set by the government. That creates a recruitment and retention challenge for financial firms outside the convention, comments De Viell. “Some companies will add three to five days” as a competitive measure.

Overtime pay can also be considered a benefit, she argues. Outside of a collective agreement “it’s company policy” whether to provide it or not. “You could be working 12 hours a day for one company and just have a straight salary, and at another working eight hours at regular salary and then the rest on overtime.”

Text by Aaron Grunwald Photography by Maison Moderne Studio

L

arge financial sector employers still offer plenty of perks to entice staff to join or stay. On their websites, for example, Deloitte and the European Investment Bank both tout flexible working arrangements and pension and insurance schemes beyond the Grand Duchy’s statutory plans.

Yet only 14% of multinational corporations’ HR departments in Luxembourg indicated interest in improving employee benefit packages, according to a survey released last month by global consultancy Towers Watson.

In fact, benefits packages are really “not a motivator” for most people changing jobs, says Anita De Viell, director at Fast, a financial sector recruitment and training consultancy. Staff are “much more concerned about the job and the salary”.

And she notes that outside of sectorial work conventions or union agreements, there are no mandatory benefits in Luxembourg. “A company pays you a salary and that’s the only obligation.”

Nonetheless, “companies try to do their best because the more you can give an employee the more that will make it an attractive company and it helps with retention.”

Delano presents a brief primer on some of the more popular benefits in the financial sector..

SUMMER 2014

35

BUSINESS

Socio-economic equality

A THREAT TO SOCIETY? A recent CEPS Instead report looks at regional differences in rising unemployment rates and house prices across the Grand Duchy.

Text by Stephen Evans Photography by Sven Becker

A

re cracks starting to show in this country’s enviable record on social equality? Unemployment has risen steadily (2.3% in 2000 vs.

7%+ this year) and lower earners risk being excluded from the housing market as prices boom. A recent government-commissioned report by the CEPS Instead research institute called Territorial cohesion: what’s at stake? looked at this issue commune by commune.

IN TRANSITION Rue de Hollerich in Luxembourg City

GRAPHIC DETAILS

There are interesting maps in the report. They are relatively easy to understand even for readers without much French, including those on average salaries (page 35) and average house prices (page 41). Type “Cohésion territoriale” into the search (“recherche”) box. www.statistiques.lu

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SUMMER 2014

Even though unemployment is still relatively low nationally, pockets of joblessness seem to have appeared, particularly since the 2008 crisis. The report looked at figures from ­ December 2011 and found several communes with more than double the national rate for joblessness. Wiltz and Vianden in the north, Echternach and Reisdorf in the northeast and Differdange and Esch in the south all had unemployment rates of 10%-13%. These figures are similar to those seen in many localities in neighbouring areas of France and Belgium with particular economic difficulties, and compares to Luxembourg’s national figure of 5.8% at that time.

This country’s economic black spots also tend to be areas with a high share of non-Luxembourgers in the population. Most of these

areas have witnessed a decline in manufacturing industry, with a resultant increase in unemployment of at least two percentage points since 2006.

Unemployment was lowest (below 4%) in Niederanven, Junglinster, Schuttrange and Contern to the east of the capital, and Kehlen, Tuntange and Garnich to the north and west: all areas favoured by higher earning immigrants. The capital had an unemployment ­figure just above the national average. While it has many wealthy neighbourhoods, there are several less favoured areas.

House prices are on the other side of the ­inequality question, with lower earners less able to access homes near the capital. This also implies exclusion from the wider range of social amenities available there. Using prices for the fourth quarter of 2012 calculated by the government’s Housing Observatory, the ­average house cost was in excess of €750,000 at about a 20 minute drive from Luxembourg City: from Frisange on the French border, to Mamer/Kehlen in the west to Niederanven in the east. Cheaper homes (under €450,000) were in Pétange and Rumelange in the south, on the northwestern Belgian border, and R ­ eisdorf and Beaufort in the northeast.

However, places with the highest unemployment (such as Esch, Echternach and Vianden) did not always have the lowest house prices.

The average house price nationally in the fourth quarter of 2012 was close to €600,000, a figure which had risen by 12% a year later.

Nationally, apartment prices averaged €370,000 at the end of 2012, rising 8% last year. Although the report raises interesting q ­ uestions, for the moment this country (with its population featuring 43% non-Luxembourgers) remains highly socially cohesive. Evidence of widening inequality can be a c­ oncern, but it is not the only worry. For example, most of the country’s less well off areas also tend to have the least income i­nequality. Conversely, areas of higher average are less equal..

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BUSINESS

Opinion

“WHY I’M WORRIED ABOUT BEPS WHEN IT COMES TO FUNDS”

Luc Deflorenne (archives)

I

feel compelled to write this article while there is still time to act. The OECD initiative known as BEPS is gathering momentum and after dissecting, discussing and digesting the report, I fear there may be unfortunate side effects lurking in this ­initiative.

While the objective is to guarantee that multinationals pay their fair share of tax, one particular rule will harm, too, the small investor on the street.

The rule I am speaking of aims to tackle “treaty shopping”, where some multinationals cherry pick the tax to be paid on their profits.

This is done by creating structures that take advantage of tax treaties between individual states: money is channelled through states which have treaties offering very low or even 0% tax.

The proposed rules on treaty shopping seek to avoid this practice by checking whether a company has a legitimate reason to have X or Y

country in their structure. If they don’t, the lower tax rate will not be applied.

What does all this have to do with investors? Under current proposals, the same logic will be applied to investment funds as multinationals. Authorities will look at where the funds’ investors are domiciled, with 50% required in the country of the fund.

But the logic here simply doesn’t and can’t apply: in a single European market, aren’t investment funds cross-border by nature?

The end result could be thousands or even millions of investors seeing taxes rise on their funds and being forced to choose their investments based on where they live, rather than a funds’ potential.

Yet the BEPS proposal would penalize cross-border funds that attract money from all over Europe, as most do not have 50% of investors from the country of the fund.

Somehow, I feel an injustice is being done. Isn’t it time for a rethink?.

Georges Bock is managing partner of KPMG Luxembourg.

GEORGES BOCK Tax evasion rules could hurt investment funds

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SUMMER 2014

Olivier Minaire

The OECD initiative to tackle tax evasion by multination­als --the base erosion and profit shifting (BEPS) project-will have an unforeseen impact on the European asset management industry, writes KPMG’s Georges Bock.

Regulation

“THERE ARE OTHER OPTIONS” Outsource “KYC” compliance, says exec.

The financial sector should outsource “know your customer” compliance programmes, a service provider argued during last month’s Horizon Conference, organised by consulting firm Deloitte. That is because executives do “not understand there are other options” for meeting KYC compliance requirements, Anna Mazzone of Thomson Reuter told Delano in an interview just before the event. Under KYC rules, financial institutions must check that clients are who they say they are and that their transactions are not for illicit purposes.

But in light of ever thickening rulebooks, some “banks realize it’s better to hire someone like us to do this for them.”.

Read more at: www.delano.lu/news/there-are-other-options

CALL FOR CONTRIBUTIONS This autumn Delano is launching a new series of guest opinion columns in both the current affairs and business sections. Do you have unique perspective or insightful comments to share? Then tell us why you should have “carte blanche” in Delano: news@delano.lu

Enovos, your everyday energy partner Because life is all about energy, because you have new plans every day, we are dedicated to supplying the energy that you need to keep moving forward. You can count on us, now and in the future. Enovos, Energie fir LĂŤtzebuerg.

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enovos.eu

BUSINESS

Moving to Luxembourg

EMBRACING A GRAND ADVENTURE New to the Grand Duchy?

Here is Delano’s quick guide to settling-in successfully.

Text by Tonya Stoneman Photography by Mike Zenari

M

oving is one of the most difficult things you will ever do. And the stress multiplies by ten if you’re moving to a foreign country. “When you are in strange territory, you are afraid of everything,” says Sherry Sideris, an expat who has been through the ordeal several times. When she moved to Luxembourg, she got help from a professional at Integreat relocation services and was so impressed that she joined the team. “We work to make the unknown known,” she says, “to encourage people to take on this adventure.”

