Chapters | Compendium of Cultural Policies & Trends

Last update: February, 2023

There is currently no specific article in the Luxembourg constitution that deals with cultural rights of citizens. Nevertheless, as developed in chapter 2.2, the right to cultural development is one of the subjects of the constitutional revision that is currently underway.

The following articles of the constitution are related to culture in the broad sense:

Human and natural environment

Art. 11bis: “The State guarantees the protection of the human and cultural environment, and works for the establishment of a durable equilibrium between the conservation of nature, in particular its capacity for renewal, and the satisfaction of the needs of present and future generations”^[1]

Freedom of expression

Art. 24 : “The freedom to manifest one's opinion by speech in all matters, and the freedom of the press are guaranteed, save the repression of offenses committed on the occasion of the exercise of these freedoms. - Censorship may never be established.”^[2]

Languages

Art. 29: “The law regulates the use of languages in administrative and judicial matters.”^[3]

[1] Constitution du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg (2020) Ministère d’Etat – Service de Législation, p. 5

[2] Constitution du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg (2020) Ministère d’Etat – Service de Législation, p. 6

[3] Constitution du Grand-Duché du Luxembourg (2020) Ministère d’Etat – Service de Législation, p. 6

Last update: February, 2023

The basis for national budgetary legislation is the law of 8 June 1999 on the Budget, Accounting and Treasury of the State. This general law fixes the general parameters, rules and procedures of State budgetary spending and revenues, accountancy and financial control mechanisms.

As foreseen by article 74 of this law, a Grand-ducal regulation lays down the financial and accounting management rules applicable to separately managed State services, such as the State’s cultural institutes and the cultural “établissements publics”, as well as the methods for monitoring this management.

In the context avec the Covid-19 pandemic, a specific Grand-ducal regulation had also been taken relating to the payment of advances within the framework of the recovery plan for culture and artistic creativity linked to the pandemic

Complementary to the overarching law of 1999, multiannual financial programming laws set the medium-term budgetary objective of general government (for the period 2019-2023, see the law of 20 December 2019). This impacts also the cultural budgetary planning since it has to observe the multiannual budgetary provisions that it has set.

The annual budget as such is defined in the yearly budget law that is discussed and voted by Parliament, according to article 95 of its internal regulation and the “budgetary procedure” it has laid down. The adopted annual State Budget comprises three parts: 1) the text of law commonly known as budget law, 2) the appended income and expenditure tables by ministry, 3) the Grand-ducal regulation implementing the budget (it authorises the members of the government, each in his/her ministry, to dispose of the appropriations entered in the expenditure budget).

There are no specific national legislative texts, which establish the regional or local public funding of culture. The municipalities have the discretionary power in this matter. Municipal budgets are voted by the municipal council and approved by the ministry of Home Affairs. The municipal budget translates the program of municipal action and therefore contains the funds that each municipality intends to reserve for culture.

Public procurement law is governed by a number of legislative texts. Most government contracts are awarded through an open procedure. The different thresholds should be distinguished by type of contract: small-scale public contracts, public works contracts, large-scale public contracts, concessions.

All profits from the National Lottery are intended for good causes through the Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte in accordance with the law of 22 May 2009. A public establishment under the supervision of the Ministry of State, the Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte “assumes an eminent role in the organization and financing of projects serving the general interest in Luxembourg”, including culture and memory.

Last update: February, 2023

The Amended law of 19 December 2014 relating to 1) social measures for the benefit of independent professional artists and intermittent workers and 2) the promotion of artistic creation determines the social measures for the benefit of professional artists and intermittent performers. This law provides for social assistance in favour of independent professional artists and assistance in the event of involuntary inactivity of intermittent performers; the aid granted is based on the minimum wage for skilled workers and constitutes financial support that artists and intermittent performers can use to pay their social security contributions. The law also includes aid (grants) for artistic creation, development and recycling, and the awarding of public commissions.

A Social Cultural Fund, supplied annually by a state grant takes charge of the social measures provided for by the law 2014.

