Delano May 2022 by Maison Moderne

MAY 2022

No. 89

Luxembourg in English

Claude Turmes: Switch to renewable energy The Luxembourg energy minister on speeding up the green transition and how the current crisis should push Europe to decarbonise.

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Finding EU unity in crisis European leaders rallied together in response to the war in Ukraine. As during the pandemic, unprecedented cooperation became possible, but how long will it take for the old fault lines to reappear? The European Union has long struggled to respond to international crises with a unified voice as member states’ bilateral relations and national interests hamper joint foreign policy efforts. Just a year ago, Hungary repeatedly blocked an EU statement criticising China over its treatment of Hong Kong. “This is not the first time that Hungary has broken away from unity,” said Germany’s foreign minister, Heiko Maas, at the time. And it looks like the EU could be in for a repeat performance by Vladimir Putin’s long-time ally Viktor Orbán. Hungary’s prime minister on 3 April won a fourth term in office. Just days later, he said he would comply with Russian demands to pay for gas imports in rubles, breaking ranks with the European Commission, which had asked countries to stick to original contracts. At the same time, Brussels refuses to be lenient on Hungary, but also Poland, over rule of law violations. Poland has taken in nearly 2.5m people fleeing Ukraine, Hungary around 400,000. Speaking at Luxembourg’s Chamber of Deputies in March, European Parliament president Roberta Metsola, however, said this would not make up for clamping down on press freedom, the justice system, LGBTQ+ and women’s rights. The European Commission on 5 April officially triggered the so-called conditionality mechanism, which could cut EU funding to Hungary.

A Eurobarometer survey last September said that 83% of people in Luxembourg--and 81% across the bloc--think EU money should not be given to countries violating rule of law and democratic principles. So here we are again--an ever-closer union that risks breaking into two speeds when the unity over Ukraine could have given it muchneeded heft. Hungary might be an outlier. But because of the unanimity principle, it is more than merely a nuisance to EU policy. Europe heavyweight Germany has shaken off its lethargy to re-arm, shut down the Nord Stream 2 pipeline and diversify its energy supplies. With a slate of elections coming up across the EU, all eyes are now on France, where Putin fangirl Marine Le Pen has already suggested Russia could resume its role as ally once the war is over. Runoff results are due on 24 April, and Europe should be watching. As the war drags on, fissures over a potential energy embargo could widen. The Baltic states have already halted Russian gas imports and are lobbying others to turn off this revenue tap for the Kremlin. But Brussels hesitates as Germany risks falling into recession under an immediate ban. Luxembourg, too, is on the fence as foreign minister Jean Asselborn (LSAP) has said an energy embargo would not stop Putin. And as Europe is looking for alternative supplies, the perennial dispute over nuclear power--here’s looking at you, Cattenom--could yet dent the push for a closer energy union that was picking up momentum.

Journalist CORDULA SCHNUER

MAY 2022

Editorial #EuropeDay

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Contents May 2022

Ristretto

30 Business report

“We must be part of the solution”

38 Head to head

–

NATHALIE OBERWEIS VS STÉPHANIE EMPAIN

08 #BUSINESS - FABRICE TESTA

–

10 #FINANCE - VIKTOR KLYMONCHUK

“Attacking oil processors and oil ports, to me, it’s quite obvious” –

12 #CULTURE - ALEX MCKELL

“Corporates have recognised the value in a good space”

A greener future for defence

p. 16 Energy minister Claude Turmes on accelerating plans to make Luxembourg greener and EU cooperation to respond to the energy crisis

Photos

Guy Wolff, Illustration

Salomé Jottreau

Companies formed, companies liquidated

Can investors solve Europe’s refugee crisis? 44 Gusto

Conversations 16 POLITICS - CLAUDE TURMES

“If we don’t understand that it is now or never, it will be too late” –

22 FINANCE - CARINE FEIPEL

14 Dashboard

40 Essay

“Sustainability comes from the top”

Bed and breakfast 46 Business club 50 Pick’n’mix

How EU are you?

p. 22 Carine Feipel says company boards are taking sustainability seriously but warns against greenwashing

p. 40 Financial markets can provide capital and deliver more efficiently when it comes to integrating refugees

MAY 2022

Sport business

06 #POLITICS - MATHIS GODEFROID

“There’s really a need to be energy independent”

Ristretto #Politics

MAY 2022

“We must be part of the solution” This year marks the European Year of Youth. The president of Luxembourg’s Jugendrot, Mathis Godefroid, speaks about the youth council’s work and why it’s important to give young people a voice. What does the Jugendrot do, and how are you involved in the European Year of Youth? We are an umbrella organisation where 30 youth organisations are members. We represent around 80,000 to 100,000 young people here in Luxembourg at the political level, giving them a voice, because most young people cannot yet vote. We will be at Europe Day on 9 May in Esch-sur-Alzette. We’re working on projects with our partners, such as the European Commission representation in Luxembourg and the European Parliament, the foreign ministry and the youth ministry. The news that this year would be the European Year of Youth was quite sudden. We always try to reflect the European Youth Goals in our work. This year, we have the opportunity of this topic being taken more seriously.

but we also shouldn’t be pressured into achieving everything this year and then never again getting the opportunity. [European Commission president] Ursula von der Leyen said this is only the beginning. That’s a positive message. We have elections coming up in Luxembourg and as a youth organisation we can help shape the political agenda. What concrete measures do you hope will emerge from this year? An important point is strengthening volunteering. During the pandemic, a lot of young people helped vulnerable people. Without volunteering, things would look rather bleak. I’m thinking of volunteer firefighters, sports clubs, etc. Mental health is also important. We’ve demanded that therapy for young people should be covered by insurance. This was underway but has halted. We expect that something happens. The housing problem is being addressed but there must be better measures. And another problem is the job market and opportunities for young people. The crisis has made it more difficult to launch your life and transition into the job market.

What are key issues that you think must be addressed? We are being heard, but that’s not enough. We must be part of the solution. We want appropriate measures for the future. If projects on unemployment or housing aren’t adopted now, we will have far-reaching problems. That’s what we want to participate in. We’re being taken seriously but that can only be a first step because we want to work on the policies.

Young people are often accused of not being interested in politics. What’s your take on that? It’s a big stigma, but it’s nonsense. When we go into schools, we see a clear interest. Climate change has shown that young people are interested. Some topics also aren’t being explained in a youthfriendly manner. You need to give young people the opportunity to understand. You could also ask whether old people are still interested in politics. In Luxembourg we have mandatory voting, but when I look at voter turnout in other countries… For older generations in power, it’s easy to blame young people.

Are children and youth in the focus of Luxembourg politics enough? We have a youth minister in Luxembourg, which is a big plus. We have an ombudsman, who has been doing a really good job. Topics that concern us are often at the top of the agenda. What’s been holding us back is covid-19, but we can now go full steam ahead and we want to tackle a lot in the next two years. How symbolic is it that this European Year of Youth launches at this point in the pandemic? For me it was the perfect moment because it acknowledges a political reality. It’s positive,

Mathis Godefroid was first elected president of the Jugendrot in 2020

Interview CORDULA SCHNUER Photo MATIC ZORMAN

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Ristretto #Business

MAY 2022

“There’s really a need to be energy independent” Maana Electric aims to revolutionise how solar panels are produced, for both on-the-ground and space uses. Co-founder and entrepreneur Fabrice Testa shares more about this vision. Your TerraBox is capable of producing solar panels using only sand and electricity. It sounds almost like science fiction… Yes, that’s always what people think. We are probably one of the most expert companies in the world for ISRU, in-situ resource utilisation. Normally, these technologies were built for space applications, and we still have that big vision to go on the moon one day… But, for the moment, we are focusing on the terrestrial demonstrator, TerraBox, that fits into six shipping containers. In each container, there’s a specific process. Initially, we purify the sand, then we extract the silicon. And with the silicon, we produce wafers. On the wafers, we produce photovoltaic cells, and with the bulk of sand, we produce glass.

I think it’s a very sad, dramatic situation… But Europe is understanding that there’s really a need to be energy independent. In the solar area, the solar industry, there has been a lot of disinvestments in the last years. Why? Because everything moved to China, because China did a lot of dumping, so it was impossible for Western companies (Europe, US) to compete with China… With our technology, we might allow, at some point, to give again some large independence to Europe… But it’s also a question of support: if we will be seen as strategic and if we receive the proper support from Europe--and particularly, for example, with some financing, etc.--I think we can scale pretty fast. How have you been financed to date? We have been financed mostly with R&D contracts, but we are now transitioning also to get some private investment.

How has the interest been so far? We already have three contracts signed and more in discussion with potential customers for pilot projects which will be typically mini solar parks between 200kW to 1MW. Today, we have interest even in Europe because potentially we could use recycled sand. So it means that the TerraBox could be also applicable in Europe, which is important with the crisis in Ukraine, as Europe wants to be more energy independent… we have a full circular economy solution… Of course, we have a lot of interest coming from the Middle East region, and it’s why we opened a subsidiary there. So it might be the first prototype there. Has Maana Electric been greatly impacted by the current Ukraine situation? Already with covid, we were a bit impacted with the supply chain. We have seen that with some components and materials, there is a price increase, also [issues with] delivery times. We supply mostly from Europe, the US and China. We had some supplies from Russia, and hopefully we got these parts. But, in future, it could be complicated again to order from Russia, for sure. So this might have an impact.

Can you talk about the space solution side of the work you do? In space, we are quite active. Our sweet spot is really to be in between these technologies of ISRU and everything related to power, energy production, electricity distribution, transport, etc. We’re still working on what we call the LunaBox concept--it’s the same as the TerraBox, but for the moon. We’re working on a small payload that hopefully could fly in around 2024 maybe when there are the first missions back to the moon. And with this payload, we could demonstrate that we produce 100g of silicon and 100g of oxygen on the moon, because this is one of the beauties of our solution for space application: we don’t only produce silicon, we also produce oxygen, which is helpful for if there are some astronauts.

