European Public School Report 2023: Preliminary results on student population, educational trajectories, mathematics achievement, and stakeholder perceptions

Report (2023)

• Luxembourg is a highly diverse country in terms of the socioeconomic, sociocultural, and linguistic composition of its population. This diversity is reflected in the national education system with an ... [more ▼]

• Luxembourg is a highly diverse country in terms of the socioeconomic, sociocultural, and linguistic composition of its population. This diversity is reflected in the national education system with an increasing share of students speaking a language other than Luxembourgish and/or German at home. In order to deal more adequately with the increasing language diversity of the student population and to counter educational inequalities that presumably result (at least in part) from a curriculum that places high language expectations on a growing number of students, the Luxembourgish government has broadened the educational offer by introducing European public schools (EPS). These schools follow the European curriculum and allow students to select one main language of instruction among the offered language sections (i.e., German, French, and English). • By combining data from different sources (e.g., administrative student data, expert interviews with stakeholders, achievement scores in mathematics from the Luxembourg School Monitoring Programme “Épreuves Standardisées” - ÉpStan), the present report offers preliminary results on EPS in Luxembourg. They consist of (1) the societal demand for EPS; (2) the composition of the student population in EPS; (3) the perception of EPS by school management teams and parents, and tangible education outcomes in the form of (4) educational trajectories; and (5) academic achievement in mathematics among EPS students compared to their peers in schools following the Luxembourgish curriculum. Described below are the key preliminary findings for each of these aspects: (1) Since 2016, a total of six EPS have opened in different locations across Luxembourg and the amount of students attending EPS has increased considerably at both primary and secondary school level. With the number of applicants surpassing the number of places currently available in EPS, it can be concluded that there appears to be high demand for EPS. (2) With students having a low socioeconomic status (SES) and/or students speaking Portuguese at home taking up the offer of EPS less frequently than high SES students and/or students speaking French or English at home, the student population in EPS differs from the student population in schools following the Luxembourgish curriculum (e.g., nationality, language primarily spoken at home, SES). (3) School management teams and parents report a rather positive perception of EPS, with the extended linguistic offer (i.e., possibility to select a language section) being the main reason why parents select EPS for their child. (4) Looking at the educational trajectories of EPS students, preliminary results offer a tentative indication of EPS students showing less school delay than their peers in school following the Luxembourgish curriculum and high continuity in their educational trajectories (i.e., the vast majority of students remains in EPS instead of changing curriculum). (5) With regard to achievement in mathematics at primary school level, the present report indicates that students in EPS perform better than their peers in schools following the Luxembourgish curriculum. At secondary school level, EPS students perform better than their peers in Enseignement secondaire général - voie d'orientation (ESG) and in Enseignement secondaire général - voie de préparation (ESG-VP), while staying below the performance of Enseignement secondaire classique (ESC) students. Although low SES students or Portuguese speaking students in EPS show better achievement scores than their respective peers in schools following the Luxembourgish curriculum it is not yet possible to draw strong conclusions based on these preliminary findings as these student groups currently take up the EPS offer less frequently than their peers considered as advantaged in the context of schooling. Their number is currently too small to allow more robust and in-depth statistical analyses. • The present report’s findings, especially regarding the tangible educational student outcomes, however, must be considered as tentative due to important methodological limitations. Indeed, the small numbers of students in EPS, particularly so for student groups with specific background characteristics (e.g., low SES students, Portuguese speaking students), do not allow separate analyses based on language section, for example. Thus any identified pattern could be sensitive to the inclusion or exclusion of outliers (e.g., students with particularly high or low ÉpStan scores). In addition, the comprehensive EPS school system at secondary school level (i.e., common track) is compared to the ability-based tracked school system of schools following the Luxembourgish curriculum, which limits the interpretability of secondary school data. Regarding the academic achievement tasks in mathematics, it should be noted that they were developed using education standards of the Luxembourgish curriculum. It is thus possible that achievement was underestimated for EPS students (e.g., assessment of mathematical concepts that have not yet been introduced in EPS). To this date, the ÉpStan administered in EPS only assessed academic achievement in mathematics for which a bigger overlap between curricula is assumed than for language subjects (e.g., German, French). Current psychometric shortcomings (e.g., different timepoints of language introduction within the language section in EPS, task development, comparability of tasks) do not yet allow to assess academic achievement in language subjects. • Considering that the ÉpStan do not currently include a measure that operationalises the learning environment, the present report is unable to draw any conclusions regarding which EPS aspect contributes decisively in explaining the observed differences in educational outcomes. Nevertheless, three potential explanations are presented for further exploration: better linguistic fit in EPS (i.e., students learning to read and write in their native or a related language), structural differences between school offers (e.g., primary and secondary education within one institution, the institutionalized quality assurance and flexibility in teacher recruitment in EPS), and the differences in the composition of the student population (i.e., lower uptake rate of the EPS offer by low SES students and Portuguese speaking students). • The finding that low SES students and Portuguese speaking students take up the EPS offer less frequently than their high SES peers and French or English speaking students, and that the EPS student population differs from the student population in schools following the Luxembourgish curriculum, could potentially result out of three main hurdles: namely (1) the application of selection criteria considering that the demand for EPS is surpassing the number of available places (i.e., the linguistic and/or academic profile of applying students is taken into consideration); (2) lacking system knowledge regarding the characteristics of Luxembourg’s education system among all actors involved in education (which makes it difficult to take informed decisions on a student’s education); and (3) potential organizational challenges that hamper the uptake of the EPS offer (e.g., geographical location of the EPS). • In light of the tentative result that students in EPS show better educational outcomes than many of their peers in schools following the Luxembourgish curriculum, two main implications for educational policy can be deduced. First, the student composition of EPS could be diversified in a targeted manner. This could be achieved, for example, by a) encouraging EPS to target student groups considered as disadvantaged in the context of schooling (e.g., low SES students) more effectively, and by b) fostering an encompassing system knowledge (e.g., characteristics, similarities and differences of the two school offers) among all actors involved in education (e.g., teachers, parents, educational advisors, school psychologists) to allow parents to take an informed decision on their child’s education. A second implication would be to introduce certain characteristics of EPS in schools following the Luxembourgish curriculum (e.g., extending the linguistic offer as in the French literacy acquisition pilot project currently implemented in four C2.1 classes). • By progressively integrating EPS into the well-established Luxembourg School Monitoring Programme, the ÉpStan will allow for a more in-depth analysis of potential educational outcome differences between EPS and schools following the Luxembourgish in the future. With the aim of providing reliable data for evidence-based policy making in the field of education, the results from the ÉpStan could in turn be used for the creation of school offers in which all students can make use of their full academic potential irrespective of their individual background characteristics (e.g., SES, language background). [less ▲]