Considering that certain of these provisions are no longer appropriate due to the evolution of the cultural sector in recent years as well as the evolution of the professionals’ working and living conditions (notably because of the Covid19 pandemic), an adaptation to this legislation has been submitted to Parliament in November 2021 by the ministry of Culture. The proposed amendments are the result of a dialogue between the various representatives of the artistic and cultural scene, launched at the end of 2019 by a public consultation, which aimed to launch reflections on the usefulness of such an adaptation. Consequently, changes applying to artists would comprise, for instance, the reduction of one year, or even the exemption (for university graduates) of the reference period preceding the application, as well as increase in the period of the benefit of aid and of the amounts of monthly aid. For intermittent workers, the scope will be broadened to include more professions and activities, an adaptation of the possibility to suspend the period of eligibility for aid (in the event of illness, maternity leave, parental leave, etc.) will be introduced, etc.

Last update: February, 2023

“In current tax law, article 2 of the amended law of 4 December 1967 on income tax determines the conditions to be met by an individual in order to qualify as a taxpayer subject to income tax in Luxembourg. According to this article, a distinction must be made between resident and non-resident taxpayers, depending on whether or not the individuals have their tax domicile or habitual residence in the Grand Duchy.

In this respect, the tax regime applicable to artists, who are taxpayers in the same way as all other individuals who receive income, varies according to their tax residence, i.e. whether they are an artist resident in Luxembourg or a non-resident artist who nevertheless receives income from Luxembourg sources.

Here, resident artists are (...) subject to an unlimited tax liability which extends to their worldwide income, i.e. to both their domestic and foreign income. On the other hand, for non-resident artists (self-employed or salaried), only income from Luxembourg sources (...) gives rise to taxation in Luxembourg, unless a tax treaty for the prevention of double taxation concluded by Luxembourg and the artist's State of residence provides otherwise.”^[1]

The Amended law of 19 December 2014 relating to 1) social measures for the benefit of independent professional artists and intermittent workers and 2) the promotion of artistic creation foresees in its articles 11,12 and 13 a couple of fiscal measures for professional artists and intermittent workers.

VAT

“Only the "self-employed" artist (as opposed to the "employed" artist) is likely to become subject to Luxembourg VAT, provided that he supplies goods (e.g. sale of paintings, sale of records, books etc.) or performs services (e.g. performances in the theatre, dance, shows) on a non-occasional basis and for remuneration in Luxembourg.”^[2]

As part of the implementation of the current Cultural development plan (KEP), a super-reduced VAT rate of 3%, applicable to the services provided by writers, composers and performers, as well as to the royalties due to them, is introduced as of 1 January 2020.

Patronage, sponsorship

“To promote sponsorship, the tax law provides for the tax deduction of financial aid or donations disbursed by any natural or legal person.”[3]

[1] https://culture.lu/cadre-de-travail/25

[2] https://culture.lu/cadre-de-travail/26

[3] https://culture.lu/cadre-de-travail/31

Last update: February, 2023

Regardless of their residence status, nationality or even the sector in which they work, any employee working in Luxembourg, including seconded or cross-border employees, is subject to the labour code in force in Luxembourg.

The working conditions as well as the remuneration of the employees working in the public sector are fixed in the collective agreement of the employees of the State.

In the public sector, the salary system diverges: a law covers civil servants (Law of March 25 2015 establishing the salary system and the conditions and procedures for the advancement of civil servants), whereas a collective agreement applies to state employees whose employment contract is not governed by other legal provisions.

To date, there is no sectoral collective labor agreement for cultural professions. Nevertheless, cultural institutions such as the Philharmonic Orchestra Luxembourg (OPL) and the Philharmony have concluded a collective agreement for all employees. This resulted from the merger in 2011 of the OPL and the Philharmony, the OPL already benefitting from a collective agreement beforehand.

Last update: February, 2023

In March 2022, Luxembourg transposed the Directive (EU) 2019/789 of 17 April 2019 laying down rules on the exercise of copyright and related rights applicable to certain online transmissions of broadcasting organisations and retransmissions of television and radio programmes, as well as the Directive (EU) 2019/790 of 17 April 2019 on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market.

The two were adopted together by Parliament, the vote being considered “a decisive step in adapting the legislative framework to the challenges posed by the digital environment, in particular in the relations between digital players and rights holders, or to guarantee greater legal certainty in unprecedented situations that did not exist in an analog world.”[1]

The adoption and the tabling of the bill was preceded by an open public consultation from February to April 2021 on a preliminary version of a preliminary draft law, prepared by the ministry of the Economy. The objective of this consultation was to engage in dialogue with the stakeholders, so that the draft law preserves the Luxembourg economy and cultural environment. Of the 18 contributions received, 3 came from cultural institutes and university research centres, whose comments largely focussed on a more precise delineate of the scope of articles dealing with new exceptions and mandatory limitations provided by the Directive.

