Crochet believes that the tripartite negotiations represent a “missed opportunity” in the sense that inequalities between poor and rich have not been properly addressed. Nevertheless, he also underlined that Caritas does not doubt the efficiency of the unprecedented measures that the government presented after the meeting, including a gas price cap, lowering of VAT and wage increases.
Crochet says that a significant number of people, close to 20,000 in Luxembourg, already struggled to heat their homes before the current energy crisis even began. He thus advocates in favour of adjusting the tax table to inflation, for which a number of parties from across the spectrum, including the Luxembourg Socialist Workers’ Party (LSAP) and the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV), have already expressed support.
Although the tripartite measures promise to bring about short-term relief, Crochet also warned that the package might not be able to counteract the root of the problem. Similarly, there is a lack of differentiation that will lead to people not being helped as much as they deserve simply because they earn slightly more than the threshold, noted Crochet.
Read also: 17.4% of residents live below the poverty line.
