INTRODUCTION

This national report regarding the situation in Luxembourg relies mainly on the data collected during the national workshops at the MPI Luxembourg, the interviews and the analysis of the case law. A summary is made hereafter of the results of the empirical study conducted in Luxembourg, identifying the main problems litigants face under the current legal and institutional framework.

The most obvious point regarding Luxembourgish case law is the very high number of ESCP cases, especially when taking into account that Luxembourg is a small country. In general, high numbers of application of the EEO, EOP and ESCP Regulations can be observed, but a particularly high amount of ESCP cases can be pointed out. This high frequency of applications might probably be indicated as ‘atypical’’, compared to other countries. Luxembourg is thus an interesting testing ground or ‘laboratory’’. It is also interesting for an analysis of the use of the frequently applied ESCP procedure in relation to the EOP procedure, which is also used frequently.

The exact numbers that were found in the database ‘Regain’ of the Cité Judiciaire Luxembourg, are the following: 144 EEO cases, 147 EOP cases, 527 ESCP cases, and no EAPO cases. It is of particular note that, on the one hand, Regain does not cover all cases since the creation of the Regulations and that, on the other hand – also from the moment cases started to be uploaded to Regain – it is not absolutely complete. In reality, the numbers of cases are, thus, even higher than the number of cases collected by the MPI Luxembourg.

The high number of applications of the Regulations in Luxembourg was also confirmed during the workshops, particularly by the Luxembourgish judges present. As stated by a Luxembourgish judge, ‘the instruments are really needed in Luxembourg, maybe due to the cosmopolitan nature of the population and, above all, due to the high number of commuters residing in France, Germany and Belgium, but working in Luxembourg.’

PERVASIVE PROBLEMS

AWARENESS OF REGULATIONS

Awareness in General

Luxembourg poses an exception to the IC2BE results that show a general lack of awareness of the Regulations: the high number of applications in Luxembourg seem to imply that professionals are aware of the Regulations and familiar with them.