Standing for Ukraine. Support for the Ukrainian research community

Report (2023)

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 triggered a worldwide wave of support and solidarity, also with C²DH, where our staff agreed that the centre should be strongly committed to supporting ... [more ▼]

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022 triggered a worldwide wave of support and solidarity, also with C²DH, where our staff agreed that the centre should be strongly committed to supporting Ukrainian researchers. Over time, three intertwined focus areas of activities emerged: efforts to foster cooperation between the Ukrainian research community and the C²DH, efforts to offer future-oriented training for Ukrainian researchers and students, and efforts to document the war, preserve Ukrainian cultural heritage and create opportunities for future research activities. [less ▲]

Early childhood education and care in Luxembourg. Attendance and associations with early learning performance.

Report (2023)

Luxembourg’s student population is highly diverse in terms of language and family background and shows disparities in learning performances as early as first grade (Cycle 2.1). Achievement gaps might be ... [more ▼]

Luxembourg’s student population is highly diverse in terms of language and family background and shows disparities in learning performances as early as first grade (Cycle 2.1). Achievement gaps might be increased by the high language demands in the traditional Luxembourgish school system. Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) including for instance crèche, précoce and Cycle 1, is one of the possible mechanisms to reduce these gaps that is currently discussed by researchers, policy makers, and the broad public. A lot of international literature points towards a positive association of ECEC and child development. However, findings vary widely with characteristics of ECEC, as well as characteristics of children and their families. For this report, we used data from the Luxembourg School Monitoring Programme “ÉpStan” from 2015 to 2021 including students’ learning performances in three domains in Cycle 2.1 – Luxembourgish listening comprehension, early literacy, mathematics – as well as student and parent questionnaire data. Additionally, data from ÉpStan 2022 on German and Luxembourgish listening comprehension and students’ language exposure at home are presented. Who attends which type of ECEC in Luxembourg? We find that the attendance in ECEC is generally high. On average, crèches were attended at a moderate level of intensity and duration. Family background (socioeconomic status, migration background and home language group) interacts in a complex way with attendance in ECEC. For example, children from families with a high socioeconomic status speaking Portuguese or French at home, attended crèche for more hours a week than children from families with a high socioeconomic status speaking Luxembourgish at home. In regard to language exposure in ECEC, Luxembourgish appears to play a dominant role for most children. How are ECEC attendance and family background associated with learning performance in Cycle 2.1? Most importantly, non-formal (crèche) and formal types of ECEC (précoce, Cycle 1) have positive but small to moderate associations with learning performance in the three learning domains. Looking at crèche attendance in more detail, effects of crèche intensities are different for Portuguese speaking and Luxembourgish speaking children – i.e., only Portuguese speaking children benefit from higher intensity attendance in crèche. As can be expected, all children benefit most in their Luxembourgish listening comprehension if they attended a crèche in which Luxembourgish was spoken. Well-known performance disparities in the three learning domains between children of different backgrounds have been confirmed – with advantages for native, Luxembourgish speaking children from higher socioeconomic backgrounds. Is the pattern of differences between children of different home language groups the same in Luxembourgish and German listening comprehension? Children’s performances in German listening comprehension show even larger disparities between home language groups than those in Luxembourgish listening comprehension. This argues against the assumption of a transfer from Luxembourgish to German language skills for all children. Conclusively, this report points towards ECEC as a key adjustable parameter to improve learning development and concludes with the call to collect data on ECEC quality. Structural (e.g., child-caregiver-ratio) and procedural (e.g., characteristics of interaction) aspects of quality should be regulated and systematically evaluated to ensure positive child development and equal opportunities for every child. With more monitoring data on diverse quality aspects and language practices in ECEC, important insights on the effects of new reforms in the educational system could be gained. Additionally, the present results reveal a significant negative relationship between children’s learning performance and a previous allongement de cycle in Cycle 1, calling for a thorough revision of this frequently used procedure. Finally, the continuity between languages in ECEC and the successive schooling is important. This alignment is currently not ensured due to more flexible language policies in ECEC and more rigid language practices in formal schooling. For example, the plurilingual education in ECEC promoting Luxembourgish and French, could build a solid basis for a French literacy acquisition, yet explicit promotion of the current instruction language of reading and writing acquisition, German, in Cycle 2 is still missing. A crucial demand therefore arises to revise the language demands in the curricula and policies – to continuously support ECEC’s plurilingual education in formal schooling (e.g., European and international schools or French literacy acquisition) and to explicitly promote German in ECEC to build a solid basis for literacy acquisition in German. [less ▲]

