LUXEMBOURG

Chambre des députés

 

 

a) The status of the Parliamentary administration: is it part of the civil service (or equivalent), or an independent and special administration, with its own rules on salaries, pensions, career development?

 

-                       The level of normative and organisational independence of the Parliamentary administration from the rest of the civil service

 

The principles of independence and sovereignty of the legislative power are guaranteed through a complete autonomy of the Chamber of Deputies, for both its regulation and internal organization and the management of its human resources.

 

This principle of autonomy is enshrined in the statutes of the Chamber of Deputies. Article 7 stipulates that “the Bureau is responsible for running the Chamber’s business and takes all decisions relating to personnel organization and discipline”.

 

-                 Is there an independent career structure, and what are the procedures for staff recruitment?

 

The Chamber’s civil servants, employees and workers are managed by a specific status, which has been approved by the Bureau of the Chamber, as well as by the Personnel delegation. While defining the status of the parliamentary employees, attention has been paid to stick as close as possible to the status of civil servants, keeping in mind that the Chamber’s specificities and the principle of independence of the legislative power have to prevail in order to guarantee its autonomy.

 

The recruitment, the procedure of administering the oath, the training and daily management of the parliamentary employees of the “Greffe” is assured by the human resources department, under the authority of the Clerk who runs the administration of Parliament. Any vacancy has to be approved by the Bureau of the Chamber and made public by means of an announcement in the press.  All interested candidates will have to sit a competitive examination. Civil servants who have already successfully passed entrance examination for their career in another public administration will not be exempted from the entry examination giving access to the career of parliamentary employees.

 

Applicants who have successfully passed the entrance examination will be invited to an interview with the examination commission, composed by a member of each political group and the Chairman, the Bureau (= Direction) and the parliamentary employees of the Greffe.

 

After hearing the examination commission, the Bureau will decide whether or not to admit the applicant to the training period, as stipulates article 157 of the statutes of the Chamber: “All parliamentary employees of the Chamber are nominated or revoked by the Bureau on the basis of an absolute majority vote.”

 

The conditions for promotions in rank and salary applicable to parliamentary employees can be compared to those of civil servants. However, the final decision as far as personnel questions are concerned is incumbent on the administration of Parliament, as stipulated by article 59: “All decisions concerning salary increases, promotions and more generally all career related questions are taken by the Bureau.”

 

As far as the pension rights are concerned, they underlie the same law as the one applicable to civil servants.

 

 

b) Relations between the political bodies and the Parliamentary administration

 

In order to guarantee absolute transparency between elected deputies and the administrative personnel, their relations are regulated by rules and procedures fixed by the Bureau of the Chamber.

 

-                 How much does the Parliamentary speaker, the degree of his/her “super parts” nature and the breadth of the Speaker’s powers, influence the “configuration” of the Parliamentary administration

 

In his quality as a member of the Bureau, the Chairman has a word to say for all questions related to personnel management and recruitment of new employees.

 

However, the recruitment and management of the deputies’ assistants and the employees of the various political groups is exclusively assured by the political and technical groups themselves. These working contracts are governed by Luxembourg’s labour law.

 

But, in order to guarantee a smooth functioning of the political and technical groups, the Bureau may put at their disposal premises with the necessary equipment, as well as credits, which will be proportional to their representation in the Chamber. On presentation of invoices and other relevant documents, the political and technical groups can even claim refunding of fees related to personnel recruitment up to a certain amount.

 

Furthermore and on demand, the Bureau of the Chamber puts a fully equipped office close to the premises of the Chamber at the disposal of any deputy (article 15 of the “Règlement” of the Chamber).

 

The working relations between the employees of the political groups and parliamentary employees are purely advisory.

 

-                 How are Secretary General (as the person heading the administration) and the other executive officers appointed? What rules govern their replacement?