In many respects, moving abroad should be approached as an adventure. The experience will change you in ways you never thought possible and will broaden your horizons personally and professionally. That said, ­ ­integrating into a new country entails everything from negotiating with government bureaucrats to getting a recycling bin and even the smallest things can require a major effort.

Delano spoke with several people who have travelled this road and asked them for practical advice. Their simple insights can make the transition easier.

To begin with, it helps to have help. If you don’t have formal relocation support, ­ Beverly ­Atkinson of International Communities of Luxembourg can assist you. Her organisation offers free assistance to those who need it and she teaches a one-day course called “The First 90 Days” which covers everything from bank contracts to registering a car to finding a health scheme that works for you. “The bureaucracy can be heavy, so we try to lend a helping hand,” she says.

One of the first things you may notice about Luxembourg is that rent is high. Finding accommodations can be difficult and they don’t come cheaply. Nicolas Stamets showed up in the country with two bags to start a

40

SUMMER 2014

s­ ix-month long internship--and now he’s been here for six years. “If you are looking for a place to live, you should really try airbnb.com to start with,” he recommends. “A lot of the relocation agencies will charge the apartment owner a one month fee to place you, and that gets passed on to you. You will need a two months deposit plus your first month’s rent. When you add a ­commission fee, the price tag can be out of ­control. But thanks to technology, you can rent a room or an apartment by the week on airbnb while you get settled in and do due diligence.”

When searching for accommodation, don’t dismiss the idea of living outside of Luxembourg City. Sideris has been finding homes for people in the surrounding areas for eight years. “The stigma that expats live by the schools is not true,” she says. “Everything closes in the city at night and all the shopping is now in the suburbs.

People love it there and the busses extend to every cow pasture in the country! ” Transportation, with the exception of taxis, is quite inexpensive and the system here is

" MAKE THE UNKNOWN KNOWN˝ SHERRY SIDERIS

BUSINESS

NICOLAS STAMETS Technology makes relocation easier

A FEW THINGS TO DO RIGHT AWAY

Vehicle registration This must be done within six months of your arrival and it involves numerous steps, so prepare to devote a day to the process. www.snct.lu

Utilities Contact your local council (commune) to have your water turned on. In Luxembourg City, www.vdl.lu or 47 96 28 95.

For electricity, contact Enovos at 8006 6000.

one of the best in Europe. Tianyuan Xie recently moved to Luxembourg from Beijing and the transportation system is ­something he really appreciates. “I can go anywhere from Luxembourg,” he says. “I can be in Paris or Frankfurt or Brussels in just a few hours.”

He was able to buy a car and get a driving licence in a very short time with little effort.

Additionally, most employers will offer attractive car leases as a part of employee packages and the city offers monthly and even yearly train passes that extend to the ­surrounding countries.

Another big issue for expats is schools. Sideris gets a lot of feedback in this area since it’s always the most important priority for families. “It’s important to remember that enrolling your kids in a foreign school is difficult no matter where you are--it’s a worldwide problem. Luxembourg is actually quite a bit more accommodating than other places. The private schools are actually subsidized by the state. The country just signed for 100 extra

Taxes New residents must request a tax card from the Bureau d’Imposition.

spots at the European school and the international school [ISL] has doubled in size.”

Due to the massive influx of expats, the Grand Duchy has evolved a lot in the past decade, international residents say. English is spoken almost everywhere, while you can hear people speaking 20 different languages in any given local café. The government is now accepting English documentation, and the system for getting a work permit for non-EU citizens is relatively fast. Plus, there is an abundance of clubs that can help you get ­ connected with likeminded people (see www.delano.lu/community-all).

Ultimately, if you’re leaving your home to relocate in Luxembourg, you will miss things that you have left behind. But the transition will be much smoother if you become informed, manage your expectations and ­prepare to make compromises. “Moving takes you out of your comfort zone,” says Sideris. “You can’t expect everything you had back home. But, then again, that’s the whole point of travel.”.

www.impotsdirects.public.lu

Family benefits Register with the Caisse Nationale des Prestations and find out what benefits you are entitled to (such as birth, prenatal and postnatal, back-to-school, etc.) www.cnpf.lu

Read Just Arrived www.justarrived.lu

Family Guide www.livres.maisonmoderne.lu/ familyguide/

First 90 Days course www.intcomlux.com

SUMMER 2014

41

THINK LOCAL

Polish, German and soon Luxembourger

“SHOW ME A COUNTRY” Artur Sosna explains why he is becoming a citizen of the Grand Duchy in the 29th and final instalment of Delano’s “Think Local” interview series.

Interview by Aaron Grunwald Photography by Steve Eastwood

Artur Sosna lived in Opole, Poland, until age 18, when he moved to Germany. Fifteen years later he came to the Grand Duchy, where he heads Berlitz Luxembourg. He also chairs the Luxembourg-Poland Business Club and serves on the board of No Speed Limit running club in Strassen. The father of two applied for Luxembourg nationality on May 2 of this year.

ARTUR SOSNA Learning a language is a marathon, not a sprint

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SUMMER 2014

AG: So you first arrived here on May 2, 2007?

AS: Well, I was here May the first, but it was a holiday. But on the second I went to the commune and registered myself and my wife.

AG: Seven years later, why did you want to become a Luxembourger?

AS: I already have two passports, two EU passports, so I don’t need a third EU passport. I’m not collecting passports of all the 28 countries.

But I feel very well in Luxembourg, and I want the feeling of belonging to the society. And my participation till now is voting in elections. [I just voted in the] European elections.

But for the national [poll] you need the passport.

Second, I do a lot for Luxembourg with the German and Polish business clubs [ed. note: Sosna helped found German business club DLWI]. Yes, I also do it for myself, but I’m doing something for the society, because we bring business to Luxembourg from Poland and from Germany.

And that’s why I want to have the feeling that I’m not just doing it, but I am a person from Luxembourg.

AG: Why are you so positive about the Grand Duchy?

AS: It’s not my first migration, it’s my second, so I can compare. Second I have travelled myself to over 60 countries. OK, traveling is not living, I know. But nevertheless I’ve seen ­different cultures and countries from Japan to Argentina, so I know how it works more or less. And with all my experiences, I would say Luxembourg is one of the most interesting places in the world to live.

AG: Why? AS: In ten square kilometers, Strassen has 8,000 people and 100 nationalities.

Show me a place in the world you have the mix like that. And those 100 nationalities are not one from Zaire and one from Poland, no.

There are 50 Polish, 50 Zairians and so on. They’re really big communities of those people and that’s fantastic.

And second, yes, you have this mix in London, in Paris, in bigger cities, but all of them speak one language.

They speak the language of the country: in London, English, in Paris, French, and so on. In Luxembourg, you speak what you want to. Show me a country where it is possible and people are not offended or ­disappointed.

That’s what makes it even more interesting, because it’s so free in terms of cultures and languages; nobody’s a­ stonished, nobody’s afraid, nobody’s like, ‘hey, stop it’.

And that doesn’t happen in New York and London and Sydney.

You have one language and that’s it.

In Strassen you see those 100 nationalities every day. And I love it and I couldn’t miss it.

AG: What is your advice for ­newcomers?

AS: Learn the languages, of course.

I learned the languages too; I know it’s difficult. I was on level five in French and I went to the bakery and the lady said ‘je ne comprends pas’. I just spent 100 hours and she said I don’t understand you!

It’s a frustration, it is. But you go on and one day she will answer you in French, speaking normal French.

It’s like that. It takes time.

And you have to like it. If you don’t like being in 100 cultures every day, then forget it. Then you’re in your ghetto society. For what did you come here?

That doesn’t make any sense..

mv-concept.lu

g n i v o m s i r e t n e The Bierger-C 1st 2014 ly u J m o fr s s re d New ad

44, Place Guillaume II 2, rue Notre-Dame

Place Guillaume II

GUCCI

Place d’Armes

Poste

Boulevard Royal

Cercle municipal

Passage souterrain

The new citizen’s registration office conveniently houses the population register as well as the civil registry office in one building.

The Bierger-Center, the one-stop shop for all your administrative formalities in the City of Luxembourg.

AGENDA

TEN EVENTS

Delano presents a selection of upcoming business and networking events for Luxembourg’s international community. Advance registration or fees may be required, so consult the website indicated for full details.

All events are held in English unless otherwise noted.