A Precise Gravity Tide Model for Port-au-Prince in Haiti

Report (2023)

Inside out: A relational perspective on Luxembourg

Report (2023)

The paper adds to the synthesis of the 2922 INURA-Annual Meeting held in Luxembourg and includes a reflection on the practice of comparative analysis and exchange of experience in urban policy and ... [more ▼]

The paper adds to the synthesis of the 2922 INURA-Annual Meeting held in Luxembourg and includes a reflection on the practice of comparative analysis and exchange of experience in urban policy and planning. The informed statements made by INURA-members on related issues in Luxembourg are considered rather different (and very much to the point), compared to the often less informed praise by visitors from outside. This peculiar outcome of 'relationality' from outside may hinder a more effective policy response to be developed within the country. [less ▲]

Rapport de Synthèse sur les restrictions et obstacles injustifiés au droit à la libre circulation ou sur la discrimination fondée sur la nationalité à l’encontre des travailleur·ses issu·es de l’Union Européenne et des membres de leur famille

Report (2023)

Autonomous Trustworthy Monitoring and Diagnosis of CubeSat Health (AtMonSat)

Report (2022)

This document is the final report concluding the execution of the AtMonSat project co-funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) under the Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP) and the University of ... [more ▼]

This document is the final report concluding the execution of the AtMonSat project co-funded by the European Space Agency (ESA) under the Open Space Innovation Platform (OSIP) and the University of Luxembourg. AtMonSat concerns on-board fault detection using artificial neural networks for CubeSat systems and related spacecraft where computing resources are limited. In particular, the concrete problem scenario of malfunctioning of CubeSat board elements is considered. The AtMonSat final report provides the problem statement, discusses the performed experiments designed to generate proper sets of data, and presents the details of the proposed solution. The report shows the devised framework to be both effective and suitable for implementation on a CubeSat. [less ▲]

Migration Internationale au Luxembourg: Système d'observation permanente des migrations OCDE

Report (2022)

Le Luxembourg reste un pays attractif à l’immigration. Entre 2021 et 2022, la population luxembourgeoise a continué d’augmenter, passant de 634.730 à 645.397 habitants (+1,7%), ce qui représente une ... [more ▼]