 

Article 149 of the Chamber’s “Règlement” stipulates that the Clerk who runs the administration of Parliament, namely the Secretary General, is elected for the duration of the parliamentary session; he is at any time revocable. The Clerk is part of the Bureau, and has no right to vote. According to the “Règlement” of the Chamber, the Bureau takes all decisions related to the management and discipline of the personnel, and it also determines what tasks precisely will be attributed to the Secretary General. These tasks will, among others, include the daily running of the Greffe according to the missions and objectives defined by the members of the Bureau.

 

 

c) Does the Secretary General have the chief responsibility and accountability for the administration? Or are these shared with other senior officers?

 

It is the Secretary General’s task to run the Greffe, a mission for which he is assisted by two Deputy Clerks.

 

According to article 150 of the “Règlement” of the Chamber the Deputy Clerks are appointed by the Bureau. During the Secretary General’s absence, one of the two Deputy Clerks will be appointed to replace him (by either the Secretary General himself or by the President). The Deputy Clerks are not members of the Bureau.

 

The parliamentary administration is composed of 12 different working units, each one being run by a head of department. These middle grade executives are appointed by the Clerk who runs the administration and they can either be from the inferior, middle or upper career. Their degree of accountability and autonomy will vary according to the tasks with which the Secretary General will have entrusted them.

 

They are accountable either to the Deputy Clerks, or directly to the Secretary General, who will evaluate their work.

 

As far as the parliamentary commissions are concerned, their secretariats are free to organize their work, while respecting the needs and directives of the Presidents of the various commissions. However, like all civil servants, they are accountable to the Clerk who runs the administration.

 

Finally, this means that the Secretary General can delegate the supervision of certain tasks and missions to the Deputy Clerks, who, in turn, are assisted by heads of department. However, the chief responsibility and accountability for the administration remains within the hands of the Secretary General.

 

 

d) The Parliamentary workload, and consequently the administration's workload.

 

-                 The number of parliamentarians:

 

The number of deputies is established by the Constitution at 60

 

-                 The duration of the parliamentary sessions in the course of the year

 

The Chamber of Deputies meets in ordinary session on the second Tuesday of October. The opening of the new session takes place immediately after the closure of the previous session, which means that the duration of a parliamentary session is exactly 12 months.

 

During the period of elections, automatically held every five years during the month of June, parliamentary sessions are closed in May.

 

-                 The number of sittings

 

Approximately 65 per session

 

-                 The number of hours the house sits per year: approx. 250 hours

 

-                 The number of formal votes/divisions (which require a quorum):

 

Practically all the votes require a quorum, i.e. a presence of minimum 31 deputies.

Our Parliament has an average of 350 votes per session, 120 of them are on bills

 

-                 The number of bills examined by the House in one year

 

During the session 2002/2003, 126 bills have been discussed in public debates after having been examined by the Standing Committees.

 

-                 The main activities performed by the Standing Committees and the average number of sittings of each Committee during the present Parliament

 

The rules of procedure establish a Conference of Chairmen and make provision for setting up regulatory, standing and special committees.

 

The committees are responsible for examining Government and private member's bills and the amendments and motions referred to them by the Chairman of the Chamber, and are entitled to submit proposals and amendments themselves. They are also responsible for preparing debates, organizing public and non-public hearings and visits, and carrying out any business falling within their area of responsibility.

 

The committees also deal with European matters related to their field of competence.

 

There are 3 statutory committees, 19 standing committees and 5 special committees. During the session 2001/2002, the number of sittings of each committee was as follows:

 

Statutory committees:

 

Accounts Committee                                                                               2

Petitions Committee                                                                                16

Regulations Committee                                                                           3

 

Standing committees:

 

Foreign and European Affairs and Defence Committee                         12

Internal Affairs Committee                                                                                   16

Agriculture, Viticulture and Rural Development Committee                    5

Committee for Middle Classes, Tourism and Housing                           17

Committee for Controlling Budget Implementation                                 17

Committee for Economy, Energy, Post and Transport                          18

Committee for National Education, Vocational Training and Sport         20

Committee on Equal Opportunities between Women and Men

and Promotion of the Woman                                                                 13