BRITISH CHAMBER

TOASTMASTERS

AMCHAM

www.bcc.lu

www.district59.eu

www.amcham.lu

CHAMBER OF COMMERCE www.cc.lu

TUE 30 SEPT. - THU 2 OCT.

Russian visit

WED 16 JULY

4 - 12 - 27 AUGUST

THU 25 SEPT.

Mudam visit

Speech skills

New technologies

A guided tour of Luxembourg’s top contemporary art museum, followed by a networking lunch, with an introductory speech by director Enrico Lunghi. The last British chamber event before summer break.

Places are limited.

Mudam, Luxembourg-Kirchberg, 12:00

LUXEMBOURG MAC USER GROUP

Public speaking groups Bossuet Gaveliers, Casemates Communications and Greenheart Toastmasters Club each meet two evenings per month. No requirement to be a native Anglophone.

Check website for venues and times

The American chamber and technology professionals club APSI host an evening seminar on virtual money and digital content. Speakers include Marc Hemmerling of bankers trade group ABBL. PwC, Luxembourg-Cloche d’Or, 18:00

STARTUP GRIND

BRITISH CHAMBER

www.startupgrind.com

www.bcc.lu

Luxembourg’s chamber of commerce and trade promotion agencies organise an official economic mission to Russia, to be led by a member of the Grand Duchy’s government. Details and registration via international@cc.lu.

Moscow and Kazan, Tatarstan

AMCHAM & LPBC www.lpbc.lu

www.meetup.com

MON 21 JULY

THU 2 OCT.

Monthly meetup

Freeport intro

The group says: “Meet other local Macintosh fanatics and developers to talk about OSX, Mac computers and applications!” iPads, Macs and iPhones are on the agenda this time.

Location revealed upon registration, 19:30

THE NETWORK www.thenetwork.lu

WED 30 JULY

TUE 9 SEPT.

FRI 26 SEPT.

Luxembourg entrepreneurs

Finance talk

The Google-backed global group for entrepreneurs hosts Marie-Béatrice Noble, managing partner of law firm MNKS, who will speak about corporate law.

BNY Mellon, Luxembourg-Cloche d’Or, 18:30

Guest speaker at the first British luncheon of the autumn season is Nicolas Mackel, CEO of Luxembourg for Finance, the Grand Duchy’s official financial sector promotion agency.

Location to be announced, 12:00

Summer drinks

The women’s networking group holds its annual warm weather get-together. Meet other female professionals for informal cocktails on the terrace.

Frenchie Bar & Restaurant, EP Estate.pdf 1 01/07/2014 Luxembourg-Centre, 18:30

CM

10:31

MY

6, Rue Adolphe, L-1116 Luxembourg tél. : 29 27 27-8101 • info@epestate.lu

CY

CMY

K

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SUMMER 2014

www.amcham.lu

MON 6 OCT. Laura Foulds of Analie Tax & Consulting, which serves individual expat clients, is guest speaker at the American Chamber of Commerce’s first ABAL monthly luncheon of the new season.

Alvisse Parc Hotel, Luxembourg-Dommeldange, 12:00

Vente & Recherche Estimation & Analyse

Y

AMCHAM

Personal tax lunch

C

M

Shai Baitel of Mana Contemporary and Carlo Weisen of Brinks will discuss the new free trade handling centre at Findel airport with members of the American and Polish chambers of commerce. Register early.

Luxembourg Freeport, Findel, 18:30

HAVE A SUGGESTION?

If your organisation is holding an event of interest to the international community, send details to: news@delano.lu.

Roaming prices

DROP

Starting July 1st, stay connected in Europe : communicating was never this cheap !

OUTGOING

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5,75 cts

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1/ Only available for communications from Zone 1 countries : Albania, Andorra, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland (Aland included), France, French Guyana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy (Vatican City included), Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Malta, Martinique, Norway, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal (Azores and Madeira included), RĂŠunion, Romania, San Marino, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain (Canary Islands, Ceuta and Melilla included), Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom.

Newly installed in a venue that has had a constant turnover of bars and restaurants over the years, Beim Siggy is a new locale on the montée de Clausen. Serving both traditional L­ uxembourg cuisine and classic French brasserie fare, the restaurant has been refurbished and retains its stunning terrace overlooking Clausen and with views to the Corniche. www.beimsiggy.lu

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SUMMER 2014

Benjamin Champenois

CATHY GOEDERT Cathy Goedert has recently opened her first patisserie in the former premises of Speltz on rue Chimay.

Her own delicious, delicate creations --chocolates, biscuits, cakes, macaroons and viennoiseries--use seasonal produce and feature different textures.

Goedert trained at hotel school in Namur and has worked at Oberweis and Windsor but at just 25 is now striking out on her own. www.cathygoedert.lu

The city centre is packed with events this summer as the Luxembourg City Tourist Office puts on a programme to keep young and old entertained.

As well as the music festivals already previewed in these pages, the agenda includes classical concerts in the park, the Schueberfouer funfair on the Glacis (from August 23 to September 10), the Streeta(rt)nimation weekend of street performers, open air cinema screenings in front of the grand duke’s palace (including ­Breakfast at ­Tiffany’s, Gravity and Grand Budapest Hotel) and in the Capucins courtyard. The palace itself is also open for guided tours from July 15 to S­ eptember 7.

For more summer ideas, see pages 62 & 64.. www.summerinthecity.lu

SEPPL The bar on the avenue de la Faïencerie has new owners. Pierre Adam from Café Bel Air and Jérôme Kersuzan from L’Annexe have taken over what used to be a local bar specialising in Bavarian beer and atmosphere. It still serves a good draught Franziskaner wheat beer, but the new menu is inspired by the Bel Air’s burgers and brasserie style offering. A good venue for a pre- or postcinema meal after visiting the Utopia.

Luc Deflorenne

BEIM SIGGY

Julien Becker

Mike Zenari

LCTO

SUMMER IN THE CITY

EL PURO Connoisseurs of fine cigars will love El Puro. The new venue on rue NotreDame features a large humidor which offers guests a selection of cigars from Cuba, Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, as well as a selection of top rated rums and whiskies and other spirits and accessories such as lighters and ashtrays. www.elpuro.eu

Château Miraval

Creative Commons

LIFESTYLE

BRANGELINA’S ROSÉ Did you know that Wine Spectator’s best rosé in the world derives from a vineyard owned by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie? Château Miraval’s 2012 rosé was acclaimed by the magazine, and now the 2013 vintage is available from Vinoteca, which has been importing Château Miraval wines for over ten years (the celebrity couple took over the vineyard in 2010). www.vinoteca.lu

Luc Deflorenne

Discover Luxembourg

GOLF IN THE CITY Golf goes urban on September 26 when the annual Lexus Golf in the City event takes place on the place Guillaume II. Golf enthusiasts and novices can try out a series of challenges, including a 6-hole course around the city streets, and learn more about the game and clubs and courses in Luxembourg at information stands located in the Village des Golfs. www.golfinthecity.lu

Mike Zenari

AIRPORT PARKING Parking capacity for passengers using Findel has increased to 7,400 spaces with the addition of a new facility offering cheaper long-term options.

Parking M, 2.5km from the terminal, allows up to 1,300 cars to be parked for a week at a cost of just €35 or €5 a day (and up to €15 per supplementary day). A shuttle bus running every 20 minutes takes passengers to and from the terminal. www.lux-airport.lu

IRISH SUMMER SCHOOL Comhaltas Ceoltoiri Éireann Luxembourg’s Irish music summer school is offering primary school age children and early teenagers courses in step dancing, traditional singing, tin whistle and drama.

The school in Belair will run during the week of August 4-8 from 8.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. More info and registration on tel. 621 673 376 or email: comhaltas_luxembourg@hotmail.com www.comhaltas.lu

Luxembourg fundraising group Kick Cancer Into Touch is planning its 13th annual touch rugby charity tournament to benefit cancer care, and there is still time to get involved. KCIT was founded by Mea ­Shepard--who lost her husband to the disease--and former Rugby Club Luxembourg player Joe Lister more than a decade ago. Funds benefit Omega 90, a cancer hospice, and Kriibskrank Kanner, an organisation supporting children and families affected by cancer. Lister (seen here with his daughter Maisie) says KCIT is important to him because it is “my way of remembering and dealing with the passing away of my sister and my form of taking some social responsibly”. Touch rugby is a six-a-side non-contact form of rugby played on a half sized pitch with diverse teams. “We like the sport as it is really open to all, there is ­­a women’s team, mixed, men’s, vets and kids.” The tourney will be held the last weekend of August, with team registration closing the week before. The day also features a barbeque feast and family friendly entertainment, and Lister says KCIT is “always happy for people to join in, make a salad, bake a cake or just offer a hand behind the bar on the day.” To register or volunteer, contact the group via email at luxembourgtouch@gmail.com.