Testa, a business angel and published author, started his career as an aerospace engineer

Interview NATALIE A. GERHARDSTEIN Photo MATIC ZORMAN

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Ristretto #Finance

MAY 2022

“Attacking oil processors and oil ports, to me, it’s quite obvious” Recent cyberattacks were a deliberate attempt by Russian interests to manipulate oil prices, alleges Viktor Klymonchuk, chief technology officer at Cléman Consulting, an IT advisory firm, and a native Ukrainian.

Has there been an increase in cyberattacks against financial and other organisations since Russia-invaded Ukraine? There are reports which do confirm that there has been an increase in attacks which are more sophisticated, more organised, more in a group-like manner. Today, any warfare in our usual comprehension--with tanks, etc.--is preceded by cyberattacks. And that’s what we have seen from open sources. There was an increase of attacks in the cyber domain before the physical intrusion of Russia into Ukraine. The number of distributed denial of service and phishing attacks increased in November and December. More sophisticated attacks, like ransomware attacks organised by groups of people, have increased in Europe. In response, many state cybersecurity centres were put on alert well before February. This is the fact which we cannot ignore. For example, there was an attack on the Belgian ministry of defence, which can be attributed to a so-called zero-day vulnerability, in December ’21. On 14 January, 70 Ukrainian governmental sites were temporarily down. Some of them were heavily affected and some not heavily affected, but there was a large cyberattack on Ukrainian governmental sites. Were banks and financial institutions also attacked? I would say anything which could have been attacked, has been attacked. I don’t want to spell it out because there are specific bodies mandated to do this. It’s enough to say that over 70 infrastructures [were targeted]. I will say it was an unprecedented attack in history. Nevertheless, Ukrainian infrastructure has survived, banks are still operational.... The 29 January, there was the major attack on German oil terminals, which [forced] Shell to reroute the supply of oil.

Have the attacks in Belgium, Ukraine and Germany been attributed to Russian interests? It’s a good question. So, initially, it was not attributed to anyone. But then, the German newspaper Handelsblatt [pointed to an] advanced persistent threat group which is called Blackcat. Reportedly--again, reportedly, because we don’t know their names--in several security bulletins they’re attributed to a Russian state-owned or Russian state-sponsored group. It started most actively in December 2021, meaning-again--everything was quite active before the physical intrusion into Ukraine. Is the point to sow confusion, to distract people, to intimidate? Well, we witnessed an attack on the Antwerp and Rotterdam ports.... the oil trading hub was heavily affected by the attack. Again, it’s up to respective services to comment and to make judgments to link or not to link this. But what we clearly see is that the critical infrastructure has been affected, has been under attack and affected heavily. Economically, it triggered oil prices, which at that stage--December, January--was only in favour of one country, which was the Russian Federation, that’s for sure. I mean, that’s my personal point of view. Attacking oil processors in Germany and then the Rotterdam and Antwerp oil ports, to me, it’s quite obvious. It was not an attack on healthcare or, I don’t know, covid-related issues. It was clearly on critical infrastructure in Europe. The attacks took place. And some of them have been attributed to the newly emerging Blackcat group, which is attributed to the Russian Federation. Prior to publication, Delano contacted the Russian embassy for comment, but did not hear back before press time. The Kremlin has previously denied any state involvement in cyberattacks.

Viktor Klymonchuk consults on e-identification projects and cyber-resilience

Interview AARON GRUNWALD Photo GUY WOLFF

‘‘

Ristretto #Culture

MAY 2022

“Corporates have recognised the value in a good space” Alex McKell, a mural artist with a background in fine arts and psychology, sees Luxembourg’s many offices as an opportunity to make people experience their environment differently. How did you get into mural art and working with businesses? Well, I’ve been painting murals for about 10 years now. I started off in England. I was a support worker in a care home and wanted to make the space more environmentally relaxing for the residents, and for them to take a bit of ownership of the space. So we had workshops where they would talk about things that they liked and colours that they enjoyed and how these could help. I started applying my art to the walls that they had there. That’s the first time I thought about making art on walls. And then, it just developed from there. [After moving to Lisbon] I came back to Luxembourg, which is where I grew up. I wanted to break into the corporate market because the atmosphere in offices can be quite limiting and uninspiring. I think there’s a huge market here because there are a lot of people who work in corporate environments. And over the last few years, you could see that corporations are trying to improve the workspace. They’ve recognised the value in a good space, so I want to lend my skills to that ambition. How do you balance your own creativity and the ideas and demands of a corporate business? What’s important for me is that I have a skill set that they don’t have. I would like to make their idea a reality with the skills that I have at my disposal. If they say ‘we want to promote a certain message,’ we will go back and forth on what elements they’d like to see in the design. Then, I pre-create the design on a digital platform which I can project onto the walls, so they can see how it’s going to look and ask for changes to be made. It ends up being a really collaborative experience. I think that also adds value to it because they can take over ownership. I’m just the facilitator for the idea that they have. Based on my experience, I can influence their ideas to make something they might not have realised they could achieve.

Is it a challenge to put yourself out there as an artist? It is a bit challenging in Luxembourg. I’ve worked a lot with SES. My last year was mainly projects with them. But once you build a good relationship with one client, the opportunities come. Do you ever feel like there are any limits to your mural art business? Well, for example, with SES, we’re talking about doing some of their other offices. They have a lot of different locations in the world, so there’s that avenue of development in terms of within a company. But then, in the meantime, I try and do things where I can help people. I’ve worked with refugee camps on workshops, teaching people how to paint on a wall and what the challenges are with that. There’s no lack of things to do, and there’s all these outdoor mural projects as well, which also present really good opportunities. As an artist who works with businesses, you also have to be a businesswoman. How do you manage both roles? It’s really challenging, but I have to set aside time to keep up with my admin. For me, the joy is really in the painting, but I’m hoping to develop myself to a point where I can have some help on that side. That would be ideal because I’ve managed so far, but I do have a lot of platforms that I have to keep up to date. And I’m not just a mural artist--I also paint on canvases, hold exhibitions. But if I’m working for a company, that will always take precedence.

McKell recently created a 6m by 7m mural for one of SES’s offices

Interview TRACY HEINDRICHS Photo ROMAIN GAMBA

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Dashboard

MAY 2022

Companies formed, companies liquidated MY TAKE

A double dip The pandemic broke an entrepreneurial streak. In most European countries, business formation rates had been slowly but surely rising through 2019. That number plummeted with the first set of lockdowns and restrictions. But 2020 was a blip. Budding entrepreneurs in several places started up their own firms in record numbers last year. Company bankruptcies similarly surged, although 2021 numbers were still generally lower than the immediate pre-covid period. Creditreform predicted that the business aid switch-off and supply chain challenges could cause more Luxembourg company closures in 2022. Words AARON GRUNWALD

Luxembourg business registrations by sector

Business registration and bankruptcy declaration indices Corporate data for select* European countries, with 2015 as the baseline year (100 points on the index). Source

Eurostat

* Complete figures not available for all EU countries; some figures are provisional

Business registrations

Bankruptcy declarations

EU27 Denmark Germany 300 France Luxembourg Netherlands

EU27 Denmark Germany France Luxembourg Netherlands

250

Percentage change compared to previous year. Source

Eurostat

80% 60%

200

40% 20% 0% -20% 150

-40%

Luxembourg bankruptcies by sector 100

60% 40% 20% 0% -20%

2019

2020

Accomodation and food service

Transportation a nd storage

Information and communication

Construction

Total private sector

Financial, professional, technical and support services

Industry

Wholesale and retail trade

Education, health and social services

-40%

0 Q1

2021

Q3 2015

Q3 2016

Q3 2017

MAY 2022

Unsurprisingly, the covid crisis has had an outsized impact on the cycle of creating and closing companies. Both rates were pushed down across Europe in 2020 and both recovered, by varying degrees, in 2021.

400

Luxembourg bankrupt cies by company age Companies entering liquidation are less likely to be younger firms and more likely to be older outfits. Source

Creditreform

1,000 350

800 600 400 200

300

Less than 5 years 5-25 years More than 25 years

250

New business density The number of newly registered companies** per 1,000 working-age residents, selected countries. Source

200

150

100

0 Q2

Q3 2018

Q3 2019

Q3 2020

Q3 2021

World Bank

Estonia UK New Zealand Luxembourg Australia South Africa Chile Iceland Malta Denmark Singapore Norway Sweden China Ireland Qatar Romania Finland Portugal France Slovakia Belgium Switzerland Netherlands Israel Lithuania Italy Spain Turkey Greece Poland Germany Austria Japan Canada India

18.11 17.88 17.19 14.27 12.50 12.11 10.44 10.05 10.02 9.99 9.44 8.98 8.58 6.78 6.26 6.23 5.88 5.45 5.25 5.13 4.67 4.64 3.10 3.07 2.97 2.96 2.50 1.77 1.76 1.64 1.36 0.53 0.45 0.22 0.15

**Latest available figures

24.19

Leaders who want to slow down the green transition because of the energy crisis are “highly irresponsible”, says Claude Turmes

Conversation Claude Turmes

“If we don’t understand that it is now or never, it will be too late” The war in Ukraine has thrown Europe into an energy crisis, highlighting its dependence on Russia. Luxembourg energy minister Claude Turmes (déi Gréng) wants to seize the opportunity to exit fossil fuels and speed up the green transition. Interview CORDULA SCHNUER

