Legislative and policy framework

Paragraph 2 of Article 11 of the Constitution of Luxembourg guarantees that ‘Women and men are equal in rights and duties. The State seeks the active promotion of elimination of impediments which may exist in matters of equality between women and men.’

In fostering gender equality and gender mainstreaming, Luxembourg has closely followed UN and EU instruments, policies and legislation. The transposition of EU directives has been the primary instrument used to introduce gender equality into Luxembourg’s domestic legislation.

In addition to Luxembourg’s constitutional commitment to gender equality, sectoral laws on specific topics have been developed, although there is no overarching national law specifically on gender equality.

In 2023, the government’s mandate strategy was approved by the two political parties of the coalition (Coalition agreement for 2023–2028). It contains a chapter on equality between women and men that gives direction to the ministry, covering issues such as domestic violence, the fight against discrimination, combating gender stereotypes, equality in the labour market and equality at the local level.

The strategy is implemented through the national action plan on gender equality (NAP) (Plan d’action national pour une égalité entre les femmes et les hommes), overseen by the Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity (formerly the Ministry of Equality between Women and Men) through the Interministerial Committee for Gender Equality, which is composed of representatives from each ministerial department.

In 2020, the third NAP was launched, with 7 priorities, 48 engagements and 99 concrete actions. The plan does not have a fixed duration; instead, it is evaluated every three years[1] and regularly adapted to consider developments at various levels and adapt in line with political priorities. The evaluation reports, as well as any adaptations and modifications, are submitted to the Government Council, debated in the Chamber of Deputies and made available to relevant actors and citizens. In 2023, the new Minister for Gender Equality and Diversity announced that the NP was to be revised during 2024.[2]

Priorities of the NAP

  1. Encouraging and supporting civic and political engagement.
  2. Combating stereotypes and sexism.
  3. Promoting equality in education.
  4. Advancing equality in the workplace.
  5. Promoting equality at the local level.
  6. Fighting domestic violence.
  7. Encouraging the development of a more equal society.

The NAP aims to implement gender mainstreaming in all policy measures and strategies. The plan transposes the principles of the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.[3] In this regard, gender equality and gender mainstreaming as developed in the 2020 NAP are integrated throughout the third national plan for sustainable development, in all 10 action fields.[4]

Structures

Governmental gender equality body

In Luxembourg, gender equality and gender mainstreaming are supported by a solid institutional structure, with the responsibility falling under the Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity (Ministère de l’égalité des genres et de la diversité), as established by the grand-ducal decree of 28 May 2019.[5] As of 2024, the ministry had 19 employees who spend the majority of personnel time working on issues related to gender equality.

Functions of the Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity[6]

  • Formulating and implementing policies aiming to promote gender equality and diversity in various sectors, including education, employment and public life. The ministry integrates gender dimensions into political action in partnerships with relevant ministry departments.
  • Coordinating national and international policies in favour of equality between women and men and non-discrimination between the sexes, to combat all forms of gender-based violence and in favour of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ) people.
  • Drafting and enforcing laws that protect against gender discrimination and promote equal opportunities, including the Diversity Charter.
  • Conducting awareness campaigns and training to inform the public about gender equality issues and the importance of diversity.
  • Coordinating and monitoring the Interministerial Committee for Gender Equality, in which every ministry is represented.
  • Managing services working in the interest of equality between women and men and services working in the interest of the LGBTIQ community.
  • Researching and collecting data to monitor progress on gender equality and inform policy decisions.
  • Collaborating with other governmental bodies, non-governmental organisations and international organisations to promote gender equality and diversity.

The Interministerial Committee for Gender Equality, coordinated by the Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity, is the coordination body for monitoring and implementing gender mainstreaming actions in all ministries.[7] Its legal mandate is set out in the coordinated text of 6 March 2006 of the modified grand-ducal regulation of 31 March 1996. The committee is a space for ministry representatives to exchange and discuss examples of good practices for gender mainstreaming initiatives. The grand-ducal regulation of 15 December 2016[8] strengthened the interministerial committee by affirming its key role as an intermediary between the Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity and the other ministries and adding provisions to its internal committee for cooperation among professionals in the field of violence prevention.

Additionally, under the grand-ducal regulation of 5 March 2024, equality delegates (délégués à l’égalité) were appointed in administrations and ministries; their mission is to improve equality between women and men civil servants. They are appointed by the relevant minister for a five-year term. Their tasks include raising awareness of gender equality issues among staff and putting forward proposals to improve equal treatment and prevent sexual harassment.

Apart from the interministerial committee, departments or ministries do not consult the Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity about new bills. Instead, ministries must fill in an impact note that assesses a proposed bill based on various criteria, among which is equality between women and men.

In 2024, the expenditure of the Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity amounted to EUR 27 538 473, of which 7.9 % involved non-administrative costs related to gender equality.

Independent gender equality body

The Centre for Equal Treatment (Le Centre pour l’Égalité de traitement (CET)) is Luxembourg’s independent gender equality body. It was created by the law of 28 November 2006.[9]

CET has a remit beyond gender equality, combining this with other equality-related functions. CET’s work covers six grounds of discrimination: ethnic background, sex, religion, age, disability and sexual orientation.