Committee for Higher Education, Research and Culture                       12

Environment Committee                                                                         24

Committee for Family, Social Solidarity and Youth                                 10

Finance and Budget Committee                                                             28

Civil Service and Administration Reform Committee                              15

Committee of Institutions and Constitutional Reform                             16

Legal Committee                                                                                     40

Media and Communications Committee                                                 33

Health and Social Security Committee                                                   22

Labour and Employment Committee                                                      19

Committee for Public Works                                                                   27

 

Special committees:

 

Special Committee "Ethics"                                                                    11

Special Committee "Immigration"                                                           12

Special Committee "Youth at Risk"                                                         2

Special Committee "Employment"                                                          3

Special Committee "Drug abuse"                                                           2

 

Conference of Chairmen                                                                         21

The Bureau                                                                                              13

 

TOTAL:                                                                                                    449

 

-                 The degree of formality of Standing Committee procedures and whether the Speaker of the House controls the regularity of the procedures adopted by the Committees' Chairs

 

Standing Committee procedures are partly defined in the Rules of Procedure of the Chamber. Some of them are based on tradition and consequently not published anywhere. The Speaker of the Chamber of Deputies ensures that the regulations and procedures are observed and decides on the acceptability of the form of texts and other proposals. He may be assisted in his decisions by the Conference of Chairmen.

 

-                 The assistance routinely provided by the Administration to Parliamentary bodies

 

At the level of committees' activities, the committee secretarial services assume the organization of each sitting by providing the requested preparation, research work and documentation. At the end of the sitting, these services write a summary which is distributed to the committees' members and the secretaries of the parliamentary groups. These documents are not public.

 

At the level of public sittings, the dialogue between the parliamentary bodies, the Government and the Chambers' Administration is directed by the Secretary General, who also ensures the diffusion of the necessary documentation.

 

All advices on procedural matters are provided by the Secretary General who runs the administration of Parliament.

 

 

e) Relations between the Parliamentary administration and the legislative process

 

Any interpretation or explanation on the field of parliamentary procedure is done under the responsibility of the Secretary General.

 

Public documentation is available at the Chambers' administration and sent to all Members of Parliament and Government.

 

In the lawmaking process, basic documentation is provided by the Government. On demand of the Parliamentarians, the committee secretarial services, with the help of the researcher, make more extensive researches and can ask external bodies or specialists for more information.

 

All kinds of political information are provided by the parliamentary groups.

 

The external bodies and authorities whose opinion on a bill is requested are contacted by the Government, which continues this documentation to the Chamber of Deputies.

 

Technical notes on problems connected with ensuring statutory consistency and constitutionality are made on request by our legal department and are for internal use.

 

 

f) Latest changes in Parliamentary administration

 

There is a need to improve the coherence of the different aspects of European politics and to move the European issues closer to the members of national parliament. The different committees have been invited to strive for an increased dialogue on the important European issues.

 

-                 Changes at the level op communication: computerisation and Internet are openness and outreach to the general public.

 

The sessions of the Chamber of Deputies are public, except for adopting application for naturalization, for example, when the Chamber sits behind closed doors.

 

The Parliamentary press, television and radio included, follows the debates in public sessions, as well as in the committees and transmits summary of the debates.

 

Since December 2001, the Chamber of Deputies has its own TV channel. All public sessions are re-transmitted over the Internet Web-TV an on television.

 

Furthermore, the full verbatim report of the debates in public sessions is published and distributed free of charge to all households in the country. Information pages on national and international parliamentary business are regularly attached.

 

Finally, the Chamber of Deputies has an Internet site that can be viewed by anyone interested in its organization, functioning, program and work.

 

-                 Changes of the administrative level: the need to keep domestic legislation adjusted in line with legislative developments.

 

The reception of such legislation and regulations has not created specific problems in Luxembourg until now.

 

-                 Security issues following September 11, 2001

 

The security concept of the Chamber was totally renewed after this date. The taken security measures have become more severe.