There is an energy crisis. Prices already started climbing last year. The war in Ukraine has exacerbated this. But to what extent is the crisis homemade? We are now approaching what the Club of Rome analysed 50 years ago, which is one planet, 7 billion inhabitants, and these inhabitants using fossil energy to fuel their lives and economies. So, oil prices are high. They were already high before the war in Ukraine. Oil is a global market. And the prices were high because 7 billion inhabitants use oil. There were some covid effects. In the first phase of covid lockdown, oil was almost at zero. And that, for example, led to the closure of shale oil drilling in the US, which diminished supply. And then, in the later phase of covid, we had stimulus programmes on a global scale, like we never had before. That fuelled a world oil demand. Gas has long been a regional market, with the EU’s biggest importer being Russia. This horrible attack by Russia on Ukraine is destabilising the gas market even more than the oil market. Because some power plants are run by gas that drives the electricity price up. We are in an energy crisis because we are approaching the end of oil or the end of resources. And in the same moment, we are in a climate crisis. De facto, we are using too much oil or fossil fuels in general. This is not compatible with our

Photo GUY WOLFF

SHORT CV Government Turmes joined the government under prime minister Xavier Bettel (DP) in June 2018, following the death of Camille Gira who had served as secretary of state for sustainable development and infrastructure. Following the October 2018 elections, Turmes became energy minister. European Parliament Prior to working in government, Turmes was a member of the European Parliament for nearly 20 years, from 1999 to 2018. He served as vice-president of the Green parties’ group in parliament among numerous other appointments. Teacher and activist Before going into politics, Turmes was a secondary school teacher in Luxembourg. He was also an environmental activist as a member of the Mouvement Ecologique and the co-founder of Klimabündnis Lëtzebuerg.

climate policy. The only answer to this is quitting oil and fossil fuels as quickly as possible. You said in parliament that there is a plan to respond to this crisis, the National Energy and Climate Plan. This aims to help Luxembourg achieve its climate goals to reduce emissions by 55% by 2030 and be climate neutral by 2050. How can it help in the short term? To reduce damage to the climate, you have to speed up your energy efficiency policy, which means you use less fossil and that you replace fossil with renewables. In that sense, our National Energy and Climate Plan--which is promoting solar and wind to replace gas power plants, heat pumps driven by green electricity to replace oil and gas heaters, replacing fossil cars with public transport or electric cars--goes into the right direction. The one thing which becomes even clearer now is that we need more speed. We need to be faster in rolling out this kind of mass green technology. You mentioned electric vehicles, heat pumps, home renovations… There has been criticism that for many households, this is simply not affordable, even with all of the subsidies. What risk is there of poorer citizens being left behind in this transition?

MAY 2022

Conversation Claude Turmes

MAY 2022

In the framework of the tripartite, we We are less dependent on Russian are continuing our automatic indexadecided to do what we call a top-up on gas because we are in a joint gas market tion of salaries, plus the one index which the existing subsidy schemes for fuel with Belgium. Belgium has a pipeline we will postpone. There will be a tarswitching, from gas and oil to heat pumps, from Norway. In Zeebrugge it has one geted compensation for low-income but also for renovation. The households of the world’s biggest terminals for liq- households, largely for the higher energy with the 10% to 20% least income will uefied natural gas. We are in a part of prices. And, of course, we do the same get up to a 100% subsidy for the replace- Europe that is the least affected by cuts targeted measures for those parts of ment of an oil and gas heater for a renew- from Russia. But we should not under- industry and small- and medium-sized able heater. And they will also get much estimate that if Germany will have to enterprises, which are most hurt by the more subsidies for renovation. We had shut down large chunks of its industry, crisis today. a problem, also because the ministry of then that will have an impact, also on The second part of the story is accelthe environment, which is paying for other countries. erating the move out of fossil. We have our already up-and-running prothese schemes, does not have knowledge of who is rich and poor. For data protec- During the 1970s oil crisis, there were grammes--replacing gas and oil heaters tion reasons it’s not allowed to have that initiatives like car-free Sundays, and with heat pumps, premiums for electroknowledge. We are now using criteria cyclists roamed the motorways of mobility, free public transport. On the from the ministry of housing to close Luxembourg. Are those kinds of other hand, we have newly introduced that gap. In addition, we will have more measures still imaginable today? several programmes, especially for conenergy advisors also targeting low-in- Yes, and we are working on this at a level sumers in industry; for example, what come households. where it makes sense. The International we call a contract for difference. So if Energy Agency took a decision that it you replace fossil hydrogen with green Energy poverty is one thing. Energy will work on a 10-point plan on how to hydrogen, you get paid for the differshortages are a different problem. save gas in a hurry, how to save oil in a ence. If you sign a long-term contract There is this spectre of potential hurry. I’m working with the European on renewable energy, we will create the shortages come next winter. How real Commission to see what measures would de-risking instrument to favour these is that threat? kinds of contracts. And we will speed make sense for Europe as a whole. This depends on how deep the cut with It’s not very useful to introduce a up electrification and zero-carbon vehiRussia is. A full embargo will mean that speed limit in Luxembourg, or week- cles in our logistics sector. Logistics is Europe will have to close down part of ends without cars, because that will not a very important economic sector in its industrial processes. We are not there have any relevant impact on the world Luxembourg. We will have a specific yet. But we see events--the very sad and oil price. However, if Europe does this, programme to support the move from inhuman events in Bucha. We may and if Europe is then joined by the US, fossil lorries to zero-carbon lorries, be approach a moment where we have to Japan, South Korea, Australia and Can- it electric or be it hydrogen. We will go for a full gas embargo. And if this is ada, then we will be able to reduce the massively support this. politically needed and decided, that will world’s oil demand. And that is probaThe National Energy and Climate Plan have consequences. We are trying to be bly the only way to get oil prices down plus the new measures from the triparas well prepared as possible. We have a these next months. tite are really a single, very broad plan to load-shedding programme for Luxemdecarbonise Luxembourg. bourg. Creos, which runs the gas grid, Speaking of the EU, under the knows exactly who to cut off, if needed. REPowerEU programme, the bloc What are the risks for Luxembourg wants to become independent of industry coming out of this? Russian fossil fuels before 2030, The first risk is, of course, whether we are unless there is a prior embargo. You’re able to sustain them for the next two or always smarter in hindsight, but three years. That is why we now have a shouldn’t these plans have already dedicated targeted instrument to help those been written before this war? companies that are in difficulties. The secWe probably have been too naive on Rus- ond difficulty would be to be too late vissia. One of the lessons we should learn à-vis competitors and, therefore, we are from this situation is that in no area of speeding up our instruments to help the our economy should we be more than industry move from fossil to renewables. 25% dependent on one supplier. That should be a new golden rule. But the Belgium, France and Germany are negotiating with Qatar on importing damage is done. The only thing we can do now, first, liquefied natural gas. In how far is solidarity with Ukraine. Second, we is that simply shifting the dependency need solidarity with those in our soci- from one autocracy to another? eties who have low incomes and suffer We are in an emergency situation. If you most from the high energy prices. That’s want to replace 30% to 35% of gas from exactly what we did at the tripartite. We Russia, you need to go to others. We also

“ In no area of our economy should we be more than 25% dependent on one supplier”

Conversation

ENERGY SOURCES FOR ELECTRICITY GENERATION The Luxembourg electricity market in 2020 Luxembourg Regulatory Institute

MAY 2022

Source

Waste incineration considered non-renewable Waste incineration considered renewable

Natural gas 4%

80.7% Imported

15%

22%

Hydroelectric energy

Biomass

15.6% Renewable production

have the new offer from the US from president Biden. But we have to understand that the story isn’t quitting Russian fossil fuels. The story is quitting fossil fuels, full stop. What we have now decided is an EU common coordinated purchase mechanism. The EU Commission plus member states will sit together and we will see what kinds of contracts we can do shortterm. And then, of course, we must pay attention that we are not engaging in long-term contracts that will make the 1.5°C scenario, which comes with a carbon budget that has its limits, impossible.

3.7% Other production

Biogas

5% 29% 13%

Wind energy

Solar energy

pean plus Spain, Portugal, the Baltic states and Nordic states story. And, for the first time, I heard Slovak, Czech, Romanian and Bulgarian ministers of energy saying clearly that renewables are the solution, that efficiency is the solution, and that we have to go faster. It is so clear now that the solution is efficiency and renewables, plus having solidarity via the grids, which is mainly the electricity grid. And as long as we have fossil gas, we have pipelines and gas storage, which we will use together. And then we will see a new grid emerging, which is green hydrogen infrastructure.