Location to be announced www.facebook.com/kickcancer.intotouch

The annual Discover Luxembourg challenge takes place on Saturday September 6. The event sees teams comprising friends, work colleagues or family follow a trail around the capital and discovering more about its culture, history and gastronomy, while completing a number of fun challenges.

The event is in support of the Schengen Peace Foundation and its main project, the World Peace Forum. www.discover-lux.lu

Charles Caratini

Steve Eastwood

HELP KICK CANCER WITH A TOUCH

DISCOVER LUXEMBOURG

BRADERIE The annual sidewalk sales that coincide with the Schueberfouer funfair take place this year on Monday September 1. Shops in the capital, from the city centre to the Gare neighbourhood, set up stands offering customers a wide range of goods at knock down prices--early bird bargain hunters are already out in force by 8 a.m.

The sales continue until 6 p.m. with many streets closed to traffic for the day. www.cityshopping.lu

SUMMER 2014

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LIFESTYLE

Philharmonie Season 2014-15

CLASSICS OF EVERY SHADE The Philharmonie’s tenth season takes in great classical music, adventurous trips around the world, live music for films, jazz performances and a programme for youngsters.

Text by Duncan Roberts Photography by Ilan Weiss

G

reat composers, world-class orchestras, acclaimed conductors and brilliant musicians will all perform in Luxembourg as part of the Philharmonie’s 2014-15 season. That may seem to be business as usual for the concert hall, which has established a reputation for excellence in programming over the previous nine seasons.

Indeed, the season has retained many audience favourite themes such as the “Grands orchestres”, “Grands chefs” and “Grands solistes” features which in the coming year will see the London Symphony Orchestra and the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra, conductors Sir Simon Rattle, Riccardo Muti and Iván Fischer, violinists Hilary Hahn and Janine Jansen and soprano Joyce DiDonato perform in the venue’s grand auditorium.

Fischer will conduct the Dutch Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra in a marathon of Beethoven’s nine symphonies over four days next April. The performance of the 3rd and 4rd Symphonies is part of the “Grands classiques” series, which also features the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields playing Mozart’s Symphony no.40 and the Orchestre Philharmonique du Luxembourg playing two concerts of works by Mozart, Beethoven and Haydn.

The “Dating” lecture/concert series returns with a focus on Scriabine, Strauss and Bizet, while the popular

“Aventure+” series of concerts and ad hoc performances in the Philharmonie’s splendid foyer travels the world from Luxembourg to China via Spain and Portugal. Recitals by talented ­pianists such as Hélène Grimaud, ­Grigory Sokolov and rising stars Alice Sara Ott together with Luxembourg’s own Francesco Tristano are also part of the classical programme.

The Philharmonie caters to jazz fans with its “Chill at the Phil” and “Jazz & beyond” programmes, which next ­season feature notable talents Herbie Hancock and Dee Dee Bridgewater and South Korean singer Youn Sun Nah. Local talent is also on show with a performance by Kalima featuring Sascha Ley, Laia Genc and Anne Kaftan and from vibraphone star Pascal Schumacher with his latest project Left Tokyo Right. A new “Fräiraim” series also showcases local musicians such as Serge Tonnar & Legotrip, the Marly Marques Quintet and even rock and metal bands.

Young audiences are also encouraged to attend programmes ranging from the “1.2..3… musique” series for toddlers to the “iPhil” series for 13-17 year olds that includes a live score for The Matrix and musical comedy duo Aleksey Igudesman and Hyung-Ki Joo. The under 21s can also take advantage of a “Nice Price” ticket at just 10 euros for other concerts.. www.philharmonie.lu PASCAL SCHUMACHER The vibraphone pin-up brings his Left Tokyo Right project to the Phil

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LIFESTYLE

BEN GASTAUER Honoured to be riding his first Tour de France

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  JUIN 2014

LIFESTYLE

THE CRUCIAL THREE

FRÄNK SCHLECK – Trek Factory Racing Born: April 15, 1980 Turned pro: 2003 Tour de France: 3rd 2011 Tour de Suisse: 1st 2010, 2nd 2012 Tour de Luxembourg: 1st 2009, 2nd 2010, 3rd 2012 National Road Race Championships: 1st 2005, 2008, 2010, 2011 & 2014

Tour de France

AND THEN THERE WERE THREE… Luxembourg will be represented by three riders in this year’s Tour de France.

Trek Factory Racing’s Fränk Schleck (who is again joined by brother Andy) and Tour newcomer Ben Gastauer of the French AG2R La Mondiale team talk to Delano.

Text by Duncan Roberts Photography by Kramon

B ANDY SCHLECK – Trek Factory Racing Born: June 10, 1985 Turned pro: 2005 Tour de France: 1st 2010, 2nd 2009 & 2011 Giro d’Italia: 2nd 2007 National Road Race Championships: 1st 2009, 3rd 2014 National Time Trial Championships: 1st 2005 & 2010

BEN GASTAUER – AG2R La Mondiale Born: November 14, 1987 Turned pro: 2010 U23 National Road Race Championships: 1st 2006, 2007, 2009 National Road Race Championships: 3rd 2010, 2nd 2012, 2nd 2014 Flèche du Sud: 2nd 2009 National Time Trial Championships: 1st 2012, 3rd 2013

ells will be ringing out across Yorkshire on the evening of July 3 as the official opening ceremony of the 2014 Tour de France gets underway in Leeds.

The big ring, as it is being called, will ­symbolise the bringing together of the county as it celebrates the Grand Départ. There will be cheers in Luxembourg, too, as the whole country-just a quarter of the size of Yorkshire-celebrates its three riders. The familiar names of Fränk and Andy Schleck, both of whom have been on the podium at the Tour de France, are joined by Ben Gastauer who is making his debut in the world’s greatest cycle race.

The days when the Schlecks were among the favourites to win the Tour are long gone. Their careers have been blighted by injury (Andy suffered a major crash at the 2012 Critérium du Dauphiné) and a year-long ban (Fränk was suspended from racing when traces of the diuretic Xipamide were found during testing at the 2012 Tour de France). But recent performances have suggested that the brothers still retain a hunger for racing.

Indeed, Trek Factory Racing’s general manager Luca Guercilena said when the team was selected that although Andy may not have won a stage in the Tour de Suisse, he raced aggressively and well. “Riders of his stature should have the opportunity to compete in the race that made them great.”

Speaking to Delano during the Tour de Luxembourg in June, Fränk Schleck also praised his younger brother. “The

human body is not like a combustion engine or a Formula 1 car that you can tune. Andy had an accident and missed six weeks, and it takes time to get back to form after that. You have to be patient.

He has been on the podium at the Tour de France and at the Giro, so you have to give him credit where credit is due.

He has achieved a lot and has done a lot for Luxembourg. He did a lot of that by himself.”

such as Dutch Tour of Luxembourg prologue winner Danny van ­Poppel and Luxembourg all-rounder Bob Jungels.

“As a rider with experience, I would hope that I could teach them something.”

Another relatively young Luxembourger, 26-year old Ben Gastauer is looking forward to his first Tour. “It is the dream of every professional rider to take part in the Tour de France,” he says. The Dudelange native turned professional in 2010 and has experience of big races, having ridden three times in the Giro d’Italia and twice in the Vuelta in Spain. But he is the first to admit that the Tour is on a different level. “I think the big difference between the three races is the media spotlight. The Giro and Vuelta are probably just as difficult technically, but everybody talks about the Tour de France and all riders aim to be at the top of their form for this race.”

Gastauer says he is honoured to be the only Luxembourger in a team comprised solely of French riders that AG2R La Mondiale has selected for the Tour. “My role in the team is to work for the two leaders [Romain Bardet and Jean-Christophe Péraud]… to accompany them as much as possible. We have set a goal of trying to win at least one stage.” He is also looking forward to the Grand Départ.

