DThe Luxembourg Social Plan for Climate (PSC) is here. Decided by the government council on March 27th. The aim of the 45 measures: to make the sustainable transition socially acceptable. The order for this comes from Brussels. But anyone who reads the joint statement from CSL, OGBL, LCGB and Mouvement Ecologique (Méco), which was published on Thursday, gets the picture of a house that has a solid floor plan, but still no roof, no heating and no move-in date.
Environment Minister Serge Wilmes and Economy Minister Lex Delles presented the plan to the public on April 17th. The PSC is not Luxembourg’s own creation, but part of a European mechanism. The EU-wide climate social fund is intended to support households and small businesses that are coming under particular pressure as a result of the expansion of emissions trading to buildings and road transport, and for whom CO₂ pricing is becoming an almost impossible burden to shoulder. For Luxembourg, this means specifically: 55 million euros from EU funds for the period 2026 to 2032 – provided that the country itself contributes at least 25 percent of the estimated total costs. Target group: Vulnerable households
Who is the plan intended to reach?
This is where the not-so-small problem begins. OGBL, LCGB, CSL and Mouvéco identify it as the document’s central design flaw: the definition of the target audience remains too vague. Who is considered a “vulnerable household”? The plan tends to cover those who cannot pay their energy bills – but not those who are simply unable to actively participate in the heat transition: no money for a heat pump, no scope for insulation. Although this dimension appears in the text, it is hardly included in the actual definition.
The diagnosis is sobering: This recording deficit has been paralyzing the implementation of targeted climate policy for years. The PSC is continuing to prolong this problem instead of solving it.
The second objection is even more fundamental: the PSC does not contain a single binding budget commitment. The plan itself points out on page 83 that the proposed measures “have not yet been subject to detailed budget planning” and must be subject to the ordinary budget procedure. In other words: The government has listed 45 measures without saying how much they will cost – and who will pay for them.
The balance that no longer exists
According to the social partners, something is also going wrong with the social heart of the plan – the compensation for the CO₂ tax. The STATEC analysis, which the PSC itself documents, is clear: the existing tax credit mechanism (CI-CO₂) is increasingly losing its compensatory effect. For households in the lower income quintiles, the current basic amount of 216 euros is no longer sufficient to completely neutralize the tax burden. To correct this, the amount would have to be increased to at least 267 euros.
In addition: The income limits for receiving the voucher are not indexed. As a result of the automatic wage indexation in Luxembourg, households slip out of the funding bracket every year.
Perhaps the most graphic point of criticism: the plan lacks any binding time frame. No measure is given a date. Around 80 percent of the 45 points are already included in other plans. They basically traveled from document to document without ever becoming specific. Many measures are not yet ready for implementation, but are waiting for preliminary studies, the results of which are still pending. The signatories pointedly quote the Luxembourgish vernacular: “Pabeier ass gedëlleg.”
The fear behind this is not abstract: If measures can only be implemented after further studies and experience shows that these studies take years, some steps could only be implemented under a future government. As long as they follow up on it at all.
It’s not being built yet
CSL, OGBL, LCGB and Méco do not deny the merits of the PSC. The consultation process is praised and individual measures are expressly welcomed. But their overall verdict is unmistakable: A plan that does not know its target audience precisely, does not disclose its budget and does not schedule its measures is not a control instrument – it is a declaration of intent. And the message between the lines is that Luxembourg already has enough declarations of intent when it comes to climate policy.