Guidelines on copyrights provisions have been published both by the ministry of the Economy and by the ministry of Culture.

[1] https://gouvernement.lu/fr/actualites/toutes_actualites/communiques/2022/03-mars/31-droits-auteur-droits-voisins.html

Last update: February, 2023

The National Commission for Data Protection, the Luxembourg supervisory authority, is responsible for the implementation of tasks related to the RGPD, to the law on data protection in criminal matters/social security and to the law on privacy protection in the electronic communications sector.

Legal references[1]

The law of 1 August 2018 on the organisation of the National Data Protection Commission implements Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), amending the Labour Code and the amended Act of 25 March 2015 stipulating the rules of remuneration and the terms and conditions for the promotion of State civil servants. This law complements the General Data Protection Regulation at national level.

The law of 1 August 2018 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data in criminal and national security matters applies to the processing of personal data by competent authorities for the purposes of the prevention, investigation, detection or prosecution of criminal offences or the execution of criminal penalties, including protection against and prevention of threats to public security, and on the free movement of such data. It transposes into national law the directive (EU) 2016/680 of 27 April 2016.

The Amended law of 30 May 2005 concerning the specific provisions for protection of the individual in respect of the processing of personal data in the electronic communications sector, and amending Articles 88-2 and 88-4 of the Code of Criminal Procedure governs the protection of personal data in the field of telecommunications and electronic communications and takes recent and foreseeable developments in the field of services and technologies involving electronic communications into account.

[1] https://cnpd.public.lu/fr/legislation/droit-lux.html

Last update: February, 2023

“The law of 24 February 1984 on the language regime establishes Luxembourgish as the national language, but also determines the use of other languages in official acts. Thus, legislative acts and their implementing regulations are drafted in French (although other regulations issued by official bodies may be drafted in another language). Similarly, Luxembourgish, French and German share the status of administrative and judicial languages of the country.”^[1]

In 2018, the government has adopted a long-term strategy to promote the Luxembourgish language. This strategy has the following objectives and commitments: reinforce the importance of the Luxembourgish language; advance the standardisation, use and study of Luxembourgish; promote the learning of Luxembourgish and culture; promote culture in Luxembourgish. As these objectives affect almost all areas of public life, a 20-year action plan is being developed to achieve a linguistic and cultural policy in agreement with all the actors of society. The law of 20 July 2018 on the promotion of the Luxembourgish language serves as legal framework for the provision of means and structures for the implementation of the government strategy.

Other laws and regulations with relation to the Luxembourgish language relate to the setting up of a permanent Council for the Luxembourgish language, the Luxembourgish spelling rules or the attestations of communication competences in Luxembourgish. It is noteworthy that a specific law also foresees the possibility of a linguistic leave to enable employees, self-employed workers and individuals in the liberal professions to learn or perfect their command of the Luxembourgish language with a view to facilitating their integration into Luxembourg society.[2]

A number of other laws concern language education in general, notably with relation to the National Institute for languages.

[1] https://gouvernement.lu/fr/dossiers/2018/langue-luxembourgeoise.html

[2] https://guichet.public.lu/en/citoyens/travail-emploi/conges-jours-feries/formation-professionnelle/conge-linguistique.html

Last update: February, 2023

Digitisation and online media

Grand-Ducal Regulation of 5 July 2016 amending the Grand-Ducal Regulation of 19 June 1992 laying down the structure and operation of the public establishment created by Article 14 of the Law of 27 July 1991 on the electronic media

Law of 2 April 2001 amending the law of 27 July 1991 on the electronic media and transposing Directive 97/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 June 1997

Grand-Ducal Regulation of 19 June 1992 laying down the structure and operation of the public establishment created by Article 14 of the law of 27 July 1991 on the electronic media; in: Mémorial A n° 46 (1992), pp. 1486-1488

Law of 27 July 1991 on the electronic media; in: Mémorial A n° 47 (1991), pp. 972-986

Grand-Ducal Regulation of 1 December 1988 authorising the creation and operation of a database on the natural heritage within the framework of the Scientific Research Centre of the Natural History Museum