“The sport has become really popular in England, so I think the crowds will be enthusiastic.”.

Motivated Fränk, now 32, says the day will come as sure as night is day that he can no longer ride as he would like. “Let’s see if someone like [Slovak rising star] Peter Sagan is performing at the same level in ten years, when he is 31.” He acknowledges that cycling is not without its sacrifices and pain is part of the game.

“I have never ridden a bike without feeling it afterwards. Cycling is a life lesson, but you learn a lot.” But the 2010 Tour de Suisse winner says he had no problem maintaining his motivation during his 12-month ban, which ended in July 2013. “I simply love cycling, I am good at it and know I had nothing to reproach myself for. The international federation and the ALAD [the Luxemburg antidoping agency] acknowledged that my case had nothing to do with doping.

So it was easy to keep myself motivated.”

As one of the veterans of the Trek Factory team, Fränk hopes he can be a role model for up and coming riders

www.letour.com

SUMMER 2014

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LIFESTYLE

Trek Factory Racing team’s Andy Schleck

Spectators take in stage 4 of the 74th Tour de Luxembourg in Rollingergrund

Cycling

BRESCHEL TAKES THE HEAT

Battling high temperatures, two Danes and a Luxembourger topped this year’s Skoda Tour de Luxembourg race. Matti Breschel of the Tinkoff-Saxo team finished first overall. The Danish cyclist completed the five-day, 704 km course in just under 18 hours total (17:59:04).

Luxembourger Jean-Pierre Drucker of Belgian team Wanty-Groupe Gobert took second place, with a time just 19 seconds behind Breschel. Coming in one second after that, Michael Mørkøv, also of the Danish-Russian Tinkoff-Saxo team, placed third overall.

The heat--with temperatures starting in the upper 20s and surpassing 30 on the last two days--made for grueling conditions. More than 100 riders entered the 2014 competition, but only 65 completed the entire course.

Luxembourg’s Fränk Schleck, the 2009 Tour de Luxembourg champion who is now on the Trek Factory Racing team, placed ninth overall this time around.

The 2011 champion, German Linus Gerdemann of South African team MTNQhubeka, came in 29th, while fellow Trek rider and Luxembourger Andy Schleck placed 50th with a total time of 18 hours 13 minutes 57 seconds. AG

Lotto Belisol’s Greg Henderson

More action at: Tour de Luxembourg winner Matti Breschel of the Tinkoff-Saxo team

www.delano.lu/TdL14 Photographed by Steve Eastwood

Stage 4 winner André Greipel of the Lotto Belisol team

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Leopard Development Team’s Kevin Feiereisen

We are looking to reinforce our sales team with an Account Manager for the magazine Delano.

The ideal person will identify, develop, pitch and execute ad sales initiatives and drive the full sales cycle. Prior sales experience in advertising/media, knowledge of the Luxembourg market and fluency in French and English required.

Account Manager (f/m)

For more information and to apply: www.MaisonModerne.lu/jobs

LIFESTYLE

Education

LAST MINUTE ASSIGNMENT: FIND A SCHOOL FOR YOUR CHILD BEFORE SEPTEMBER!

PATRICK PIERRA Still time for homework!

Try this word problem: take one family with one language--English--move them to one country with three main languages, none of which is English.

They have three kids with different ages and it is just weeks or months before school starts. Their confidence in learning languages is zero. So what’s the answer? Well, fortunately, the test is multiple choice--and multiple answer!

Text by Wendy Winn Photography by Annabelle Denham

F

inding the right school for your children is more than a “word problem”--it’s a complicated decision.

So let’s try to make it less so.

For starters, you might consider a Luxembourg state school if you’re going to stay here a while. Luxembourg schools are good at integrating students and kids pick up languages easily. Before they get to high school, they’ll be conversational in four languages. If you go this route, contact the Luxembourgish Schools Support Group, a volunteer association of knowledgeable parents who provide practical info in English.

If that doesn’t appeal, you can enrol little ones at an English-speaking crèche like Sunflower Montessori or a bi-lingual early years school like Over the Rainbow.

A few schools here offer an Englishlanguage education from preschool up through high school, ideal for the whole family. St. George’s International School Luxembourg is one of them.

“We follow the British curriculum,” says admissions officer Kerry Tranter.

“That sets us apart, along with our smaller size. But the real thing is that we cater to different levels. We have 52 different nationalities, and not every child of the same age is going to be on the same page at the same time.”

The International School of Luxembourg also caters to all ages and has

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students from around the world.

“The school has evolved rapidly, but although it’s large, the student body is very friendly and open to learning,” says the school’s communications specialist Chris Starr. “We’ve just opened a new lower school building and it’s beautiful, and since we are independent, we have more control over the curriculum at the primary level. At the upper level, students in grades 11 and 12 can choose the International Baccalaureate programme.”

St. George’s and the ISL are both excellent, but they are also private. “There was a real need for a public offer,” says Chris Chapman, the coordinator of the English programme at Lycée technique Michel Lucius. The Luxembourg state high school now fills that need, offering the International General Certificate of Secondary Education, which prepares students to go on to A-levels or the International Baccalaureate diploma programme. Students are not put into classes by age but by academic ability, especially in English and mathematics, and admissions tests are given throughout the year.

The Athénée de Luxembourg has a great reputation and can also pride itself on being an IB World School, meaning that it too offers an International Baccalaureate. They offer a fouryear programme for highly motivated

students: two preparatory years followed by the IB course.

And then there’s the European School. It’s also big--there are now two campuses here and of course many others abroad--and was in fact “born” here, dreamt up by Jean Monnet in 1953. Lessons are given in at least two languages and children must learn a third and even fourth language as well. Chances are if your child can attend this school, you already know it.

That’s because it’s primarily for the children of European institution employees but not exclusively-providing there’s space and parents can pay the fees.

Still not sure if you’ve found the solution?

Well, how about home-schooling?

Although it’s new and rare here, it’s growing. There’s even an association to support these families and the ­freedom of choice, the Association ­luxembourgeoise pour la liberté d’instruction. According to Alli, you’ll need permission from the Ministry of Education. “The laws concerning secondary school are vague, but in primary school some limitations might be set,” said Alli’s Patrick Pierra.

So where to start? Consult the education ministry, ask at your embassy, speak with the LSSG and others with experience, surf the net and call the schools.

In other words, do some homework!.

LIFESTYLE

RESOURCES GENERAL INFO Education ministry Type “brochures for parents” into the search box. www.men.public.lu Luxembourgish Schools Support Group www.lssg.lu CRÈCHE & PRESCHOOL Over the Rainbow école maternelle www.overtherainbow.lu Sunflower Montessori www.sunflower.lu PRIMARY & SECONDARY European School www.euroschool.lu International School of Luxembourg www.islux.lu St. George’s International School www.st-georges.lu SECONDARY SCHOOL Athénée de Luxembourg www.al.lu Lycée technique Michel Lucius www.ltml.lu HOME-SCHOOLING Association luxembourgeoise pour la liberté d’instruction www.luxhomeschooler.com

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LIFESTYLE

9 LIVE SHOWS

02

Many cultural venues take the same lengthy summer holiday as local schools. Entertainment is provided by a couple of festivals and a smattering of music and dance performances, as well as Exit07’s August programme.

WARPAINT

01

Frustratingly inconsistent Californian girl band Warpaint have been hailed as the ultimate in cool and disregarded as too blatantly hip. Debut album The Fool was praised for showcasing the groups’ “inexplicable and fascinating” (Pitchfork) chemistry, while they were slated on self-titled follow up for being too “stylishly presented”. But the band makes a thrilling improvised racket on stage.

August 25, den Atelier, Luxembourg-Gare, www.atelier.lu

José Luiz Pederneiras

03

GRUPO CORPO Renowned Brazilian dance troupe Grupo Corpo comes to Luxembourg with its latest show, a double feature of Triz/Parabelo. The first part is based on the Brazilian word for the edge of disaster, while Parabelo is an homage to the country’s rural hip swaying and feet stamping dances set to a contemporary soundtrack.