There are six EU governments where We saw during the pandemic that Green parties are in government. there was more of a push for health Do those form natural alliances for you? policy to come out of Brussels. Yes. I have a WhatsApp group with the Could this crisis have a long-term Green energy ministers, which I coordieffect on how energy policy is nate. Be sure that we will not miss that coordinated, as it is a shared opportunity. competence between the commission and member states? The positive outcome was so clear at the The energy crisis has renewed interest last ministers of energy meeting. Renew- in nuclear power. Belgium--where the able energy was largely a Western Euro- Ecolo are in power--said that it would

delay its exit from nuclear energy. But how will Luxembourg phase out the remaining 10% of nuclear power that are in its electricity grid? Belgium will close five reactors, two will remain. And this is a discussion which is not finalised. Of course, we are not happy that the Greens in the Belgian government had to make this probably very difficult compromise. As Luxembourg, our policy is to be a champion on energy efficiency. We have the highest target of all EU countries. We have, for example, the strictest norms in all of Europe when it comes to new buildings. We have very sophisticated instruments to help industry go efficient. We are one of the frontrunners on electromobility and an electric car is three to five times more efficient than a diesel or gasoline car. We are promoting public transport. We are trying to do a new generation of spatial planning, reducing mobility needs by bringing people together. The good news is that in 2021 we built 10 times more solar [infrastructure] than the 2014 to 2018 average. On wind, we

Claude Turmes

“ In 2021 we built 10 times more solar than the 2014 to 2018 average”

are ahead of our national plans. With all Do you have a deadline when you efficiency and renewable policies, we will want there to be no nuclear electricity be able to have something like 30% to in Luxembourg? 40% of our energy produced in Luxem- The citizens are already almost at zero. bourg. Today we are 100% importing oil, We have some industrialists who, for price reasons, stand by nuclear. I cannot 100% gas and 85% of our electricity. We will massively reduce our oil and forbid this because that would not be gas imports and we will also lower our compatible with EU law. However, the electricity imports. We will always import new programme that we decided in the electricity because we have more eco- tripartite, this de-risking financial instrunomic activities on our territory than ment, I think will be so attractive that Germany or France, compared in rela- these companies will go off nuclear contive terms. We have a lot of huge indus- tracts and into renewable contracts. Going trials who produce for export markets, to zero nuclear could happen very fast plus an economy that brings 200,000 as soon as these long-term renewable commuters in. Our demand is extraor- power purchase agreements will be up dinarily high. and running. We will not be able to produce all renewHow can the EU avoid backtracking ables in Luxembourg. Therefore, I have Luxembourg has taken issue with the on its targets in response to this crisis? started a proactive policy, for example, EU taxonomy, which includes not only This is a crucial question. Every policyto work together with Denmark on their nuclear but also gas as a sustainable Apollo project, which is an artificial energy source of fuel. EU countries are maker and every leader in society should island with 12,000MW of offshore wind. looking to invest in gas infrastructure read the latest IPCC reports. We have only five years to stay within the 1.5°C There will be energy islands in Germany, as they get away from Russia, for target. Those who think and hope that the Netherlands and Belgium. Maybe we example in LNG terminals and floating will also look at Spain and Portugal for storage and regasification units. now we can slow down the green energy solar. We know that we have to replace Could the taxonomy in its current transition, I consider them highly irresponsible. The only way out--reducing our electricity, which is produced by coal shape incentivise these investments? and nuclear and gas, mainly from Ger- This isn’t Putin’s first gas war. There was our geopolitical dependence as Europemany, with renewable electricity, and we already a gas war against Ukraine in 2008 ans, reducing our social hardship because and 2009. In reaction to that, Europe did of fossil fuel prices, which risk being are proactively working on that. two things. One was developing LNG extremely volatile and extremely high in terminals and the other was investing the next years, and because of the urgency into what we call gas reverse flows, which on climate change--the only answer is allows us to pump gas from west to east. ‘go, go, go’ for efficiency, renewables, elecThis was not possible before. trification, electromobility grids, green There is no need to build a lot of LNG hydrogen. terminals because we already have LNG terminals. EU gas consumption is already It’s still a while away, but what hopes ENERGY TRIPARTITE diminishing today and will continue to do you have of COP27 later this year? We are in a unique moment. Social diminish. We don’t need a lot of investTo respond to the energy crisis, Luxembourg activated the tripartite, ment into gas. What we need is a lot of hardship because of the crisis, the war in a tool dating back to the 1970s steel investment into efficiency, electric mobil- Ukraine and the climate emergency--all crisis that gathers the government, business groups and labour unions ity and green hydrogen and fuel. One of this is now converging. If we don’t underto find compromise solutions. At the the reasons why we are opposing the stand that it is now or never, it will be end of the March meetings, the UEL taxonomy is that we want to flag and too late. business union and the LCGB and CGFP trade unions signed an direct the investments where they are agreement with the government really needed, which is solar, wind and that aims to uphold purchasing electricity infrastructure. power of households and support companies. Among the measures are tax credits for low-income families to compensate for rising prices. The social partners also decided that only one wage indexation would be paid in 2022 and 2023. Notably absent from the final deal was the OGBL, Luxembourg’s biggest union, which opposed regulating wage indexation until 2024 and said that compensation measures were insufficient.

Looking at green targets more generally, at COP26 last year, countries pledged to phase out coal. We’re now seeing some nations, also in Europe, looking at firing up old coal plants. In agriculture, there are calls to suspend rules on sustainable land use to allow for more food production as wheat imports are jeopardised.

MAY 2022

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

Carine Feipel has been a non-executive board member for several Luxembourg firms since 2014

Conversation Carine Feipel

“Sustainability comes from the top” Environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria are creeping up corporate agendas. Delano spoke with Carine Feipel, chair of the Luxembourg Institute of Directors (ILA), about how this is changing the roles of company directors, particularly in the financial sector. Interview AARON GRUNWALD

How much of a priority are sustainability and climate issues for board directors today, both specifically in the financial sector and across the entire economy? In the financial industry, there is certainly a big focus around these topics. Investment funds, for example, must now be categorised depending on how much they consider sustainable objectives. This forces boards to take some strategic decisions about how to position the funds. Investors more and more demand that the funds they invest into have sustainable objectives. Banks and insurance companies will progressively also have increased disclosure requirements to comply with. These boards therefore spend time understanding the new regulations, their impact on the existing business, and incorporating sustainability into their strategies. More generally, a proposal for an EU directive on corporate sustainability due diligence was adopted in February. Based on this text, it will become mandatory for certain large companies to take account of sustainability objectives in their corporate purpose. Even if not many companies in Luxembourg will be within the scope of this directive, it brings a new mindset to companies. And there are now a number of corporates which are seeking to obtain labels or certifications about their sustainable activities and priorities. The Luxflag environmental

Photo ROMAIN GAMBA

label and the B-Corp certification are Which types of companies will have renowned examples. to comply with the new EU directive Within companies, boards are, of course, on corporate sustainability due the corporate bodies that decide the strat- diligence and which ones will not? egy of the company, that set the tone The proposed directive states that it will within the entity. As such, they have a be applicable in two different phases. fundamental role to play: sustainability The first phase will only be for compacomes from the top. nies that have more than 500 employees and a net turnover, worldwide, above €150m. That reduces, obviously, the horizon of companies that will be within the scope. Then, there will be a second phase, where the criteria will go a little further down, but it will only be in limited sectors. I’m not sure that in Luxembourg we have many of those companies. But what BRIEF BIO the EU commission specifically wants is Professional posts not to include SMEs, so not to put addiCarine Feipel is an attorney with tional burdens on small companies. That’s her own practice in Luxembourg City a specific goal that the commission has and chairs the Luxembourg Institute of Directors (ILA), a standards and set out. training body. She previously was a partner at Arendt & Medernach, including five years as head of the law firm’s New York office.

Board directorships Feipel currently serves on the boards of several financial firms, including AIG Europe, Banque de Luxembourg, CNP Luxembourg, Fidelity Funds, Morgan Stanley Investment Funds, Swiss Re Europe and Wellington Luxembourg. Training The native Luxembourger studied law at the Université Libre de Bruxelles and has obtained several continued education certificates from Harvard Law School, the French business school Insead and ILA.

How have board director roles and responsibilities evolved in recent years? Nowadays, a board is not just about approving the accounts of the company once a year and setting some general strategic directions. Boards are much more engaged in defining the goals of the company. What is its culture? What are its values? Directors want to make sure their companies think about climate change, that they at least reflect about incorporating ESG objectives in their strategies, that they have diversity and equal opportu-

MAY 2022

Conversation Carine Feipel

SUSTAINABLE PRIORITIES

MAY 2022

Which forward-looking topics do boards* discuss most?

nities policies which they apply, that they do not engage in social injustice, etc. There are so many topics covered by the acronym ESG, and there is probably an expectation that all of them are dealt with by a company, and hence its board. This is new for a number of companies and can be a challenge for smaller entities which do not necessarily have the resources to address all of these topics. So, a level of proportionality must be applied to ensure everyone can contribute to these priorities according to their scale. Do board members really like having these new responsibilities thrust upon them? I mean, it used to be easier work, and now, there’s much more pressure and second-guessing? Well, it’s true that all this brings additional work and responsibility for directors. But I think that also evidences how the job is getting more professional. It’s no longer just appointing a friend to your board and asking them to sign a couple of documents here and there. It’s a real job, it’s a real profession. And people need to be aware of that. So, I would say, those who don’t like that additional workload, the responsibilities, they shouldn’t be on boards. If you do that job, you have to do it in a professional way, and you have to make sure you have the skills necessary to do what is expected and what is required. Do you think the changing role of board directors has changed the type of person who’s attracted to the role? Yes, I do think that’s the case. Today, you have to be, as I said, professional about what you’re doing. You have to be engaged, you have to be committed, you have to be available too. And you have to be able to speak up on issues, to challenge, to question--and it’s not just saying yes to anything and signing everything that is put in front of you. So, you have to be interested in taking training [courses] all the time, because you need to keep up-todate with all those changes that come. Training is, in my view, extremely important for directors. And that changes the profile, yes. Is this leading to opportunities for younger people to serve on boards? Or are the profiles still kind of the same?

Source

ILA/Diligent

Industry developments

66%

Sustainability and ESG

59%

Disruptive technology

26% 26%

Daily operations

17%

Other

20%

40%

60%

80%

REFRESHING SKILLS

Companies* that organise and/or fund regular training and education for board of directors. Source

ILA/Diligent

The company funds training and education of individual directors on a discretionary basis 9.1% The company systematically evaluates and delivers training and education required for its directors 18.2% The company regularly provides training and education to its board of directors on an ad hoc basis 47.7% The company does not fund director training and education 25%

*The State of the Luxembourg Boardroom 2021, published by the Luxembourg Institute of Directors (ILA) and business software vendor Diligent, surveyed “approximately 100” board directors and company secretaries. Roughly 45% were with investment vehicles, 36% with financial services organisations and 8% with B2B service providers.

