The First Bettel Government (or Bettel I Government) was the ruling government of

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

from 4 December 2013 to 5 December 2018. It was led by

Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Xavier Bettel Xavier Bettel (; born 3 March 1973) is a Luxembourgish lawyer and politician who serves as the List of deputy prime ministers of Luxembourg, deputy prime minister of Luxembourg and as the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Luxembourg), minister for Fo ...

and

Deputy Prime Minister A deputy prime minister or vice prime minister is, in some countries, a Minister (government), government minister who can take the position of acting prime minister when the prime minister is temporarily absent. The position is often likened to th ...

Etienne Schneider Etienne Schneider (; born 29 January 1971) is a Luxembourgish politician and economist who served as First Deputy Prime Minister of Luxembourg from 2013 to 2020. He is a member of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP). Schneider was a m ...

. It was formed on 4 December 2013, after the 2013 election which saw all 60 seats in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

renewed. The government was a

traffic light coalition In German politics, a traffic light coalition () is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, y ...

between the Democratic Party (DP), the

Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party The Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (, , ), abbreviated to LSAP or POSL, is a social democratic, pro-European political party in Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Eu ...

(LSAP) and

The Greens The Greens or Greens may refer to: Current political parties *The Greens – The Green Alternative, Austria *Australian Greens, also known as ''The Greens'' * Greens of Andorra * The Greens (Benin) *The Greens (Bulgaria) * Greens of Bosnia and He ...

. It was succeeded by the second Bettel Government on 5 December 2018.

Formation

Until 2013, Luxembourg was governed by a CSV–LSAP coalition under

Jean-Claude Juncker Jean-Claude Juncker (; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who was List of prime ministers of Luxembourg, prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and president of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also was List ...

. After concerns over political oversight of the intelligence agency of Luxembourg, the

Service de Renseignement de l'État The Service de Renseignement de l'État, full name Service de renseignement de l'État du Luxembourg (, , abbr. SREL), is Luxembourg's homeland intelligence agency. The agency is colloquially known in Luxembourgish as the "''Spëtzeldéngscht''� ...

, the LSAP withdrew its support from the government. Juncker then resigned as prime minister on 11 July 2013 and asked the Grand-Duke to dissolve the Chamber of Deputies and call an election. In the election held on 20 October 2013, the CSV lost some seats but still remained as the largest party in parliament, though without a majority of seats. However, representatives of the DP, LSAP and the Greens agreed to form a government on election night, after the results had been announced. On 22 October, the Grand-Duke consulted with a representative from each electoral list, and Juncker. The next day he designated Georges Ravarani, the head of the administrative court, as the

informateur A formateur (French for "someone who forms, who constitutes") is a politician who is appointed to lead the formation of a coalition government, after either a general election or the collapse of a previous government. The role of the formateur i ...

for the formation of a new government. Coalition talks between the DP, LSAP and the Greens started within a few days, and the coalition agreement was announced one and a half months later, and the new government was sworn in on 4 December 2013. This was only the second government since 1945 that did not involve the CSV. It was also the first time the Greens were involved in government. The three parties had a majority of 32 seats out of 60 in the

. Due to the colours associated with the 3 parties (red, blue and green) the arrangement was known as a "

Gambia coalition In German politics, a traffic light coalition () is a coalition government of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and Alliance 90/The Greens. It is named after the parties' traditional colours, respectively red, y ...

" among some commentators, as it reflected that country's flag.

Overview

In general, the government had two main priorities, curbing the budget deficit, and in the area of social policy. In terms of the former, the government raised the basic rate of VAT from 15 to 17 percent from 1 January 2015.

Same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same legal Legal sex and gender, sex. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 38 countries, with a total population of 1.5 ...

was made legal from 1 January 2015. On 11 September 2014 the Deputy Prime Minister

announced plans to introduce a

church tax A church tax is a tax collected by the state from members of some Christian denominations to provide financial support of churches, such as the salaries of its clergy and to pay the operating cost of the church. It is related to the concept of t ...

, payable only by members of religious congregations; the churches would then have to pay their clergy's salaries themselves. This would have replaced the system of the clergy being paid by the state. From November 2014, the government had to deal with the

LuxLeaks Luxembourg Leaks (sometimes shortened to Lux Leaks or LuxLeaks) is the name of a financial scandal revealed in November 2014 by a journalistic investigation conducted by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists. It is based on ...

scandal. On 7 June 2015, the government held a

constitutional referendum A referendum, plebiscite, or ballot measure is a direct vote by the electorate (rather than their representatives) on a proposal, law, or political issue. A referendum may be either binding (resulting in the adoption of a new policy) or advis ...

, asking, amongst other things, whether residents of Luxembourg without Luxembourgish nationality should be allowed to vote in national elections. While all 3 parties in the government coalition campaigned for a "Yes" vote, the result was an overwhelming "No".

Composition

Secretaries of State: On 16 December 2015, Maggy Nagel resigned as Minister for Housing and Minister for Culture. Xavier Bettel announced that he would take over as Minister for Culture, while Marc Hansen, hitherto a Secretary of State, would be made Minister for Housing.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bettel-Schneider ministry I Government of Luxembourg Ministries of Luxembourg Cabinets established in 2013 Cabinets disestablished in 2018