High Council for Sustainable Development (CSDD)

Conseil Supérieur pour un Développement Durable (CSDD)

High Council for Sustainable Development (CSDD)
18, Montée de la Pétrusse
L-2918 Luxembourg
LUXEMBOURG
Tel. +352 478 6823
Fax: +352 478 6835

Current and Future Activities

Establishment and Mission

Council Members and Staff Members

Working Style

List of Selected Publications

Current and Future Activities

Present and Future Priority Fields

Energy policy: increased use of biomass. Advice requested by the Minister for Environment expected to be delivered by the end of January 2008;
Sustainability of public finance (to be delivered to the Parliament by the end of 2008);
Comments on the sustainability of Luxembourg’s current development model against the background of the economic, social and ecological challenges (ongoing work).

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Background and Mission

Establishment

The Law of 25 June 2004 on the coordination of the National Sustainable Development Policy established the High Council for Sustainable Development (CSDD) as an advisory body for reflection and discussion on matters regarding sustainable development. The Regulation of 14 July 2005 defines its composition, organisation and functioning. The composition was decided by the Government Council of 13 September 2006 and the CSDD held its first meeting on 7 November 2006. There has been no restructuring ever since.

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Mission

Missions of the Council are (as defined in article 4 of the law of June 25th 2004):

Discussion forum on sustainable development matters;
Proposing research and studies on any topic related to sustainable development;
Establishing relationships with comparable committees in the Member States of the European Union;
Promoting the largest possible participation of public and private bodies and the participation of citizens;
Expressing views on any adopted or planned measures regarding sustainable development by the Government, and especially on the National Plan for Sustainable Development and on the implementation of Luxembourg’s international commitments.

The Council carries out the above-mentioned missions on its own initiative or following a request of the Government.

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Council Members

The CSDD is composed of 15 members chosen according to their knowledge, their competence and their commitment in the society (art. 1 of the regulation of July 14th 2005). The council members act as individuals and not as representatives of an organization or association. No members have a political mandate.

The Government of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg has opted for a Council with a limited number of members. There was no intention to duplicate an existing “Luxembourg model” (such as the Economic and Social Council) when setting up the Council. Special attention was actually paid to create a Council that would not only concentrate on topics traditionally discussed in existing Luxembourg’s assemblies, but that would rather have an alternative approach and give new inputs or insights. The President and the Vice-Presidents are appointed by the Grand-Duke, the other members by the Government.

The Council Members have been appointed by a Regulation of 25 July 2005 for a four-year mandate which is renewable once.

The current composition is:

Chair:
Prof. Raymond Weber	Professor at the Collège d'Europe in Bruges, active in the fields of culture and development as well as cooperation.
Vice-chairs:
Joelle Welfring	Biochemist, director of the Resource Center for Environmental Technologies.
René Winkin	Secretary general of the Luxembourg Federation of Industrial Enterprises (FEDIL). Secretary General the Groupement pétrolier luxembourgeois, association defending the interests of its members involved in industry and oil trade. Vice-President National Council of Energy. substitute member of the Economic and Social Council.
Members:
Tom Conzemius	Veterinary surgeon, ornithologist. President of Lëtzebuerger Natur- a Vulleschutzligaan (LNVL), (An NGO active in natural environment and bird protection).
Emile Eicher	President of the Parc naturel de l’Our, member of the Syndicat des Villes et Communes Luxembourgeoises (SYVICOL), a trade union of Luxembourg towns and communes.
André Hoffmann	Secondary school teacher, former Member of Parliament.
Marco Hoffmann	Assistant of social hygiene, coordinator CARITAS Confereration
Gary Kneip	Engineer in computer science, entrepreneur. Vice-President of Luxembourg's Confederation of Commerce, member of the Economic and Social Council. President of the UEL (Union des Entreprises Luxembourgeoises) working group on sustainable development.
Mike Mathias	Social economist, secretary to the Circle of Cooperation, a network of NGOs active in development cooperation
Paul Reckinger	Company Director, President of Luxembourg’s Chamber of Trades President of the European Association of small Crafts and Medium-Sized Enterprises
Fernand Speltz	Consultant Luxembourg's Chambre de salariés.
Jean Stoll	Agricultural engineer, director of research, development and demonstration at CONVIS
Blanche Weber	President of the Mouvement Ecologique, NGO defending the principles of ecology and the democracy
Laura Zuccoli	Coordination of the activities of the Association de Soutien aux Travaillers Immigrés (ASTI), an assistance NGO for immigrant workers

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Staff Members

The Secretariat is provided by the Ministry of Environment and it is composed of four civil servants on a part-time basis.

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Work Style

Tasks of the Council

See Mission.

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Substructure and Working Groups

The CSDD has decided to organize the work in temporal subgroups. The subgroups should only be in place for the time of the preparation of the advice. At present there are two active Working Groups:

Sustainability of public finance;
Biomass.

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Council Meetings

There is no requirement on the number of times that the CSDD has to meet.

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Type of Advice

The Council carries out the missions on its own initiative or following a request of the Government. The Council has to prepare an annual report on its activities. The law of 25 June 2004 provides that the CSDD delivers its opinion on the preliminary draft of the National Plan for Sustainable Development.

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List of Selected Publications

You can search for the full list of policy advice in our Search Engine which also includes the titles in English of publications available in original language only.

A sustainable policy for Luxemburg and Europe: Five propositions for the parties (February 2009);
The present crises - an opportunity for Sustainable Development (January 2009);
Advice on sustainable development of the State finances (September 2008);
Recommendations regarding the use of biomass (February 2008).

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