No, I think it definitely leads to new profiles on boards. We often speak about diversity and that everyone thinks just about gender diversity. But diversity goes way beyond that. You mentioned younger people. When we talk about digital skills and sustainability, environmental issues, the younger generation are very much involved in those topics, they have interest in them. And sometimes, they know more about these topics than older generations do. I’m certain that there is room for younger people on boards. At an organisational or operational level, how exactly do boards of direc tors examine sustainability and other ESG issues? Do they engage in Q&A with management, commission their own research and reports, debate during board meetings on how to set targets and indicators? Fortunately, there are very competent and skilled experts in these areas, both within companies and working for various service providers. As a consequence, boards receive updates, reports, etc., from these experts. It is then the duty of the directors to challenge these presentations, to ask questions, to discuss whether the right direction is being proposed, to reflect on the future strategy of the company. The experts can, of course, help the board, but at the end of the day, the board must take decisions and assume responsibility for its decisions. You mention targets, KPIs [key performance indicators]. I would say that this is work in progress. How do we define our performance indicators? This is non-financial. So, by nature, difficult to measure. But still, it is necessary to find appropriate indicators. Again, experts can help the board here to define these criteria which, of course, must remain flexible and evolve over time. In your opinion, are Luxembourg board members sufficiently versed in sustainability and climate issues to guide their organisations? Or are more skills and training needed? This is a challenge, indeed. If one expects board members to be experts in climate change or environmental engineering, this is typically not the case. Even though it would, of course, sometimes, be beneficial to have such experts on the board. What is important is that board members have an overall under-

Conversation Carine Feipel

BOARD SKILLS

MAY 2022

Are boards* equipped to measure and report on ESG progress?

standing of these issues, sufficient to grasp the main aspects, enough to ask questions, understand the challenges and risks. And to engage in discussions with management. This is no different from other specialist topics that the board must address. Digitalisation is an example here. Board members are generally not tech geeks. They are not experts in IT coding and digital sales practices. But they need to have enough knowledge to understand the issues and risks, and to be able to contribute to the definition of a digital strategy for the company. Can you think of some examples of companies that have fallen short and that have performed well on sustainability and climate? In the financial industry, many Luxembourg companies are subsidiaries of large groups or investment funds set up by international promoters. Sustainability is often handled at group level, with experts focusing on this day-in, day-out. These companies often have more detailed approaches to sustainability. Because they look at this not only for one company in one jurisdiction, but they have a broader perspective, and hence a broader skill set. On the other side, this is more difficult for smaller companies that do not have the necessary resources to handle these matters adequately. There, the focus might then shift to a minimalistic approach,

“ Companies are very aware of the risk of greenwashing. This is a huge reputational risk that every board must avoid”

Source

ILA/Diligent

All companies 0%

10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

Equipped

34%

No, ESG goals not defined

52%

No, lack of performance tracking tools

28%

No, lack goals and tracking tools

18%

Other

Not to be too cynical, but are there cases that you’ve seen where board members are complicit in greenwashing? Fortunately, I have not.

By sector 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 34% Equipped

29% 59% 52%

No, ESG goals not defined

57% 27% 30%

No, lack of performance tracking tools

29% 13% 2%

Other

need to get a second opinion, ask external experts to make an assessment. It’s also important to see the basis of which criteria you are assessing, whether a certain investment strategy is green or is not green. I mentioned there are different shades of green. So, in which one are you? Is it more green than brown? Or is it more brown than green? That’s not always easy to assess. So, sometimes, external experts can help with that.

6% 11%

I nvestment funds Others

Financial services

*Multiple responses possible.

doing what must be done, but without looking up to higher goals. Overall, companies are very aware of the risk of greenwashing. This is a huge reputational risk that every board must avoid. So, the board must make sure that what the company presents as being ‘green’ is indeed ‘green’. And there are many shades of ‘green’, so this assessment is not always easy. There has already been some finger pointing against various companies in the international press. How can board members prevent greenwashing? It’s a good question. And the answer is not straightforward. You can do it by questioning, by challenging. And if you have doubts about things, then you may

Do you think that happens in Luxem bourg, in Europe and other places? Honestly, I don’t know. I think it’s not in the interest of directors, obviously. So, I would say, ‘why would they be complicit?’ Especially external directors, so non-executive directors. I don’t see them being involved in any sort of that at all. But they need to play their role and challenge classifications that companies put forward. Are there certain characteristics--such as sector, geographic roots, etc.--that make a big difference, in your view, in how companies perform on ESG issues? European companies are certainly leading in this area. The US is following suit, but they are not yet where the EU is. Asia needs to evolve to the EU level also. In terms of sectors, I believe the financial sector is more focused on this than others, because of the regulations that exist in this sector. What else is important to know about board members and ESG? I would say that no board member today can ignore ESG. It is not something which is ‘fashionable’ and which will go away… So, it is fundamental that directors get up to speed and make sure they have sufficient skills to engage in strategic discussions around these topics.

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Business report

FEBRUARY 2022

It’s all to play for

€1,500m

€1,000m

€490.9m

€524.1m

€500m

€245.2m

€0m 2017

2018

2019

Sport business

1 “We can dream

about technology integrated into the human body” Sports organisations have the world at their fingertips p. 32

2 “It’s a major shakeup” An AI-powered virtual assistant for clubs p. 34

3 “I really use the stats to improve” Training with athletes in Luxembourg p. 36

€1,821m*

€1,655.5m

INVESTMENT IN SPORTS TECH IN EUROPE Sports tech is a growing industry: investments in 2021 surpassed those of the previous four years combined, with the most money being raised in France, the UK and Germany. Leading areas of investment are NFTs, fitness tech and B2B solutions. Source

SportsTechX

€428.5m

* projected after reporting lag

2020

2021

MAY 2022

Technology is starting to seriously change the sports industry, with investments soaring and clubs and organisations increasingly seeing its value. How will VR and AR revolutionise the fan experience? How will wearable technology change the game? Which clubs will gain a new type of competitive edge?

Sport business

Business report

“We can dream about technology integrated into the human body”

“There are some uncertainties as to how the sports industry will look in the future.” This is a quote from Dr Mathieu Winand, professor of sports management at Lunex University, during a discussion about the digital transformation of the sporting world. The uncertainties relate to the excitingly protean phase in which the industry finds itself: technologies like the Internet of Things, virtual reality, augmented reality and even blockchain are poised to change everything, but it’s too early to see exactly how. Twenty years ago or so, Winand explains, the goal for sports organisations was merely to have a digital presence: a website, an emailing list, etc. A decade after that, social media brought a new wave of change, as clubs and federations began engaging in two-way communication with fans and customers. As of now, the digital presence of athletes has grown to the point where, in extreme cases, they exert an even stronger presence than the teams they play for. “Players can become a brand by themselves,” says Winand, “which is sometimes bigger than the brand of the club.” Brand, but also activist, he adds. Indeed, when athletes on England’s Euro 2020 football team responded to racist tweets, they entered the social sphere with a directness and profundity only made possible by maturing digital platforms.

Mathieu Winand

In parallel, connected devices are changing how athletes train and play, with wearable technologies in shoes, watches and gameplay objects (tennis balls, hockey pucks, etc.) measuring performances in new ways. “In the future, we can dream about technology integrated into the human body,” Winand adds. “But that’s more like science fiction for now.” Next come VR and AR. These technologies are already changing the fan

LUNEX UNIVERSITY Key figures on the university, founded in 2015. Source

Lunex University

Number of peer-reviewed papers published by Lunex staff since 2019

€1.7m

Total funding of research projects at Lunex since 2019

700+ Number of students, compared to 40 in 2016

experience by providing new ways of viewing games or accessing extra details, while for athletes they have been implemented for training purposes. “The issue with the Winter Olympics,” says Winand by way of example, “is that athletes have to travel the world to chase the snow--and when they [skiers, bobsledders, etc.] are on the track, they can only do so many runs per day.” With sensors under their feet, some pressure and VR goggles, they can visualise the track they will face at the competition. “They can already improve their senses thanks to digitalisation.” Blockchain is a little further away but still on the horizon. There might be applications for smart contracts or non-fungible tokens, suggests the professor. Finding a path “Digitalisation is quite exciting for sports industries, but it will also create a big gap between organisations,” says Winand. Training and hiring the right people is crucial, he adds. “It’s all about the culture and the workforce.” Along those lines, Lunex’s sports management programme--one of three strata, the other two being physiotherapy and sport/exercise science--has been designed to respond to the needs created by the evolving digital landscape. Winand’s own research interests include innovation and digitalisation in sports organisations, and the department’s recent projects include an investigation of how the pandemic has affected the sports world (in collaboration with the sports ministry), as well as a mission with the Luxembourg Football Federation to improve its use of data, for instance in scouting and developing players. Words JEFF PALMS

Lunex/Marques Dias Sergio

How are new technologies altering the world of sports? It may be impossible to augment the actual passion one feels for the game, but everything else is in an exciting state of flux.

