Brussels, 04/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - It is now official: on Wednesday 4 December, the Liberal Xavier Bettel took over from Social Democrat Jean-Claude Juncker as leader of the government of Luxembourg, a post Juncker had held for nearly 19 years.
Bettel, who was sworn in on Wednesday, will lead a tripartite coalition together with the Greens and Socialists. He will be supported by Etienne Schneider as Deputy Prime Minister.
The president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, sent his congratulations and expressed his confidence that Luxembourg “and its new government will continue its constructive and valuable efforts in addressing today's challenges both at national and at the European level”. Bettel can look forward to a baptism of fire at the forthcoming European Council, to be held in Brussels on 19 and 20 December. Van Rompuy also paid tribute to Juncker's many years of European service, “a real asset for all of us”.
The new government will present its programme to the Lower House on 10 December. It plans to reform the SREL, Luxembourg's Secret Service, around which a scandal forced Juncker to call early elections. The new government intends to pursue a policy of budgetary constraint, focusing mainly on expenditure, and to reform the tax system and constitution of the country. (EL/transl.fl)