September 26 & 27, Grand Théâtre, Luxembourg-Limpertsberg, www.theatres.lu

Serge Manes

04

Food For Your Senses

MAD FOR IT Created over ten years ago with the aim of promoting local talent and bringing music fans together, Food For Your Senses has now grown into a festival featuring more than 70 acts performing over three days. This year’s festival features a swaddle of extrovert, offbeat bands and a handful of artists familiar to Luxembourg audiences, such as party band Bonaparte (at Rockhal last year), mad Norwegians ­Kakkmaddafakka (who lit up den Atelier last October) and indie-folk artist Son Lux (a star at Exit07 in January).

UK acts to watch out for include sometime Bombay Bicycle Club vocalist Lucy Rose, sexually-charged garage punk chanteuse Findlay (photo), London indie rock group Apologies, I Have None and upcoming pop-funk star Dan Croll. In addition to Son Lux, the USA supplies hard-core bands Texas In July, I Wrestled A Bear Once and Brutality Will Prevail. German artists at the festival are an eclectic bunch, including current folkpop faves Milky Chance (whose hit ‘Stolen Dance’ was all over radio this year), Berlin DJ act Alle Farben and NRW hip-hop formation Retrogott und Hulk Hodn.

Fans are also looking forward to cult Australian hardcore band Deez Nuts and a slew of local acts including the brilliant Artaban, Corbi from De Läb, young upstarts Tuys and Serge Tonnar and Legotrip.

July 25-27, Bissen, www.ffys.eu

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GREG LAMY Luxembourg’s premier jazz guitarist Greg Lamy has been given a carte blanche to perform on Sundays at the Abbaye de Neumünster’s Apero Jazz sessions during the whole of August. He will perform as a duo with Paulo Simoes, then with Benoit Vanderstraeten and Jean Marc Robin, again as a trio on the 24th with Gautier Laurent and Jacques Pirotton, and finally with Ernie Hammes and Gautier Laurent.

August 10, 17, 24 & 31, Abbaye de Neumünster, Luxembourg-Grund, www.ccrn.lu

L En uxe gli m s b - E h L our st an g’s ab gu P lis ag re he e m d Cr ium 20 èc 01 he -

my

future starts

NOW. Don’t waste your baby’s potential, choose the right childcare.

YOU can make the right decision now to help shape my future New studies in neuroscience confirm that what occurs during the first six years of life can have an enormous impact on not only how well your baby’s brain develops, but how well your baby learns and grows throughout their lifetime.

Your child’s mental development begins at birth not at school or university.

It is therefore essential that you choose the correct early years environment for your child.

The Montessori educational method stimulates your child and helps it develop its full potential. This will develop your child’s brain so that later she/he will be innovative and able to ‘think outside the box’. It is no coincidence that Montessori alumni lead two of the world’s most innovative companies.

Don’t just choose the crèche closest to you. Take time to compare. We are different.

‘Loving care and early education‘

To visit our establishment or to learn more about our Crèche and the Montessori method contact: Sam O’Dea sam@sunflower.lu Tel. 26 35 10 CRÈCHE (0-4 YEARS) | FOYER DE JOUR (4-6 YEARS) | SATURDAY SCHOOL (from 4 YEARS) | LANGUAGE AFTERNOONS (French)

SUNFLOWER MONTESSORI CRÈCHE Tel +352 26 35 10 info@sunflower.lu www.sunflower.lu Sunflower Montessori Crèche

FINDEL 13, route de Trèves L-2632 Findel

MOUTFORT 72, route de Remich L-5330 Moutfort

FINDEL GALILEO BUILDING ERSANGE 7, rue Lou Hemmer 15, route de Remich L-1748 Findel L-5423 Ersange

LIFESTYLE 05

Echternach & Clearstream International Jazz Days

TALENT SHOWS Echternach’s music festival is renowned the world over, having attracted top talent ranging from Benny Goodman to Yehudi Menuhin since 1975. The festival now features distinct classical and jazz programmes, with the Jazz Days spread out over the early autumn. This year’s concerts include performances from artists familiar to Luxemburg audiences such as Swedish jazz singer Viktoria Tolstoy and American star Dianne Reeves (both of whom have performed at the Philharmonie). The programme begins with a concert by German jazz singer and leader of the jazz faculty at Weimar’s prestigious Franz Liszt Conservatory, Jeff Cascaro, who will present his new album The Other Man. Tolstoy, a self-taught yet internationally acclaimed jazz interpreter, will be accompanied by the Orchestre National de Jazz Luxembourg conducted by Gast Waltzing. Her performance will be preceded by Japanese duo Fried Pride (photo), featuring the impressive vocals of singer Shiho and guitarist Akio Yokota.

Dianne Reeves returns to the Philharmonie for her Jazz Days concert at which she will showcase tracks from her latest album Beautiful Life, including covers of tracks such as Marvin Gaye’s ‘I Want You’ and original songs. Gast Waltzing returns to the stage for the closing concert to conduct the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern.

September 26 to November 15, Trifolion, Echternach & Philharmonie, Luxembourg-Kirchberg, www.echternachfestival.lu

JAMIE CULLUM Singer, composer, multi-instrumentalist--Jamie Cullum is a shining light of the British music scene. His style veers between jazz, pop and what some (such as Wikipedia) might label “blue-eyed soul”, and has mass commercial appeal.

But, in the words of Dave Simpson in The Guardian, Cullum “is every bit the all-action entertainer and consummate musician” and it is difficult not to succumb to his charm in a live setting. He comes to den Atelier as part of a world tour for his sixth album, Momentum.

August 29, den Atelier, Luxembourg-Gare, www.atelier.lu

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07

08

09

Osman Balkan

06

ASAF AVIDAN

THE DANDY WARHOLS

OPUS BALLET

Israeli singer-songwriter Asaf Avidan returns to Luxembourg with a Back to Basics acoustic concert in the ­reverential setting of the city’s ­Conservatoire. Avidan sold out den Atelier in March last year on the back of worldwide hit ‘One Day/Reckoning Song’, but this time plays a solo set with only his guitar, harmonica and distinctive voice and a loop tape set-up that allows him to build songs into a fitting crescendo.

September 27, Conservatoire, Luxembourg-Merl, www.atelier.lu

In danger of being labelled one-hit wonders, The Dandy Warhols have been plugging away on tour and in the recording studio since landing a massive hit with ‘Bohemian Like You’, which was used for a Vodaphone advert. Lifted from the underrated album Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia, that song continues to be something of an albatross, even though gorgeous songs like ‘Godless’, from the same album, and psychedelic glam-rocker ‘Sad Vacation’ are well worth lending an ear.

July 19, Rockhal, Esch-Belval, www.rockhal.lu

The Grand Théâtre hosts an opendoors weekend featuring guided tours offering a behind the scenes peek at the workings of the theatre as well as live performance entertainment. Among the highlights are two performances by the Opus Ballet of Florence’s Belles de sommeil, about the poetics of sleep, featuring 12 dancers and actress Laura Bandelloni. Philippe Talard creates the choreography to music by Armand Amar and Rosanna Brocanello directs.

September 20 & 21, Grand Théâtre, Luxembourg-Limpertsberg, www.theatres.lu

Sonia Totaro © Enrico Sannino

AIR

FESTIVAL

OMNI 2014

CCR NEUMÜNSTER 28, RUE MÜNSTER – L-2160 LUXEMBOURG TICKETS : WWW.CCRN.LU +352 / 26 20 52 - 444

NEUMÜNSTER

EN CONCERT À L’ABBAYE

ABBAYE DE OPEN

BENNATO

CENTRE CULTUREL DE RENCONTRE

17 JUILLET

EUGENIO

LIFESTYLE

Congés annulés

EFFERVESCENT SUMMER

NIGHT BEATS Bringing new psychedelia to Exit07 this summer

One of the delights of spending summer at home is the chance to see a clutch of cooler than thou artists playing Exit07’s Congés annulés festival.

Text by Duncan Roberts

M

arc Hauser has worked his magic again to put together a great little package of acts for this year’s Congés annulés programme. While other venues take a summer break or put on only a few shows, Exit07 has scheduled some 14 gigs and a record fair for August, making it the place to be for staycationers.