Photo

MAY 2022

Digital transformation

International & close to practice: Study Sport Management Bachelor

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Sport business

Business report

2 Sports tech

MAY 2022

“It’s a major shakeup”

FC UNA Strassen FC Differdange 03 US Hostert FC Victoria Rosport US Mondorf-Les-Bains FC Wiltz 71 FC Etzella Ettelbrück FC Rodange 91 FC RM Hamm Benfica

Words JEFF PALMS

Photo

In this, the startup helps organisations with their core problems: lack of time, professional knowledge, workers and Gilles Mangen funds. “Anything you can think of that could be automated through technology, we want to automate,” says Mangen. understand that the only way to become The concept sounds well-suited to any better on the pitch is to become better organisation, and indeed Clubee has a off the pitch.” Doing so, he continues, few non-sports associations as clients, means investing in the organisation, which but these are exceptions. inevitably means investing in technology. Why? In a word, data. “In sports, you Larger organisations tend to understand have a lot of data,” Mangen explains. “You “It’s a major shakeup,” says Gilles Man- this concept better, he adds. have competitions, results, performance gen of Luxembourg startup Clubee. When Clubee was launched seven years analysis, medical data… it’s much more “Before, it all happened on the pitch. ago, Mangen and his team had to sell data to work with than in other types of And these days that still matters, of course, people on the advantages of sports tech, organisations.” but it’s no longer the only thing that mat- but less so nowadays. “People have become “And of course,” he adds, “it’s a passion. ters. And that’s why everything is being aware of the potential that technology We see that sports are so good for socithrown into the blender…” can bring. That is a very big market shift.” ety, which is why we want to push the The current wave of digitalisation is growth of sports and the professionalisweeping over the sports industry, a bit What kind of potential? sation of sports.” more slowly than it has in other places, Clubee has the ambition of becoming a but it’s here--and it is bringing huge oppor- European leader in sports tech. The com- Growth startup tunities. “Up until maybe one or two years pany’s AI-powered virtual assistant helps Clubee is already the market leader in ago, clubs were just not used to spending clubs or federations with organisational Luxembourg (“by far,” says Mangen) and money on technology,” Mangen says, tasks, the vision being for it to be proac- is working on establishing a similar posiexplaining that funding went towards tive, for example by suggesting a new tion in the six other countries where it players and player performance instead. communications campaign when engage- operates. Among the 3,000 clubs on the No longer. “That is rapidly changing, ment is down or offering to invite spon- platform are 14 out of the 16 teams in the because more and more organisations sors to an upcoming event. BGL (Luxembourg’s top football league) and many others in the grand duchy. “In Belgium we have some bigger clubs using it too, in Germany some federations--in BGL LEAGUE CLUBS BY MARKET VALUE Spain lots of clubs as well.” Breakdown of the clubs in Luxembourg's top football The CEO comments that Clubee actuleague by market value, in €m. ally has no real competitor at the moment. Source Statista It used to compete directly with other website management tools, but its virtual 0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 assistant is novel for the industry. Swift Hesperange The startup has 15 employees and has F91 Dudelange CS Fola Esch raised €2m to date. It is currently in Racing FC Union Luxembourg another round of fundraising, with a goal FC Progrès Niederkorn Jeunesse Esch of €1.2m. Union Titus Pétange

Provided by participant

As new technologies make headway in the sports world, it’s all to play for: the clubs that adapt may even see better performances on the pitch. Gilles Mangen, CEO and cofounder of sports tech startup Clubee, explains.

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Sport business

Business report

3 Long-distance running

Sabrina Bedouda

has lately been focusing more on cycling and swimming. “On my bucket list there’s going to be a triathlon, for sure,” he says. He is now returning to the basics of running, he says, and can already do the 10km he will need for the team run.

“I started to go, like, once a month to Decathlon to get new [athletic] outfits… and I started using an app to measure my achieve- Sports tech ments.” This was around the time when As for technology, Bedouda uses a Garmin running became a more serious hobby for fitness watch and the app Strava, which Sabrina Bedouda, 36, product owner (chap- allows users to map routes, measure their ter omnichannel) at ING Luxembourg. At first, some 10 years ago, she couldn’t run for a sustained 60 minutes. Since then, however, she has run three half-marathons LUXEMBOURG’S and will participate in the team run in the SPORTS INDUSTRY upcoming ING Night Marathon. Amounts calculated in “I think that a lot of people start running 2016-equivalent euros. because [they think] it’s easy to run, anyone Source Statec can run--but that’s false,” she says, adding that it’s necessary to train your muscles, work with a trainer and get advice on your technique. Having sustained a couple of injuries during her running career, she understands the importance of proper training. Amount spent on sports products (bicycles, club memberships, athletic Teammate and colleague Sophie Henclothing, etc.) by Luxembourg houseriquet, 46, customer journey officer, also holds in 2020, up 22% from 2016 has three half-marathons under her belt over a decade-long running career. Part of her preparation includes HIIT, or high-intensity interval training. This entails bursts of running followed by short Number of full-time employees in cooldowns, for example 20 seconds on Luxembourg’s sports industry in 2020 followed by 10 seconds off. This workout is particularly useful in her case as an alternative to longer-distance runs, which often cause knee pain for her. Julian Troian, 51, agile coach, will join Amount spent on sports-related Bedouda and Henriquet on the team. infrastructure in 2020 (€99.5m of Troian ran a full marathon in 2013 but which being the Stade de Luxembourg)

€184.1m 4,454

€181.6m

progress through various metrics and compete (or simply share data) with friends. She finds it useful but prefers the Nike app for UI/UX reasons. Henriquet, meanwhile, prefers to keep it simple: “I just have a [fitness] watch. It helps me see how long I need to go to run 10km.” Troian also uses Strava for both cycling and running. “I really use the stats to improve,” he says of the cycling aspect. “I check the RPMs, my heartbeat, how I attack a hill.” The app also tracks his own previous rides to create a benchmark in real-time, meaning he can effectively race himself. “I challenge myself… on myself,” he says. “It’s fun,” he adds, citing the flexibility that the app offers him in terms of his goals on a particular day. “It’s your decision to say if you want to challenge yourself or take it easy.” Work/life/sports balance All three of the athletes reported finding more time for sports during the lockdown. “During the pandemic, it was really positive being at home and easy to [run] during lunchtime,” says Henriquet, who lives in Belgium with a forest nearby where she likes to train. “I had the chance to increase my training because of the pandemic,” adds Troian, who lives in the German countryside. Bedouda expressed the same, though added that she came back to the office fairly quickly and was soon too busy to jog even during lunchtime. “It’s really complicated. I still have to wake up really early to get a chance to train,” she says. The runners are looking forward to the team run. As Bedouda sums up: “Have a great moment together, don’t hurt yourself, take it easy and have a lot of fun-because it’s a really fun event.” Words JEFF PALMS

Provided by participant

What do athletes in Luxembourg have to say about training routines and sports technology? Delano caught up with three ING employees who are doing the 2022 ING Night Marathon team run.

Photo

MAY 2022

“I really use the stats to improve”

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Head to head

FEBRUARY 2022

A greener future for defence With a green minister in charge, Luxembourg is rethinking its defence policy for a climate-friendlier approach.

Nathalie Oberweis joined parliament for déi Lénk in 2021

Historically, green parties are pacifist. Luxembourg has a green defence minister, François Bausch. Can defence policy ever be truly green? STÉPHANIE EMPAIN The Greens are still pacifist. But if you have ideas and strong positions, you also have to take responsibility. It’s not a typical green topic, like the environment, but of course a green party can add sustainable elements to defence policy. NATHALIE OBERWEIS Green defence policy is a contradiction. It’s a kind of greenwashing. The army is trying to reduce its carbon footprint, but the whole rearmament that we are a part of isn’t sustainable. We’re managing the consequences of climate change with the army. That’s admitting failure in our fight against climate change. And it’s a dangerous mingling of cooperation and defence policy. SE You need defence--you need capacity and strategy. The armies of this world have a carbon footprint equivalent of a country the size of Denmark. We must reduce this. Water scarcity, desertification and loss of biodiversity will lead to additional conflicts. These considerations

“ Green defence policy is a contradiction”

must be a part of strategy. That’s the aim of green defence policy. It doesn’t mean that we fight climate change with tanks. NO But part of green defence is saying that the effects of climate change are managed militarily. Defence is important but we want to leave it at defence, defending our countries--the EU--and not going into other countries. And that’s a risk here, also within the EU’s Strategic Compass for Security and Defence, which has interventionist aspects of protecting strategic resources. Déi Lénk has long demanded that Luxembourg exit Nato. The country can hardly defend itself. What are its international obligations? NO Ideally, Nato should be dissolved. Historically, it was in opposition to the USSR and should have disbanded back then. We could imagine Luxembourg neutrality, as is the case for other countries. There is an EU mutual assistance clause where you are in an alliance even as a neutral country. We’re not against an army. We’re against a spiral of rearmament. Yes, we have a role, we have a responsibility. We could imagine being part of an EU army but that should be limited to defence. The EU doesn’t have a purely defensive orientation. SE Nobody is investing in offensive capacity. But we must speak about burden sharing. Neutral countries benefit from this system, and we cannot afford to be a free rider and to say we don’t want an army, stay out of everything and let others do the work. NO It’s true that we’re not buying offensive systems, but the Luxeosys observation satellite, for example, will take pictures around the world, and you must assume that these images can be used for offensive purposes. SE But the Luxembourg government has control over the images.