Le Luxembourg reste un pays attractif à l’immigration. Entre 2021 et 2022, la population luxembourgeoise a continué d’augmenter, passant de 634.730 à 645.397 habitants (+1,7%), ce qui représente une hausse supérieure à l'année précédente mais toujours plus faible qu’avant la pandémie. Cette augmentation est principalement due à l'immigration nette (+9.376). La part luxembourgeoise représente 52,9% de la population et les ressortissants étrangers 47,1%. L’année 2021 a vu une augmentation importante de 27,6% du nombre de titres de séjour délivrés par rapport à l’année précédente, et même de 6,9% par rapport à 2019. Le titre de séjour le plus fréquemment délivré reste celui de « membre de famille ». Le nombre total de visas accordés dépasse de 13,1% celui de 2020, mais reste inférieur de 45,2% à celui de l’année de 2019. La politique en matière d’immigration et d’asile en 2021 et au premier semestre 2022 a été particulièrement impactée par les répercussions chroniques de la pandémie COVID-19, mais aussi par les contrecoups de la guerre en Ukraine. L'évolution dynamique de la pandémie COVID-19 a nécessité de multiples adaptations des mesures sanitaires. Le gouvernement luxembourgeois a notamment modifié à plusieurs reprises la liste des pays tiers sûrs dont les ressortissants sont autorisés à entrer au Luxembourg ainsi que la liste des pays dont le Luxembourg accepte les certificats de vaccination. Par ailleurs, la loi du 30 juillet 2021 modifiant la loi sur la nationalité a étendu le délai pour un candidat au recouvrement de la nationalité luxembourgeoise pour souscrire la déclaration de recouvrement auprès de l'officier d'état civil jusqu’au 31 décembre 2022. Suite à l'afflux massif de personnes déplacées en provenance d’Ukraine, provoqué par l'invasion de l'Ukraine par la Russie le 24 février 2022, la directive sur la protection temporaire a été déclenchée pour la première fois. Fin juin 2022, 4.175 personnes au total ont obtenu le statut de la protection temporaire au Luxembourg. Considérant l’accès au marché du travail des bénéficiaires de protection temporaire, le Conseil de gouvernement a précisé que les personnes jouiront d’un accès direct, sans test du marché. Par ailleurs, la politique en matière d’immigration a été impactée par les conséquences de la prise de pouvoir par les Taliban en août 2021. Jusqu’à la fin de l'année 2021, le Luxembourg a évacué au total 45 ressortissants afghans en étroite collaboration avec les pays de Benelux. De plus, un engagement de 90 admissions humanitaires a été pris dans le cadre de l'exercice d'engagement étendu pour les ressortissants afghans pour les années 2021 et 2022. Dans ce contexte, le Luxembourg a temporairement suspendu certaines décisions concernant les demandes de protection internationale de ressortissants afghans au niveau ministériel et devant les juridictions administratives. Outre les développements susmentionnés, certaines évolutions législatives sont également à considérer entre janvier 2021 et juin 2022. Au regard de la Loi sur l’immigration, la loi du 16 juin 2021 modifie certaines dispositions relatives aux stagiaires, à la prise en charge d’un ressortissant de pays tiers, au regroupement familial, aux travailleurs transférés intragroupe, ainsi que certaines simplifications pour la délivrance de certains documents de séjour. En outre, le projet de loi n°7954 propose de structurer de manière claire et cohérente les différentes catégories de mesures d’éloignement. D’ailleurs, le projet propose des précisions au niveau de l’autorisation de séjour pour raisons privées. Concernant la protection internationale, la loi du 16 juin 2021 modifie la loi sur l’asile en modifiant la procédure de recours contre une décision de transfert Dublin en introduisant des voies de recours extraordinaires contre une décision de clôture définitive et contre une décision de retrait. De même, il s’agit d’élargir le champ du personnel policier autorisé à procéder aux vérifications dans le contexte d’une demande de protection internationale. Par ailleurs, le projet de loi n°8014 portant modification de la loi sur l’asile vise à matérialiser des modifications quant à la sauvegarde des droits des demandeurs de protection internationale. À partir du 1er janvier 2021, l'ONA a transformé son système d’accueil, comprenant initialement trois phases, à un système à deux phases et introduit une nouvelle terminologie pour les types de structures d’hébergement. Pour faciliter la participation des ressortissants étrangers aux élections communales, la loi du 22 juillet 2022 portant modification de la loi électorale abolit la clause de résidence de cinq ans pour les ressortissants étrangers désireux de s'inscrire sur les listes électorales pour les élections communales et prolonge le délai pour s'inscrire sur lesdites listes. Début 2021, le nouveau « Pakt vum Zesummeliewen » a remplacé le « Plan communal intégration » afin de stimuler un processus d'intégration plus dynamique et pluriannuel au niveau communal. Dans le contexte de la révision de la loi sur l'intégration actuellement en cours, de multiples consultations d’acteurs sociétaux ont été réalisées. D’ailleurs, le Département de l’intégration, en collaboration avec des experts de l'OCDE, ont présenté une étude de l'OCDE sur le fonctionnement du système d’intégration au Luxembourg. [less ▲]

Annual Report on Migration and Asylum 2021 – Luxembourg

Report (2022)

The Annual Report on Migration and Asylum presents the statistical trends and developments in migration, asylum and integration, changes in legislation or policies, and it traces significant national ... [more ▼]