The cancelled holidays kick off with a packed bill on August 1 featuring two-drummer Portuguese experimental pop band Paus, Californian retro-surf-psych The Growlers and the return to Luxembourg of London’s psychedelic Antimatter People after a show at Sonic Visions last November. The opening night is rounded off with a performance by Luxembourg’s own Binary & Dyslexic. More new psychedelia comes courtesy of soulful garage trio Night Beats, whose sound is not too far removed from that of the artists they have spent the past few years supporting on tour--the likes

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of Wooden Shjips and one of the original psychedelic garage heroes, 13th Floor Elevator’s Roky Erickson.

Chelsea Wolfe brings a touch of gothic to the summer festival. The L.A. artist’s latest album, Pain Is Beauty, has received plenty of positive reviews. Another female artist on the bill is Angel Olsen from St. Louis, whose latest album Burn Your Fire for No Witness is described

by Kitty Empire in The Observer as “one of those records that hypnotises as it unfurls.”

Jeffrey Lewis is perhaps the best-known act on the Congés annulés bill. A keen observer of urban bohemia, and a veteran of the indie scene, Lewis has supported artists such as The Fall, Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks, Roky Erickson (there’s that name again), Pulp and Devo.

He plays here with his band The Jrams featuring Caitlin Gray on bass and Heather Wagner on drums.

A more enigmatic sound comes from Liverpool’s

sensual electronic dub artist Forest Swords (the stage name of Matthew Barnes). Also on the bill is Edinburgh alternative hip-hop trio Young Fathers, whose music also recalls the early years of trip-hop pioneers Massive Attack, but with a contemporary experimental electronica edge. Ireland is also represented on the Congés annulés bill this year by power-pop four-piece Funeral Suits, whose debut album Lily of the Valley was produced by the great Stephen Street.

Local acts also make it onto the programme, with the familiar Versus You playing an LX session, as well as a showcase from new act Crinian Wood featuring Claudine Muno and John Schlammes and performances from Cyclorama and Dutch indie electro singer Charlotte Haesen, whose band features Luxembourg musicians Pol Belardi, Jérôme Klein and Aloyse Weyler. www.rotondes.lu

s

Swimming pool : new outdoor area

it’s summertime !

Swimming pool : new outdoor relaxing area and sports facilities beach volley, basketball & street soccer + Wellness centre : outdoor swimming pool, saunas ... + Restaurants : bars, roof-terrace ...

2, rue Léon Hengen • L-1745 Luxembourg • Tel. +352 43 60 60 222 • info@coque.lu • www.coque.lu

UNDER THE PATRONAGE OF THE EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES IN LUXEMBOURG

M UD AM L UX EMB OU RG 12/07/2014 – 12/1 0 / 2 0 1 4

DAMAGE CONTROL ART AND DESTRUCTION SINCE 1950

AI WEIWEI, ROY ARDEN, JOHN BALDESSARI, WALEAD BESHTY MONICA BONVICINI, MIRCEA CANTOR, VIJA CELMINS JAKE AND DINOS CHAPMAN, BRUCE CONNER, LUC DELAHAYE THOMAS DEMAND, SAM DURANT, HAROLD EDGERTON DARA FRIEDMAN, ORI GERSHT, JACK GOLDSTEIN FELIX GONZALEZ-TORRES AND CHRISTOPHER WOOL DOUGLAS GORDON, MONA HATOUM, LARRY JOHNSON, YVES KLEIN MICHAEL LANDY, CHRISTIAN MARCLAY, GORDON MATTA-CLARK STEVE MCQUEEN, GUSTAV METZGER, JUAN MUÑOZ LAUREL NAKADATE, YOSHITOMO NARA, ARNOLD ODERMATT YOKO ONO, RAPHAEL MONTAÑEZ ORTIZ, PIPILOTTI RIST THOMAS RUFF, ED RUSCHA, JOE SOLA, JEAN TINGUELY ¯ MEI TO ¯ MATSU, JEFF WALL, ANDY WARHOL SHO Damage Control: Art and Destruction Since 1950 is organized by the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, in association with Mudam Luxembourg and Universalmuseum Joanneum/Kunsthaus Graz and is curated by Kerry Brougher and Russell Ferguson. The international tour of Damage Control: Art and Destruction Since 1950 received major funding from the Terra Foundation for American Art, and is also made possible through the generous support from the Swiss Arts Council Pro Helvetia and the Japan Foundation.

Main partner of the exhibition at Mudam:

Arnold Odermatt, Buochs, 1965 (detail) © Urs Odermatt, Windisch, Switzerland. Courtesy Galerie Springer Berlin

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Mudam Luxembourg Musée d’Art Moderne Grand-Duc Jean 3, Park Dräi Eechelen L-1499 Luxembourg-Kirchberg www.mudam.lu

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LIFESTYLE

DESTINATION: LUXEMBOURG Summer is the perfect season to play tourist at home. Here are five family-friendly activities in the Grand Duchy and Greater Region.

Text by Wendy Winn 04

Paul Arps/Creative Commons

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POOL WITH A VIEW

SOMBRE CENTENNIAL

Now this is the life! Spread out your towel on the huge sprawling green lawn and admire the view of the castle on the other side of the gorgeous ­valley. This outdoor pool is high on a plateau overlooking Vianden, and has a slide for the kids, paddling pools and a shallow pool.

Plus… it’s heated! Four euros gets you in all day, and that’s a bargain. www.visitluxembourg.com

A very important WWI site is a very near here, so consider visiting Verdun during this centennial year (see page 18). Seeing trenches and the ossuary brings home the horrors and makes written history come to life. Take a coach tour in French, or explore the area yourself, including the village of Fleury, which was captured and recaptured 16 times in two months before being completely destroyed. www.en.verdun-tourisme.com

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NO CLOWNING AROUND: DON’T MISS THIS! Circle the dates now and be sure to be here for Streeta(rt)nimation, a festival of street performances on the weekend of August 9 & 10; it’s a rare treat and ­something that is equally fun for adults and kids of all ages. From 1 to 10:30 p.m., pedestrian zones will be filled with costumes worthy of Venice, performers worthy of the Cirque du Soleil and lots of happy people watching them do daring feats, comic routines, sublime dances and the totally unexpected. And it’s all free! In fact, there’s no need to bring coins to toss in anyone’s hats--these performers are not allowed to ask for anything more than they’ve been paid by the city. Some 30 different international troupes, for a total of about 80 street artists, will give 125 performances over the two days and each troupe has been carefully selected by the Luxembourg City Tourist Office for their professionalism and originality. Stay late on the Saturday to experience the beautiful lighting and the magic of a memorable summer night. www.streetartnimation.lu

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Sebastien Grebille/ONT

Streeta(rt)nimation

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Entente touristique du Sud/ONT

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SMALL TRAIN, BIG FUN

YOU’LL DIG THIS WALK

You’d do something like this in another city, so why not your own? Take a tour aboard the pint-sized sightseeing train “Pétrusse Express”. The tour takes less than an hour, and you can learn local history through your headphones (in six different languages). Departs every 30 minutes from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. from the place de la Constitution (as does the “hop on, hop off” tour bus).

Book online. www.sales-lentz.lu

The Miners’ Path (a 29 km loop c­ onnecting Pétange, Rodange and ­Differdange) is above ground and takes you through the “Land of the Red Rocks” part of the country, past many points of interest and across nature reserves with forests, streams and ­tranquil ­valleys. You’ll marvel at how varied ­Luxembourg’s topography is, and you’ll come across remnants of the ­once-booming mining industry too. www.visitluxembourg.com

Traffo 14-15 Delano1.pdf

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TRAFFO 14/15

The performing arts programme of CarréRotondes

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WIN TRAFFO FAMILY SEASON TICKETS* Send an email mentioning "TRAFFO 14/15" to contest@delano.lu Deadline for entries is 04.08.14 *Abo TRAFFO Famill = 4 performances for 2 adults and 2 children, 8 years and upwards Winners will be contacted by email

CarréRotondes 1, rue de l’Aciérie L-1112 Luxembourg-Hollerich

rotondes.lu

Come and discover the Vitarium !

V I VEZ L E L AIT

A discovery for all ages !