Green defence

Looking at the current context, the war in Ukraine has given rise to closer EU defence cooperation. What is the role of green policy in all this? SE Of course, some things become more acute, but the conclusion remains that we must think defence policy much more broadly. Hybrid threats, cyber, space, the

Moderated by CORDULA SCHNUER Photos ROMAIN GAMBA

FEBRUARY 2022

“ The Greens are still pacifist”

Assuming that Luxembourg will stay in Nato, it has pledged--like all members-to work towards spending 2% of GDP on defence. It’s a challenge for the country with its high GDP and small army. What makes sense for Luxembourg? SE The 2% target for Luxembourg is completely illusory. Even 1% isn’t doable. You’d have to invest billions every year in projects that we couldn’t manage. Luxembourg must focus on areas where we can offer added value, that we need less staff for, which is why cybersecurity, humanitarian aspect, supply security, food security. From our green perspecspace and surveillance are interesting. It’s important that we work with Euro- tive, these are all things that we must pean partners. If we blindly follow the think together. 2% goal, we run the risk that everyone NO Luxembourg plays a relatively cauwill try and spend a lot of money in their tious role. But we are still part of the corner and, in the end, if we had coop- rearmament spiral that we think is very erated, we would have been able to save dangerous. The discourse of the EU’s money. It makes no sense for everyone strategic compass is to react to threats to do everything themselves. in the world. But we are part of the world, and the threats are partly made by us. NO It’s not doable and not desirable. I’m happy that [Bausch] is reasonable about We’re not innocent. We’re not just reactthis. We see this spending more critically, ing. We’re a player. but I was reassured. It’s still going up, SE We are a player in all this. But very from 0.6% to 0.72%. There is an increase concretely, Russia is a threat to Europe and we’re not capable of reacting approbut with a certain limit. priately. We have a huge military budget Luxembourg is trying at Nato level to in the EU for, given the amount, not lobby for climate prevention spending much return, because our systems aren’t to be recognised as part of the pledge. interoperable. We don’t talk to each other. How could this be a game changer? If there was a green defence minister in every country, then they would talk, SE Neither within Nato nor the EU has a point been reached to seriously discuss because everyone would see this as a prevention to be counted as defence priority. If there was a green defence spending. I’m not sure that we will ever minister in every country, the world would reach this point. But generally there must be a better place. be more recognition that we must do more on prevention, whether that’s defence spending or not. NO I acknowledge that Bausch is trying to increase the budget through other ways, because he must meet those obligations. He’s spoken about integrating green expenses. But, as I said, we think there’s a dangerous amalgamation and we should do civilian not military cooperation to fight climate change.

Stéphanie Empain (déi Gréng) chairs the defence committee in parliament

Essay

MAY 2022

Can investors solve Europe’s refugee crisis? Investors increasingly want to put their money towards social good--and in this period of mass migration, there’s no time like the present.

Words JOSEPHINE SHILLITO

Illustrations SALOMÉ JOTTREAU

ESG

Europe and social outcomes contracting Social outcomes contracting or social impact bonds (SIBs) are one such solution. Across Europe, many procuring authorities are already experimenting with this, one of the largest programmes being Koto-SIB in Finland: a social impact bond launched in 2017 that helps refugees find work. “SIBs operate on the basis that longterm social problems are expensive for governments,” a source active in SIB design and advisory in the UK told Delano. “But

Source

GO Lab Impact Bond Dataset, May 2021

16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Portugal

Netherlands

France

Finland

Belgium

Germany

Austria

Sweden

*Name changed to protect identity at interviewee’s request

“ SIBs operate on the basis that long-term social problems are expensive for governments”

Luxembourg charities and government they also understand that governments institutions are well-equipped financial- focussed on their next election don’t necly to tackle the emergency Ukraine ref- essarily want to pay now to correct ‘tickugee crisis--but what about handling the ing time bomb’ future social problems.” Private investors therefore pay the longer-term social challenges? The finanupfront capital to the social enterprise cial markets may well hold the answer. Dani* finds it overwhelming. At the and are then repaid by the government, beginning of March 2022, she fled from with interest, according to the success of the bombed-out city of Kharkiv in north- the social intervention. eastern Ukraine carrying with her some “Each work placement made by a social clothes, her bank cards and her 22-month- enterprise now reduces future poverty, old son. Now that she and her toddler are crime, ill-health, and therefore saves the settled with her host family in Luxembourg, government money from its future social she realises that getting temporary pro- spending budget,” explains the source. tection status in Luxembourg is only one “This saving is calculated and shared with of the many steps towards integrating. She the private investors.” If the number of refugee work placeneeds to open a bank account and register her address, to begin the search for a job. ments does not reach the agreed target, they are making from a truly professional “It’s the small administrative tasks,” it is the private investors and not the perspective,” said the French banking explains a volunteer with LUkraine, the government who suffer the financial loss, source. “This means they better structure association for Ukrainians in Luxembourg, the source explained. some of their initiatives.” “Social impact bonds like Koto-SIB in Since 2016, France has launched 12 who preferred not to be named. “Opening a bank account. Having access to even Finland have had huge success,” said a SIBs and has another 15 in the works. As a printer. All of these things are obstacles banking source based in France that has of 2020, 10 social impact bonds were active at a time when you may be in grief or suf- set up more than ten SIBs in Europe. “They within the Netherlands, mainly invested fering from undiagnosed post-traumatic are also very scaleable programmes and in by banks such as ABN Amro and Rabocould be applied to the rest of Europe.” stress disorder.” bank, and independent social investors Refugee integration is already at the The advantage of moving cost and risk such as the Start Foundation and Oranje forefront of policymakers’ priorities across away from government and onto private Fonds, according to the European ComEurope, but the events in Ukraine have investors is the freedom to pursue more mission’s 2020 report, Social enterprises catapulted the situation to the top of the innovative solutions to social problems. and their ecosystems in Europe. list. No one yet knows what the scale of Its outcomes-based contracting model, However, there is yet to be a SIB sucthe migration from the Ukraine war will where the government pays by result, cessfully launched in Luxembourg. be, but as of 6 April 2022, the UN Refu- means that the service design is delegated Luxembourg lacking in SIBs gee Agency, the UNHCR, estimated that to the social enterprise. They also have a positive impact on There are a number of theories why Lux4.3bn Ukrainians have left the country. It is in the best interests of Luxembourg social enterprises themselves. “SIBs force embourg has not itself structured and and Europe that refugees integrate suc- social enterprises to go a little bit further launched a SIB. “It’s not lack of innovacessfully, not least to avoid a long-term in their work and to look at the impact tion,” said Arnaud Gillin at social investshadow of social challenges such as unemployment, social inclusion, poverty. However, most interventions are focussed on the short-term problems rather than the longer-term impact. EU MEMBER STATES BY NUMBER OF SIBS

MAY 2022

Essay ESG

MAY 2022

ment advisory Innpact. “The government is very open to innovative ideas,” citing the Luxembourg Green Exchange, which claims to be the first platform dedicated to the display of sustainable securities, and the International Climate Finance Accelerator, a Luxembourg government initiative to create a climate-friendly financing environment in Luxembourg. Nor is it lack of finance. Luxembourg increased its contribution to the budget for social security in 2022 by 7.8%, to €301m, according to the government’s 2022 budget exercise. It also allocated several refugee-specific envelopes within its ‘fonds d’investissements publics sanitaires et sociaux’, such as €26m for a refugee centre in Weilerbach. “Luxembourg has historically benefitted from a strongly social government,” a second banking source based in Luxembourg explained. “The government has often taken direct control of social problems, or it has provided direct subsidies to social enterprises to do it.” The grand duchy is home to close to 1,000 social enterprises--as of 2017, there were 916 social enterprises registered on the Luxembourg Business Registers, close to 1,546 per million inhabitants. The ease of government backing means it is rare for private investors to invest in social enterprises. “Some private financial institutions have tried targeting support to social enterprises, but they remain marginal,” says the European Commission in the Luxembourg section of its Social enterprises and their ecosystems in Europe report. However, some stakeholders in Luxembourg believe that to be sustainable, social enterprises need to be less reliant on government funding. “When state funding is a key source of income, payment delays can sometimes occur that create a demand for cash flow loans, delays vary considerably according to which ministry provides the funds,” the report says. In fact, an internal study at bank BGL BNP Paribas quoted in the report concluded that the need for finance was equally concentrated in two areas: demand for donations/subsidies and demand for investment. One stakeholder also mentioned the need to develop new forms of financing such as crowdfunding platforms or impact funds. “There is a need to develop new forms of financing [in Luxembourg] such as impact

WHO ARE SIB INVESTORS? Investors in SIBs often have a social as well as monetary goal--trusts and foundations, development finance institutions and high net worth individuals. However, once there is a track record of success, private institutional investors also come on board.

report, there is a lack of financial support for social enterprises in their startup phase. SIBs provide private investors with another passage into social investing. Investors in SIBs often have a social as well as monetary goal, said sources--trusts and foundations, development finance institutions and high net worth individuals. However, once there is a track record of success, private institutional investors also come on board, both banking sources said. However, the relatively small size of SIBs (Finland’s Koto-SIB was around €10m) has meant they are not the first choice for pension funds and insurance funds looking to boost their SFDR credentials. For these larger institutional investors there are other ESG funds in which to take sizeable tickets. The original UK SIB, a prisoner rehabilitation project, returned around 3% interest to its private investors, the source active in SIBs said.

funds,” the wider study, Social enterprises and their ecosystems in Europe, underlined. In 2015 and 2016, various stakeholders, including BGL BNP Paribas, looked into structuring a SIB in Luxembourg. The idea was an inclusion project for prison- A social ticking time bomb ers to set up a bakery in jail. However, it The UNHCR has cited the Ukraine exodid not launch. “There just wasn’t the dus as “the fastest-growing refugee crisis appetite for it from the government and since World War II.” Around 2.5bn are in from the social enterprise,” concluded the Poland, but many others are now further second banking source. The first banking afield in Western Europe, including, as source added: “There’s just too much of end March, 4,000 in Luxembourg. The influx puts pressure on Luxemmoney already in Luxembourg.” bourg’s already creaking infrastructure. As Delano reported on 21 March, crèche More than public sector savings However, governmental financial savings places were already thin on the ground for are not the only reason to consider a SIB. the many parents living and working in Some sources say that SIBs make social Luxembourg, and this problem is only enterprises work better. “One of the CEOs intensifying as the majority of refugee of a social enterprise we worked with families, like Dani’s, are mothers with testified that [the SIB] was the first time young children. he was truly challenged on his objectives. But SIBs are not an emergency response, Deciding what the outcomes should be all sources agree. “This is not an emerand paying by outcome creates the rig- gency intervention, let’s be clear,” said the orous professionalisation of social enter- first banking source. “SIBs take time to prises,” said the first banking source. set up. Even if all the stars are aligned, that According to Social Finance UK, a not- is, the outcome funder, the political will, for-profit consultancy that designed the the social enterprise, they still take six to first-ever SIB in the UK in 2009, the struc- nine months to set up. The other key thing tures can provide social enterprises the to remember is that they deal with longcapital they need to scale. term social issues.” “In certain cases, the payments for However, unless action is taken, longsocial outcomes can be a valuable sup- term social issues are likely. “There needs plement to income gaps while the social to be public and political will,” said the enterprise builds commercial partner- first banking source. “When there has ships and sales channels,” Social Finance been a political impulsion to experiment with new solutions to social challenges, UK notes in its blog. This is particularly important in Luxem that’s when we see action.” bourg, where, according to the Social enterprises and their ecosystems in Europe

NETWORKING CIRCLE CEO ONLY Develop new business opportunities during our next Networking Circle – CEO Only. You will be able to meet in the exceptional premises of Buzz in Leudelange, in the heart of the new Am Bann business park, in the informal and entertaining context of a gin tasting. This Networking Circle is dedicated to an audience of CEOs from all sectors.