The Annual Report on Migration and Asylum presents the statistical trends and developments in migration, asylum and integration, changes in legislation or policies, and it traces significant national debates, which occurred in Luxembourg during the year 2021. Several of the most notable changes and debates in Luxembourg during the year of 2021 were of legislative nature: The Law of 16 June 2021 amending the Immigration Law entered into force on 5 July 2021. This law changes the legislation on immigration, by lightening the administrative burden for third-country nationals, and by altering certain provisions relating to intra-corporate transferees, trainees and family reunification. The Law of 16 June 2021 amending the Asylum Law entered into force on 5 July 2021. This law modifies the remedies available to applicants for international protection (AIPs). It increases their effectiveness and guarantees maximum legal certainty in the context of transfers under the Dublin Regulation, as well as in the case of final decisions to close proceedings on an application for international protection and of decisions to withdraw international protection. Bill 7844 was introduced to Parliament on 15 June 2021 to amend the amended Law of 8 March 2017 on Luxembourgish Nationality (hereinafter Nationality Law) and entered into force on 22 August as the Law of 30 July 2021. According to the Nationality Law, a candidate (a direct line descendant of a Luxembourg ancestor) for the recovery of Luxembourgish nationality must start to (re)claim her/his Luxembourg nationality before the registrar before 31 December 2022. In 2021, three noteworthy bills were introduced to parliament with their legislative procedure still ongoing at the time of writing.On 2 September 2021, the government introduced to Parliament Bill 7877, intending to amend the amended Electoral Law of 18 February 2003, hereinafter the Electoral Law. This bill intends to support political participation of the steadily growing number of non-Luxembourgish residents and it foresees the abolishment of the 5-year residency clause on active and passive voting rights for EU- and non-EU citizens residing in Luxembourg. Further, the date of closure for the registration on the electoral list before the elections for non-Luxembourg citizens to register on the municipal electoral rolls would be reduced from 87 days to 55 days. On 26 November 2021, the Government Council approved a bill proposing to amend the Immigration Law. This bill aims to ensure a more effective management of the removal of third-country nationals illegally residing on the territory by structuring the different categories of removal measures (mesures d’éloignement) in a clear and coherent way. On 19 January 2022 this bill was introduced to Parliament as Bill 7954. Bill 7881 on the exchange of information relating to nationals of countries outside the European Union as well as the European Criminal Records Information System (ECRIS) was introduced to Parliament on 10 September 2021. This system will make it possible to search for entries in the criminal records of third-country nationals against which court decisions have been issued by the criminal courts of other EU Member States. Several developments occurred with respect to integration in 2021. As already noted in the 2020 Annual Report on Migration and Asylum of the EMN Luxembourg, the Government plans to reform the amended Law of 16 December 2008 on the reception and integration of foreigners. Initial accompanying consultations have already been solicited in 2020 and this process continued in 2021. Multiple consultations with stakeholders from civil society, social partners and the municipalities took place and, in this context, the OECD-study “Towards a successful integration process: The functioning of the integration system and its actors in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg” was published on 25 November 2021. At the beginning of 2021, the Pact of Living Together (Pakt vum Zesummeliewen – PvZ) replaced the Communal Integration Plan (PCI) to create a more dynamic and multi-year integration process for a stronger inclusion of Luxembourg’s municipalities. Continuing education for Luxembourg residents has been made more accessible and additional courses, which are tailored to AIPs and beneficiaries of international protection (BIPs), have been included into the training portfolio of the Adult Education Service (SFA). Luxembourg has initiated the planning process of extending its current public health care system. It is foreseen to offer vulnerable population groups, who have not been covered to date, low-threshold easy access to health care. Further, Luxembourg has been reacting on the changing situation in Afghanistan since the takeover of power by the Taliban in August 2021. Luxembourg has halted decisions on applications for international protection by Afghans until sufficient reliable information will be available. Between the takeover of power through the Taliban in August until the end of 2021, 71 Afghan nationals have been granted international protection. This includes 45 Afghan nationals evacuated from Afghanistan. Luxembourg has further committed to resettle additional people. While the year 2021 continued to be marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, several important developments, such as the availability of vaccines and rapid tests, did redirect pandemic activity on to different paths than in 2020. The focus lay on testing as well as on getting everyone in Luxembourg, including AIPs and persons in a situation of irregular stay, vaccinated. Yet, Luxembourg’s only external border, that is Luxembourg’s international airport, remained closed for third-country nationals. Luxembourg’s entry regulations, which were adjusted multiple times and in a dynamic fashion in line with the evolution of the pandemic, however, created several exemptions that allowed for the entry of certain third-country nationals. As of 22 December 2021, this border closure was extended from 31 December 2021 to 31 March 2022 by means of Grand Ducal Regulation. For more information, please consult the attached report. [less ▲]

Projet « Plus-value de l’apprentissage » - Rapport synthétique

Report (2022)

Higher Education Expansion and Labour Income Inequality in High-income Countries: A Gender-specific Perspective

Report (2022)

The expansion of higher education since the second half of the 20th century was particularly pronounced among women. In most high-income countries to date more women complete a tertiary level than men ... [more ▼]