Functions of CET

  • Publishing reports, issuing opinions and recommendations and carrying out studies touching on all matters relating to discrimination. The centre uses specific tools such as the ‘discrimination barometer’, a study conducted every four years to assess people’s perceptions of discrimination and their knowledge of CET’s actions.
  • Coordinating and implementing both gender mainstreaming processes (including gender budgeting) and gender-related anti-discrimination policies.
  • Monitoring overall progress towards achieving gender equality.
  • Providing a consultative opinion on draft legislation when requested by ministries, the Chamber of Deputies or individuals.

CET does not represent victims of discrimination, but can provide legal support concerning discrimination on the ground of sex or gender. This support includes an advisory and orientation service to inform people of their rights, the legislation, the case-law and the means to ensure their rights are upheld.

CET has fewer than five employees. As CET covers six discrimination grounds, no employee specifically tackles gender equality. Two employees oversee the reception and selection of individual complaints. The head of the centre verifies the selected complaints and submits them to a panel. The panel is composed of five members, who are not technically employed by CET, but were selected through an application process and elected by members of parliament. Members of the panel are not paid for this work.

In 2022, CET’s budget was EUR 718 490. However, no details are available on the non-administrative costs related to gender equality.

Parliamentary body

Luxembourg has a parliamentary commission on gender equality, the Commission for Family, Solidarity, Living Together, Reception, Gender Equality and Diversity (Commission de la Famille, des Solidarités, du Vivre ensemble, de l’Accueil, de l’Égalité des genres et de la Diversité).[10]

The committee is regularly presented with the work of the Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity, including the NAP, before the work is discussed in the plenary.

In addition, the ministry issues an annual report on its activities that is sent to parliament. Furthermore, there are annual discussions with parliament regarding the ministry’s budget, which is allocated through the law on governmental budget.

Consultation with civil society

The Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity frequently seeks collaboration with and the participation of civil-society organisations. For example, civil-society organisations were consulted ahead of the drafting process for the 2020 NAP. They are systematically invited to contribute to initiatives and draft legislation.

Through the Women’s Labour Committee, a government advisory body created by the grand-ducal regulation of 27 November 1984, representatives of civil-society organisations, along with labour union representatives and government officials, can propose concrete measures to improve the situation of women in the workforce. The committee studies all matters related to the activity, training and professional advancement of women, either on its own initiative or at the request of the government. non-governmental organisations can also be consulted as partners on projects.

In 2023, the Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity distributed subsidies to civil-society organisations for various types of activities.

Methods and tools

Note: the methods and tools listed in this section were the focus of EIGE’s 2024 assessment. If certain methods and tools are not mentioned in this section, this does not necessarily mean that they are not used by Luxembourg.

Gender impact assessment

There is no legal obligation to carry out gender impact assessments when drafting laws or policies; however, ministries are strongly encouraged to do so.

Gender budgeting

The government is not legally obliged to undertake gender-sensitive budgeting for ministerial budgets or the budget of governmental institutions and it does not use this as a tool to mainstream gender considerations.

Training and awareness raising

The Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity engages in training sessions on gender equality for employees of the governmental gender equality body, employees of other ministries, equality delegates and employees at the highest political level on an ad hoc basis. While the 2020 NAP established raising awareness through training as a pillar of the ministry’s gender mainstreaming policy, this training is not mandatory.

The Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity also organises information or training sessions on specific topics regarding gender equality on request. For instance, companies, youth groups and anti-violence professionals have been involved in discussions on gender equality issues through various workshops.

Initiatives on gender-sensitive language have recently been launched. Guidelines will be published and the ministry will offer to adopt those guidelines on a voluntary basis; there will not be any legal obligation to adopt them.

Gender statistics

The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (Statec) collects and publishes some data disaggregated by sex, although there is no legal obligation to do so and there is no specific department, team or experts responsible for sex-disaggregated data. Most sex-disaggregated data is published as part of the general data on the labour market and population. Moreover, because of the Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity’s work on raising awareness and encouraging institutions to use data disaggregated by sex, the use of this tool is becoming common practice among national institutions.

Despite the lack of overarching legislation, there are certain laws on specific issues that require data disaggregated by sex to be collected by institutions other than Statec. For example, the police are obliged to collect data disaggregated by sex in the context of violence against women.

The publication of data includes an annual report by the Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity, specifically the committee for cooperation between professionals in the field of violence prevention,[11] which includes sex-disaggregated data.

More recently, the Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity has set up the Gender Equality Observatory (L’Obstervatoire de l’égalité),[12] which consists of a database and a web page. Statistics are regularly updated on both forums. Dissemination to the public is thus done through the web page. The observatory collects and reports on data on gender equality in seven sectors aligned with EIGE’s Gender Equality Index. As such, it will cover the topics of intimate partner violence, employment, decision-making, education, financial resources, health and work–life balance.

The Ministry for Gender Equality and Diversity is currently working on legislation that will set the legal basis for the Gender Equality Observatory to collect sex-disaggregated data.

Monitoring progress

Luxembourg’s institutional mechanisms for gender equality and gender mainstreaming stand below the EU average and show some decline compared with 2021.

Explore Luxembourg’s scores on the four key indicators on institutional mechanisms for the promotion of gender equality and gender mainstreaming developed to monitor progress on Area H of the Beijing Platform for Action.

Luxembourg: Institutional mechanisms for gender equality and gender mainstreaming

References