Programme • Meet & greet (18:30) • Tasting & networking (19:00) • End of the event (21:30)

27.04 GOLD SPONSOR

Wednesday

Buzz,

Registration and

Leudelange

www.paperjam.lu/club

information:

Gusto

Bed and breakfast Breakfast within proximity is a vital part of lodging in a hotel and may even be the deciding factor for some guests.

1 Sofitel Luxembourg Le Grand Ducal “The Easter egg in its nest” is a speciality of the month by the five-star hotel. The poached egg, presented on a bed of spinach in a crispy potato shell and served with a sabayon containing Luxembourg crémant or the Nordic avocado toast will leave you wanting more. SofitelLuxembourgGrandDucal

Words ABIGAIL OKORODUS Photos GUY WOLFF

Arbre à Pain

food was o t er

The restaurant and bakery on the first floor of Hotel N°151 offers guests varying breakfast and lunch menus. For Easter, be on the lookout for delicious pastries on offer and the special cakes in different flavours.

Chris Peeters, sales and marketing director, Meliá Hotels International

“I think it’s a very old-fashioned way, to see hotels as just a place to sleep.”

www.arbreapain.lu

We can all be food waste heroes! Foodsharing Luxembourg shares some tips.

3 La Pipistrelle The complete breakfast includes a satisfying mix of croissants, eggs, cheese, dried ham, coffee, fresh orange juice, yoghurt, coffee, fruits and various spreads. The menu contains homegrown products and visitors can take in a nice view from the terrace while eating. www.pipistrelle.lu

At home Plan better when grocery shopping. Get creative using leftovers. At schools Empower students to organise food-saving events. Educate on “best before” and “use by” date labels. At offices Keep a record of food waste and adjust quantities accordingly. Remember and eat what you left in the office fridge before it goes bad. At restaurants Allow customers to order smaller quantities or share a meal. Encourage customers to bring their own containers to take away leftovers. At supermarkets Encourage producers to harvest all crops to avoid food loss. Promote regional and seasonal foods.

NOVEMBER MAY 2022 2021

Welcome to the Club

Business Club

MAY 2022

In numbers

Flashback Your events

1,100

“How can we make our office spaces better?” is a question many organisations are asking themselves as employees return from homeworking. Our Delano Live speakers 3 Dr Philipp Moessner, a partner at GSK Stockmann, and 1 Gosia Kramer, CEO at The Office, both had some excellent ideas. 2022 is also the 30th anniversary of the British Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg, and we were delighted to welcome 2 Daniel Eischen, its chairman, with his opening remarks. As business networking also returned to prepandemic norms, the Club hosted two networking circles events, both providing an opportunity to make new contacts whilst sampling fine wines, eating delicious food and tasting a wonderful array of chocolates provided by Lola Valerius, O Chocolats and Passion Chocolat.

COMPANIES The number of company members of the largest business club in Luxembourg.

19,000 MEMBERS

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

250

EVENTS The number of opportunities to network and learn, split into 120 shows, talks, social events and 130 advanced trainings, workshops and webinars.

“New ideas need creative spaces to grow.”

300

Gosia Kramer The Office

HOURS

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

HOW TO ATTEND PAPERJAM + DELANO CLUB EVENTS ? You’re already a member Please check the Club section on our website paperjam.lu. Select, among all the digital and on-site events listed, the ones you would be interested in, fill in the registration form at the bottom page and register.

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

Programme April/May Thursday 28 April

MAY 2022

APÉRO TALK

The key issues for the fund industry TIME 18:30 – 20:30 VENUE The Car’Tell SPONSOR Satisco Thursday 19 May

Delano Live: Philip Crowther and multilingualism TIME 18:30 – 20:00 VENUE Zulu SPONSORS Prolingua, ING Tuesday 31 May

Dr Philipp Moessner GSK Stockmann 3

Inclusion: From words to action TIME 18:30 – 22:30 VENUE Lycée Vauban

Photos

“The most important thing to us is our people.”

Eva Krins

10×6

011 BY MIKE K N2 OE DI DI DE

N GE

FO UN

MAY 2022 EDITION

MAY 2022

PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

Bérengère Beffort EDITORIAL DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR

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

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Abigail Okorodus (-155)

Brand Studio Phone (+352) 20 70 70-300 DIRECTOR

Christophe Lemaire

Youcef Damardji

PROOFREADING & FACTCHECKING

STRATEGIC BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ADVISOR

Maison Moderne PHOTOGRAPHY

Romain Gamba Guy Wolff Matic Zorman

Publisher

Francis Gasparotto (-301) HEAD OF MEDIA SALES AND SOLUTIONS

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

Mike Koedinger ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL DIRECTOR

Etienne Velasti PUBLISHING DIRECTOR

Bérengère Beffort STRATEGIC BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT ADVISOR

Francis Gasparotto DIRECTOR, BUSINESS CLUB

Artur Sosna CHIEF DIGITAL OFFICER

Viktor Dick HR MANAGER

Sylvie Notarnicola ADMINISTRATIVE MANAGER

Sylvia Leplang

HEAD OF CONTENT STRATEGY

DIGITAL PROJECT MANAGERS

Emmanuelle Thivollard

Meryem Alamy & Antonello Di Pinto

CREATIVE DIRECTOR

DISTRIBUTION MANAGER

Jeremy Leslie

Kévin Thirion

STUDIO MANAGER

Sandrine Papadopoulos ART DIRECTOR

José Carsí LAYOUT

Sophie Melai (coordination), Stéphane Cognioul, Juliette Noblot ILLUSTRATIONS

To contact staff members

Salomé Jottreau

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Pick’n’mix

How EU are you?

EUROPEAN COMMISSION HEAD OF REPRESENTATION IN LUXEMBOURG

RESEARCH ASSOCIATE, LUXEMBOURG INSTITUTE OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC RESEARCH

PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN YOUTH PARLIAMENT LUXEMBOURG

Seven. The EU is a crucial institution for cooperation in Europe, and I recognise its great importance in the world, but there are numerous things I would like to improve about the EU.

Eight.

I am fully pro-European, which makes my job--to bring Europe closer to people--much easier.

Certainly not by bombarding people with Eurostat statistics updates comparing irrelevant country-by-country data.

Take more social, health and environmental aspects into account and on the field (not only theory or objectives, but clear impact also demonstrated at citizen scale).

By demystifying the EU and showing how the EU makes a difference for every one of us in our daily lives.

We should create opportunities for citizens to express their concerns and ideas, leading to a more democratic and transparent decision-making.

Hire more people that are representative of the general EU population. This would ensure the creation of more relevant policies and would not only involve “high politics”.

The EU PDO label can be a nuisance. When halloumi, oscypek or manchego cheese taste as they should, does it matter where they were produced?

Rather than overstepping, I think the EU doesn’t go far enough in some areas, e.g., in health, where more EU coordination would boost crisis preparedness and management.

The EU falls short in most fronts. A major botch was the imposition of stringent measures during the debt crisis.

Methodological Eurocentrism.

More focus on the people (better protection, better well-being).

The covid crisis and the invasion of Ukraine illustrate that the EU is capable of turning disruptive changes into new opportunities and reinforced solidarity.

The union should rebuild its credibility, invest in further solidarity, and demonstrate [to] citizens that we are better off together.

As mentioned, the idea of representation is crucial and would establish a more balanced foundation between the east and the west of the EU, reinforcing the institution’s relevance.

19.

18.

26.

So far 10. I hope [to add] a couple more on the list by the end of the year.

Yes, but the more pertinent question is if there’s a risk of future EU exits and how to remedy it.

Yes, [it] needs more economical and geopolitical impact and influence.

If the expansion involves countries which stand up for our common values, the answer is yes.

Definitely. Yet, we should learn from past enlargements, making transitions smooth and anticipating potential imbalances.

How can the union reassert its relevance to sceptics?

10. I would not be able to run my business from Luxembourg without the EU. And wine would be more expensive...

Hire better PR agencies! Happy to lend a hand!

On economy and finance topics.

Can’t I go over 10?

12.

I believe that there certainly is potential to integrate more states in our union, however I don’t see this expansion as a key factor of the EU’s future.

Provided by participants, Shutterstock, Blink Blink, List, Romain Gamba, European Youth Parliament Luxembourg, Liser

PROJECT LEADER, LUXEMBOURG INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Alexandra Beiros

Photos

FOUNDER OF PINK NOT RED, PR AGENCY

Martin Fernandez Sanchez

How to bridge EU institutions/ citizens gap?

Anne Calteux

In what ways do you think the EU oversteps the mark?

David Duday

How many EU countries have you visited?

Zuza Reda-Jakima

Is there a future for the expansion of the EU?

On a scale of 1-10, how pro-EU are you?

MAY 2022

Residents share their thoughts on what the European Union has gotten right and what it can do better.

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