The expansion of higher education since the second half of the 20th century was particularly pronounced among women. In most high-income countries to date more women complete a tertiary level than men. But research on the implications of higher education expansion for labour income inequality has largely treated expansion as gender neutral. With this paper we build on prior studies that have ignored potentially differential effects by factoring in what it means for earnings inequality to increase tertiary education among women as compared to men. To this end we draw on harmonised data from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS) for 27 countries and two time points, 1995 and 2015, and use the method of Recentered Influence Function (RIF) regression. We obtain three main insights from our study. First, no average distributive effect of higher education expansion exists. Second, the distributive effect is gender-specific. The impact on the Gini coefficient of increasing tertiary attainment of men is positive and significant but the impact of increasing tertiary attainment of women is negative and significant. Third, the increasing share of tertiary educational attainment is the main factor explaining that distributive estimates shrink towards zero over time for both women and men. Only for men does larger inequality between and within educational groups significantly contribute to magnify the impact of educational expansion on earnings distributions across countries. Our analysis highlights that taking the gender dimension into account is crucial to obtain exhaustive understanding of the role of education for overall income inequality. [less ▲]

Annual Report on Migration and Asylum Part 1 2021 Luxembourg

Report (2022)

KEY POINTS 1. The Law of 16 June 2021 amending the Immigration Law changes the legislation on immigration, by lightening the administrative burden for third-country nationals, and by altering certain ... [more ▼]

KEY POINTS 1. The Law of 16 June 2021 amending the Immigration Law changes the legislation on immigration, by lightening the administrative burden for third-country nationals, and by altering certain provisions relating to intercorporate transferees, trainees and family reunification. 2. The Law of 16 June 2021 amending the Asylum Law modifies the remedies available to applicants of international protection (AIPs). This law increases their effectiveness and guarantees maximum legal certainty in the context of transfers under the Dublin Regulation, as well as in the case of final decisions to close proceedings on an application for international protection and of decisions to withdraw international protection. 3. Bill 7877, introduced to Parliament on 2 September 2021, proposes abolishing the 5-year residency clause on active and passive voting rights in municipal elections for EU- and non-EU citizens residing in Luxembourg [less ▲]

Report on C²DH Activities in Support of the Ukrainian Research Community

Report (2022)

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th 2022 has triggered a worldwide wave of support and expressions of solidarity, also among C²DH staff. This report gives an overview of their past activities ... [more ▼]

The Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th 2022 has triggered a worldwide wave of support and expressions of solidarity, also among C²DH staff. This report gives an overview of their past activities together with a preliminary review and recommendations for the year 2023. This does not cover private support activities undertaken by C²DH members. This report consists of three parts: First, a brief summary of the response of Luxembourgish research institutions, published already in June 2022. Second, a chronology of activities by C²DH staff since March 2022. Third, an overview of past and planned activities by C²DH. These activities we group in a) Collaboration and Training in support of Ukrainian researchers and b) Documentation and Preservation with a focus on cultural heritage and future research activities. At the time of writing, most do not expect the war to end any time soon. This makes it necessary to revisit past support activities regarding their success and effectiveness, to adjust measures according to the changed situation and to identify new opportunities for support also in light of their impact on the centre and its ongoing activities in research and teaching. Overall, the centre will continue and expand its support activities in light of the orientation towards the development of the future Ukrainian research landscape. [less ▲]

Migrantenorganisationen und soziale Sicherung

Report (2022)

Integration of migrant women in Luxembourg: policies and measures

Report (2021)

This study provides an overview of the current policies and measures in Luxembourg regarding the integration of third-country national migrant women. Luxembourg follows a mainstream approach regarding ... [more ▼]

This study provides an overview of the current policies and measures in Luxembourg regarding the integration of third-country national migrant women. Luxembourg follows a mainstream approach regarding integration. According to the Law of 16 December 2008 on the integration of foreigners in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, integration is a two-way process that includes both the foreigner and the Luxembourgish society, thereby aiming at all non-Luxembourgish nationals (EU citizens and third-country nationals alike), independent of their gender. However, both national and EU funds may finance measures to support the integration of third-country national migrant women. The number of third-country national women in Luxembourg has increased steadily over the last years, representing 8,1% of the total female population in 2020. Most first residence titles issued to third-country national women were based on family reasons. Depending on the reasons for immigration, the most common countries of origin were India, the U.S.A., and China (to pursue remunerated activities), as well as Syria, Eritrea, the Philippines (for ‘other’ reasons, which includes, among others, beneficiaries of international protection), and Brazil (for family reasons). While third-country national women in Luxembourg comprise a diverse population, occupying jobs in both high-skilled and low-skilled employment sectors, they experience several challenges. Despite higher levels of education, they are more exposed to overcrowded housing, lower household income, lower activity rates, and higher unemployment rates than Luxembourgish women. Moreover, third-country national women are less often enrolled on electoral lists for municipal elections than female EU foreigners. Finally, the issue of discrimination towards (female) residents of African descent in Luxembourg has generated debates in recent years. The study also presents three projects specifically addressing third-country national women, which have been identified as examples of good practices in the context of integration of migrant women, namely ‘Le Temps des Femmes’ by Caritas, ‘Concept d’Intégration, d’Accompagnement et d’Orientation (CIAO!)' by Femmes en Détresse, and ‘Intégration par le Sport’ by the municipality of Esch-sur-Alzette. [less ▲]

