The Chamber continued the debate on the Prime Minister's declaration on the state of the nation, in which he announced that contribution time would rise by three months per year from about 2030 to move the real retirement age from about 60 towards the legal age of 65; opposition deputies questioned him repeatedly after his reply, and no pension text was before the Chamber.
Social dialogue and the unions' exclusive right to negotiate collective agreements ran through the debate on the state of the nation; the Prime Minister answered that the government is not changing that exclusive right but wants details to be settleable inside the company, and said talks with the unions are continuing with no text yet tabled.
The plans on Sunday work and longer shop opening hours announced in the declaration were contested through the debate; a bill from the Minister of the Economy was already tabled, opposition speakers asked for the texts to be withdrawn, and the Prime Minister defended the process in his reply.
The declaration announced that Luxembourg will reach the NATO target of 2% of gross national income by the end of 2025 and that investment projects may be re-prioritised to pay for it; an LSAP motion asking for the list of infrastructure projects concerned and for social spending to be spared was debated and rejected by 40 votes to 20.
Housing recurred through the state-of-the-nation debate: opposition speakers pressed the government on speculation, the mobilisation tax and rent control, majority speakers listed measures taken, and the Prime Minister answered on the timetable for the mobilisation tax amendments.
A second LSAP motion asked the government to oppose the prolongation of the EU-Israel association agreement for breach of the human rights clause in its Article 2 and to review Luxembourg's trade relations with Israel; the DP asked for the motion to be held in suspense until a debate with the Foreign Minister, the author insisted on a vote, and the motion was rejected by 40 votes to 17 with 2 abstentions.
The government's support for the EU-Mercosur agreement, announced in the declaration, was questioned from several benches; deputies asked whether Luxembourg would press for it to be treated as a mixed agreement needing national ratification, and the Prime Minister answered that this decision does not lie with the Luxembourg government.
The missing national action plan against poverty and the government's record on social measures were argued across the benches during the state-of-the-nation debate; no text on poverty was before the Chamber.