Luxembourg’s Chamber of Employees (CSL) has withdrawn from the High Committee for the Attraction, Retention and Development of Talent, saying recent decisions within the body no longer guarantee balanced institutional consultation. In a statement, the CSL said it supports the goal of strengthening Luxembourg’s attractiveness for workers but raised concerns about the direction taken by the committee’s work.
The employees’ chamber particularly criticised the decision to place the planned ‘Talent Desk’ within the House of Entrepreneurship under the responsibility of the Chamber of Commerce. The CSL had previously proposed that the service be hosted in a neutral institutional framework.
According to the CSL, entrusting the management of a desk aimed largely at private sector employees to employer organisations could create a “conflict of interest”, particularly when providing information on “labour law and social security matters”. The organisation also said it regretted not having been involved in the decision-making process that led to the choice of location for the Talent Desk.
More broadly, the CSL argued that the committee’s discussions place too much emphasis on “fiscal incentives” for certain categories of expatriate workers, while other key factors affecting Luxembourg’s attractiveness receive less attention. It said issues such as working conditions and the situation of cross-border workers should play a greater role in efforts to attract talent.
The CSL noted that Luxembourg’s labour market depends heavily on cross-border workers and warned against fiscal disparities between them and expatriate employees.
Despite its withdrawal from the committee, the chamber said it remains willing to contribute to policies aimed at strengthening Luxembourg’s attractiveness in a balanced and sustainable way.