Chicken and Egg: Reporting from a Datathon Exploring Datasets of the COVID-19 Special Collections

Report (2021)

This report is the first in a short series of WARCnet papers which aim to provide feedback on an internal datathon conducted by Working Group 2 of the WARCnet project. It explores the creation of ... [more ▼]

This report is the first in a short series of WARCnet papers which aim to provide feedback on an internal datathon conducted by Working Group 2 of the WARCnet project. It explores the creation of transnational merged datasets and corpora, based on seed lists, derived data and metadata provided by several web archiving institutions. The report highlights our first explorations of specially curated COVID web archives, in order to prepare an in-depth exploration of the issues, challenges, limitations and opportunities afforded by these heterogeneous datasets. [less ▲]

Security in an evolving European HPC Ecosystem

Report (2021)

The goal of this technical report is to analyse challenges and requirements related to security in the context of an evolving European HPC ecosystem, to provide selected strategies on how to address them ... [more ▼]

The goal of this technical report is to analyse challenges and requirements related to security in the context of an evolving European HPC ecosystem, to provide selected strategies on how to address them, and to come up with a set of forward-looking recommendations. A key assumption made in this technical report is that we are in a transition period from a setup, where HPC resources are operated in a rather independent manner, to centres providing a variety of e-infrastructure services, which are not exclusively based on HPC resources and are increasingly part of federated infrastructures. [less ▲]

Tabellenband - Jugendbericht 2020

Report (2021)

Luxembourg 2050 - Prospects for a Regenerative City Landscape : Report Phase 2

Report (2021)

The impact of COVID-19 in the migration area (EMN OECD UMBRELLA INFORM)

Report (2021)

The COVID-19 pandemic has created profound changes in all areas of migration and asylum. EU Member States and OECD countries have made many efforts to keep the pandemic under control, entailing impacts ... [more ▼]

The COVID-19 pandemic has created profound changes in all areas of migration and asylum. EU Member States and OECD countries have made many efforts to keep the pandemic under control, entailing impacts such as border closures, travel restrictions, and the need to introduce sanitary measures. Beginning with the pandemic’s impact on permits and entry conditions, the Inform reports on contingency measures to keep systems operational and to mitigate the impacts on migrants and citizens to the extent possible. For instance, the reduction of in-person immigration related services was largely replaced by electronic or postal communication to ensure continuity in processes. In EU Member States and Norway, the automatic extension of residence permits or the removal of the obligation to leave in some cases, were some of the measures taken to reduce the impact of COVID-19. Most EU Member States provided financial support for migrant workers affected by the pandemic, either due to unemployment or loss of income, and made COVID-19 related healthcare services available to all migrants. Although restrictions were imposed on the admission of migrants, continued admission was granted for jobs deemed essential to meet labour market needs, notably in areas of health, agriculture, and transport. New digital tools have been critical in providing asylum and migration services, although the Inform notes that it has also raised new challenges. In the area of asylum, for instance, providing effective and fair application and appeals processes has become more complicated by having remote interviews, and depends largely on the applicants’ ability to use and access electronic means. Both the requests for asylum and the number of returns carried out have reduced in 2020 as a result of the pandemic. The landscape also changed for international students, where in-person attendance was discouraged if not suspended altogether. Many students returned home, and in some cases, were able to continue their studies remotely, while processes to renew residence permits were moved online. The joint research shows that public authorities have acted swiftly to introduce new measures or adapt their systems to confront the migration challenges caused by the pandemic, or in some cases, to simply continue to use pre-existing on-line systems. While the long-term impacts are hard to predict, the last chapter of the inform looks towards future migration policies and how these might be shaped in the context of the digitalisation of migration management, the need for bio-secure borders, and the expansion of teleworking digital nomads. The European Asylum Support Office (EASO) and the European Border and Coast Guard Agency (FRONTEX) provided inputs to the publication. [less ▲]

Uni.lu HPC Annual Report 2020

Report (2021)

2020 was a challenging year for everyone that will stay in our memory. The pandemic disrupted our economies, societies, and all our best laid-out plans. However, COVID-19 also taught us several lessons ... [more ▼]

