At the invitation of the President of the Chamber of Deputies of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, National Council president Christa Markwalder was a guest at the Conference of Speakers of EU Parliaments between 22 and 24 May. The occasion offered numerous opportunities to hold informal discussions with parliamentary speakers from EU member states, as well as with representatives of the European Parliament and the European Commission.
One of the main themes of the conference, attended by 36 parliamentary speakers and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker, was migration. Discussions focused on measures to reduce incentives for irregular migration, to save human lives, secure external borders and ensure the unrestricted and uniform implementation of a common European asylum system. Against this backdrop, the EU’s refugee agreement with Turkey, which entered into force on 20 March was also discussed.
Following the conference National Council president Christa Markwalder also met her Luxembourg counterpart Mars Di Bartolomeo as part of an official working visit. There was also a meeting in an informal setting with Luxembourg’s finance minister, Pierre Gramegna, and representatives of the country’s financial sector.
Switzerland and Luxembourg enjoy extremely close and friendly relations. The two countries also share a host of similarities: both Switzerland and Luxembourg have a comparatively high share of foreign nationals among their populations and have economic models whose success is based, among other things, on the freedom of movement. Further common features include a strong financial centre and a commitment to multilingualism. Since November 2012 Switzerland and Luxembourg have also shared the chairmanship of the European Space Agency ESA.
Luxembourg, 25 May 2016 Parliamentary Services