European Affairs

The Directorate of European Affairs and International Economic Relations (Directorate II) ensures the coordination of European policy between ministerial departments. As such, it is the privileged contact point for Luxembourg institutions and bodies in matters pertaining to European policy. It coordinates, prepares and follows up on the positions expressed by Luxembourg within the European institutions, primarily the Council of the EU.

The Directorate also coordinates the transposition and application of European Union law, with a view to meeting the imposed transposition deadlines and keeping the transposition deficit below the 1% threshold of the European Commission's internal market scoreboard.

The Directorate provides the secretariat of the Inter-ministerial Committee for the Coordination of European Policy (CICPE), which brings together senior officials from the ministries dealing with European affairs, in the presence of the Permanent Representative and Deputy Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the European Union, in order to coordinate Luxembourg's position on cross-cutting European issues. Chaired by the Director of European Affairs and International Economic Relations, the Committee ensures the coherence and unity of Luxembourg's position within the European Union and prepares the elements on which political arbitration is required. It regularly reviews the key issues on the agenda of the European Council and the various Council formations. In addition, the CICPE examines dossiers that are of particular interest to Luxembourg and which require close coordination between the various ministries. The committee monitors the transposition of European directives and reviews the state of infringement proceedings initiated by the European Commission for failure to transpose directives within the deadline or for incorrect or incomplete implementation of EU law.

On behalf of the government, the CICPE promotes an ongoing dialogue with the economic and social sectors with regards to European issues.

The Committee may meet in a restricted configuration to discuss specific dossiers in depth. It is complementary to the network of European correspondents, which is the main communication tool between the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and other ministries or administrations.

The Directorate II contributes to keeping the Chamber of Deputies (Parliament) informed about the EU's legislative activity and ongoing negotiations, and monitors the positions expressed by the Chamber of Deputies on European matters. It also monitors the work of the European Parliament in close cooperation with the Permanent Representation of Luxembourg to the European Union.

The Directorate II prepares the annual report on the Government's European policy and on the transposition of European directives and the application of European Union law. The preparation of this report falls within the framework of the memorandum concluded between the Chamber of Deputies and the Luxembourg Government on cooperation in the field of European policy.