Free parking spaces

ait’s Luxlscovery di Milk centre

Guided tour of the Luxlait production in different languages; French, English, German, Luxembourgish 3D cinema Activities on 45 interactive stations divided in 5 thematics (agriculture, senses, wellness, health and food) Tasting of the Luxlait milk products Different activities during school holidays

Activities during the summer holidays From 16th July to 12th Sep. For children from 5 years on

Cooking workshops for children and adults Luxlounge restaurant with a wonderful terrace Fully equipped multifunctional room, an ideal place for family celebrations, company parties and receptions

Information and reservation: Tel.: +352 250 280 222 E-mail: info@vitarium.lu www.vitarium.lu / www.luxlait.lu L-7759 Roost/Bissen Delano_Vitarium_Juin2014.indd 1

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LIFESTYLE

HAPPY KIDS: ACTION, ADVENTURE AND EXPLORATION

There is plenty for youngsters to discover this summer in and right near Luxembourg. Text by Wendy Winn 01

Adventure parks

FUN REACHES NEW HEIGHTS

ABOVE PAR FUN: FOOTBALL GOLF! It hails comes from the land of Pippi Langstrumpf and is just as fun. It’s just what it sounds like--a round of golf, using footballs and feet instead of a golf ball and clubs. It isn’t just about sheer force, you have to have technique! This park is a short drive away in Germany, in a beautiful natural setting. Entrance is only €9 for 18 holes for adults, €6.50 for ages 6 to 16, and kids will have a… ball! www.fussballgolfsaar.de

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KICK OFF YOUR SHOES Taking a walk along Barefoot Path in Medingen is taking the road less travelled. It’s not everyday you treat your feet to the agreeable feel of sand, bark, gravel, grass, wood, stones and pebbles! As the 745 meter long, one-meter wide path is set in the Mullerthal, it makes a nice added treat if you’re out exploring the vast forests, where enchanting valleys, strange rock formations, trickling streams and even a waterfall await discovery. www.medernach.info

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Syndicat d’initiative Medernach/ONT

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FuGo FußballGolf

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Olivier Minaire (archives)

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LIFESTYLE

Don’t let staying cooped up at home make your kids feel like climbing the walls; go outdoors and let them climb around in Luxembourg’s “adventure parks”.

There are many to choose from in beautiful natural ­settings, where even the youngest (and oldest) can try a course suited for them and get a training session so that their ­adventure will be as safe as it is fun. ­Adventure parks where you wear a harness and pulley clips, and climb up and over obstacles among trees or man-made ­structures, are found in Heiderscheid, Vianden, Steinfort and Dudelange, while Marbusch and Rosport boast “adventure playgrounds”. Many of these sites are wooded and very inviting; you’ll want to stay for a walk and enjoy it after you’ve descended back down to earth. And did you know that the little isle in the middle of Lake Echternach is now Adventure Island? There you can brave a walk across wires some 10 metres high, take the “flying fox” to the land of pirates, and sit on a swing that accelerates up to 70 km/h. www.visitluxembourg.com

THE SCIENCE OF KEEPING KIDS HAPPY This walking tour for kids gives a whole new meaning to “exploring” Luxembourg: “City Labo” adds scientific experiments to an educational ramble around town. Kids learn how natural and historical conditions helped shaped the city, and enjoy being out on their own with a qualified supervisor and guide. And at the end, they earn the title of “official” city scientist! www.lcto.lu

AKTIOUN BAMBËSCH Staying in the capital? Youngsters attending school in Luxembourg City can attend--for free--four weeks of active afternoons, weekdays from July 21 to August 14. Kids ages five to 12 are supervised by qualified staff and get to do everything from art and theatre to cooking and sports, mainly out of doors. Teens, ages 13 to 17, can take part in a different programme, enjoying workshops, activities and even two-day hikes! www.capel.lu

They always leave a little taller The Little Gym® programmes are designed to introduce your child to physical activity in a fun and nurturing environment. Our gymnastics based curriculum will help increase their flexibility, balance and coordination while also improving listening skills, attention span and the ability to follow instructions. Your child will become more confident, more willing to take prudent risks, and be challenged in completely new ways. With each new achievement, self-confidence and self-esteem will soar.

Book your Introductory Visit NOW! Mention the promo code Delano and experience 3 FREE classes Call us on 26 45 99 13

Develop your child’s skills and confidence Parent/Child Classes

Preschool/Kindergarten Gymnastics

The Little Gym Luxembourg • 5, rue Pletzer • Bertrange L-8080 26 45 99 13 ou 14 • luxembourg@thelittlegym.eu • www.thelittlegym.lu Primary School Gymnastics

Holiday Camps

Birthday Parties

MY OTHER LIFE

Niamh Bergin

A ROSE BY ANY OTHER NAME

A financial sector staffer is a finalist in the Rose of Tralee competition.

Text by Tonya Stoneman Photography by Mike Zenari

F

ifty-seven years ago, a group of Irish businesspeople met in Harty’s Bar in Tralee, County Kerry, to discuss how they could bring more tourists to the town and encourage expats to come back to their native country.

Their strategy was ingenious: a “beauty contest”. Today, the Rose of Tralee is a renowned celebration of Irish women living all over the world. The contest has spawned more than 70 Rose centres in myriad countries from which women come to demonstrate their renaissance spirit and love for their homeland.

A native of Ireland, Niamh Bergin had heard about the contest, but didn’t actually decide to participate in it till she left Kilkenny and moved to Luxembourg. Bergin came to the Grand Duchy as an exchange student from the University of Limerick and instantly fell in love with the place. After graduating, she returned to Luxembourg and took a job as a transfer agent at BNY Melon. “It’s an intense high-pressure job,” she says, “which I love.”

Bergin’s competitive spirit soon found an ideal outlet when a colleague at the bank encouraged her to compete in the Rose ­contest. The competition, part of one of Ireland’s longest running celebrations, has been crowning Roses since 1959. The winner is chosen from a vast collection of women who come from the counties of Ireland, US, Europe, Middle East, Australia, New Zealand and Canada to compete for the honour of representing Ireland throughout the world for one year.

“I was apprehensive at first,” recalls Bergin.

“I started the process before Christmas. Then I went to a ball as a candidate and was selected for official sponsorship in the regionals competition.” This year’s Regional Festival took place in June in Portlaoise, where 23 roses were chosen to advance to the final heat.

During three days of judging, contestants ­ demonstrated their ability as outstanding ambassadors who exemplify the true spirit of

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modern young Irish women.

Today the event is in no way a beauty pageant, but fashion is definitely involved. “A lady in Kilkenny did all my hats to match my outfits,” says Bergin. “Fran & Jane did all the clothes. It was lovely to get dressed up and meet girls my own age. At the ball, I realized how big the Irish community is and how important it is.”

Bergin went into the competition with only a vague idea of what the judges were looking for. She answered the interview questions candidly, performed a Mary Black song and told moderator Dáithí Ó Sé about her job in Luxembourg. “I really wasn’t expecting to be chosen; they only pick a few,” she recalls. “I was number 14. It was such a rush. All my friends are so excited.

I can’t wait to go to Tralee.”

The selection and crowning of the official Rose will take place this August in County Kerry. The contestants will tour Ireland for a week and a half, ­visiting Galway, Kerry, Killarney and other places most people don’t get the chance to see. Bergin is particularly looking forward to this part of the tour since her mom works in a castle they’ll visit.

The Rose of Tralee has been a lifechanging adventure for Bergin. She has travelled to new places and acquired many new friends. But the part she likes most is being an ambassador. “I hope I can represent Luxembourg well,” she says. “Luxembourg has done so much for me.

This country adopted me and I feel at home here. I also want to represent the Irish community abroad; it’s an honour to do that. For me, this contest is a chance to strengthen the ties between the two countries.”.

AUGUST CONTEST

The Rose Festival is a weeklong event that brings people to County Kerry in August to celebrate Irish heritage and culture. Although Ireland is most familiar with the Rose contest due to television coverage that presents an ambiance of pageantry, the event is about celebrating women who are intelligent role models. “They really look at the person and how she represents her country,” says Luxembourg Rose Niamh Bergin. “There will be girls from everywhere-Germany, Oman, Abu Dhabi and Luxembourg--which shows the scope of the festival.” www.rose.lu

NIAMH BERGIN Success smells sweet

Keep your finger on the pulse, no matter where you are blog.kpmg.lu 39 Kennedy A

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