The secretary general of the Christian Social People’s Party (CSV), Alex Donnersbach, has described the tripartite as “a format, not a solution”. Nevertheless, he stated that the party is open to talks with social partners, as high energy prices are steering Luxembourg toward a crisis. Donnersbach stressed that all ideas should be on the table during these discussions.
On Wednesday, CSV Prime Minister Luc Frieden announced that tripartite talks would be held over the coming weeks. The announcement followed a prolonged period of hesitation by the prime minister, who had previously ruled out such talks, characterising the tripartite format as a crisis tool inappropriate for the current situation.
The decision was foreshadowed by Donnersbach’s statements to RTL earlier that day, in which he expressed the CSV’s support for tripartite talks. Donnersbach emphasised that tripartite talks are not a panacea, but rather “a format where three partners come together at one table to find joint answers to a crisis”. He argued that success would require the commitment of all partners and a willingness to make compromises. “For this reason, we at the CSV believe that a tripartite could be prepared in the coming weeks”, Donnersbach said.
The CSV secretary general also stressed that temporary measures should be discussed first and foremost, with the goal of providing targeted help to those people and businesses most affected by high energy prices.
The trade unions have already drawn a red line in advance: they will not discuss any manipulation of the wage indexation mechanism. Without commenting specifically on wage indexation, Donnersbach said he thinks little of such red lines. He argued that in tripartite talks, “every partner should present their ideas; the trade unions should present their ideas, the employers should present their ideas, the government also has ideas on what could be done.” In Donnersbach’s view, tripartite talks should be a format where “one should be able to freely discuss every idea”.
The Democratic Party (DP), the CSV’s coalition partner, had already signalled openness to tripartite talks through Yuriko Backes during an RTL Radio interview on Monday. However, Donnersbach was quick to dismiss any suggestion that the CSV had been pressured into the talks, stating that the party had never ruled out tripartite talks and was “on the same page” as the DP.
