More transparency and participation

Transparency is the basic condition of a participatory democracy. An open debate can only take place if processes, documents, numbers, and interests are accessible for everybody. I am committed to making our democratic processes more transparent and to making unnecessary and opaque procedures public.

Transparency of administration and politics

Transparency is a fundamental prerequisite for participatory democracy. Active participation is only possible if, before decisions are taken, the content and process of the political decision are public.

The "principle of secrecy" of state action must be replaced by the "principle of publicity".

Non-public meetings of parliamentary committees, for example, are unworthy of a democracy. Closed-door agreements must be a thing of the past.

We, the pirates, demand

• Live-streaming of parliamentary committee meetings,
• mandatory live streaming of local council meetings,
• an effective law on access to information for journalists and representatives of civil society.

Government and politics must recognise their role as service providers to citizens and guarantee efficient, comfortable and inexpensive access to information.

In this sense, the Pirate Party defends the principle of public action by the State and total transparency of elected representatives vis-à-vis voters.

Citizens' council & citizen budget for more participation

Bringing politics closer to citizens and letting people participate in politics - without the need to belong to a political party or be a professional politician. That is the goal of the citizens' council.

This council is supposed to bring together common citizens who are not currently active in politics and who reflect our diverse society to independently discuss issues that are close to their hearts. The Parliament then must discuss and vote on these proposals.

› We Pirates demand such a citizens' council at a national level.

To implement political measures, however, you also need money. We Pirates believe that citizens should also have a say in how tax money is spent, invested, or distributed. This is exactly what a participatory budget is all about.

› We Pirates suggest a.o. the creation of a "citizen budget" for which the citizens themselves can formulate proposals and projects and decide which projects are retained and financed.

Since our creation as a political party, our members and supporters have been able to make their voices heard. On https://www.fro.lu, anyone can ask their parliamentary questions to the government and help us better control the government. On https://piraten.lu/stemmlu, every member can pass on their key messages about the current discussion topics in the Luxembourgish Parliament. More citizen participation in politics is possible, and we want to continue to promote this idea!

A transparency law with teeth

The current law on a transparent administration is deceptive. Whether Google data center, pedestrian safety in Luxembourg-city or the control of political decisions, we need a real, effective transparency law.

We Pirates demand:

• A new transparency law based on Hamburg's example;
• A reduction in exceptions for withholding documents;
• Automatic release of most documents;
• A first instance without attorney's fees to enforce these rights;
• Reimbursement of procedural fees if one wins in court;
• An extension of these rules to all types of information.

We continue to demand a law to increase transparency in politics. This law should lead to transparency in the areas of finances, liabilities, gifts and conflicts of interest.

The transparency register of the Chamber and the government must be standardized and contain penalties for companies that do not register correctly. The transparency register of meetings held by MPs and government representatives must also be completed with a

Limit double mandates

Today, it is possible to be both mayor of a large municipality and at the same time accept a mandate as a member of parliament.

We have to ask ourselves whether, as a mayor or alderman of a large municipality with many residents, a huge administration with hundreds of employees and many different projects, you can still perform your regular salaried job, or the work as a Member of Parliament with dedication at full time.

Therefore, the Pirates want:

• A re-evaluation of the political leave, with the aim that the political leave reflects the actual working time of the political work;
• Fully professionalize the mandate of the deputy, mayor and aldermen of large municipalities. All these mandates should be increased to 40 hours of political leave and be compensated according to their performance and responsibility.

It must therefore be evaluated which mandates, especially in larger municipalities, are nowadays compatible with the new challenges at the local level and whether the accumulation of mandates is in the interest of the citizens.

Further information can be found at https://piraten.lu.