2020 was a challenging year for everyone that will stay in our memory. The pandemic disrupted our economies, societies, and all our best laid-out plans. However, COVID-19 also taught us several lessons for the future, in particular the (real) necessity to adapt, to be nimble and to expect the unexpected while supporting cutting-edge excellence in science with the best performing and most flexible tools to unleash research potential. One thing is certain - the strategic developments for accelerated digitalisation and the role that HPC will play to ensure a smarter and more connected University will be in focus in 2021 and the years to come. 2020 was thus a very fruitful and productive year for the ULHPC team which has seen unprecedented changes and challenges. [less ▲]

Smart Retail Banking: Potentiale und Herausforderungen Künstlicher Intelligenz

Report (2021)

Designing a language policy for the International Standing Conference for the History of Education : issues, models and blueprint for action

Report (2021)

RAPPORT ANNUEL SUR LES MIGRATIONS ET L'ASILE Luxembourg 2020

Report (2021)

This report traces the main developments and debates related to migration and asylum in Luxembourg in 2020. Apart from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on migration movements and policy, three key ... [more ▼]

This report traces the main developments and debates related to migration and asylum in Luxembourg in 2020. Apart from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on migration movements and policy, three key changes have taken place in 2020: 1) The creation of the National Office for Reception (ONA) and the Department of Integration, which replace the Luxembourg Office for Reception and Integration (OLAI). 2) Bill n°7682 has been tabled in the Chamber of Deputies. It aims to strengthen the security of identity cards issued to European Union (EU) citizens and family members exercising their right to free movement, to simplify administrative procedures, and to amend certain provisions concerning family reunification, intra-corporate transfers (ICT) and trainees. 3) Bill No. 7681 aims to amend the procedure for appealing against a Dublin transfer decision in order to increase its effectiveness while ensuring maximum legal certainty for the applicant for international protection. It also proposes to amend the Asylum Act by introducing "extraordinary" remedies against a final decision to close a procedure and against a decision to withdraw international protection. [less ▲]

ANNUAL REPORT ON MIGRATION AND ASYLUM Luxembourg 2020

Report (2021)

The Annual Report on Migration and Asylum provides an overview of the main developments and debates in Luxembourg in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic strongly impacted migratory movements to and from ... [more ▼]

The Annual Report on Migration and Asylum provides an overview of the main developments and debates in Luxembourg in 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic strongly impacted migratory movements to and from Luxembourg. In 2020, there was a significant decrease in the number of residence permits, applications for temporary authorisation of stay and visas (short stay visas and D-visas), a reduction of around 50% on the number of applications for international protection and a decline in Dublin transfers and returns. Public health measures in response to the pandemic significantly impacted migration policies. For instance, Luxembourg temporarily closed its borders to third-country nationals and automatically regularized the stay of third-country nationals whose legal residence status ended during the state of crisis. Moreover, personal interviews with applicants of international protection (AIPs) and Dublin transfers were suspended. Lastly, irregular migrants were granted access to healthcare, free of charge, regardless of their social security coverage without being issued a return order or being placed in detention during the pandemic. Outside of the COVID-19 context, the following developments can be highlighted: The introduction of Bill n°7682 foresees the extension of the time limit from three to six months available to beneficiaries of international protection (BIPs) to apply for family reunification after the granting of their status, as well as the simplification of administrative procedures, concerning the elimination of the requirement to provide integral copies of travel documents for family members of the third-country national applying for family reunification. At the procedural level, Bill n°7682 aims to amend the appeal procedure against a Dublin transfer decision to increase their effectiveness while guaranteeing maximum legal security for the applicant for international protection. It proposes to amend the Asylum Law by introducing “extraordinary” remedies against a final decision to close proceedings and against a decision to withdraw international protection. The Grand Ducal Regulation of 4 November 2020 entered into force, establishing the Commission on the evaluation of the best interest of unaccompanied minors in return decisions. However, this commission continues to generate debates and criticism, especially from fundamental rights organisations, regarding its composition. In view of the high occupancy rate in the ONA’s accommodation structures, efforts to promote the construction of new accommodation structures continued in 2020. A new emergency reception facility was set up for newcomers. Strengthening the fight against trafficking in human beings was another priority of the Luxembourgish government. As a result, the composition of the Monitoring Committee on the Fight Against the Trafficking in Human Beings was implemented by Grand Ducal Regulation. Other strategic developments were implemented, such as the elaboration of a second National Action Plan on Human Trafficking and an enhanced collaboration at the Benelux and EU level. In terms of integration, several major developments should be noted: The creation of a communication service within the Department of Integration The first interministerial committee on integration open to civil society took place on 16 December 2020 The launch of a large consultation including all key actors on the future of integration policies The selection of several municipalities to take part in a pilot phase regarding a new approach to the Communal Plan on Integration (PCI) A discussion in Parliament on the issue of racism and discrimination, which resulted in the adoption of two motions and a resolution. One of the motions provided for a study on racism and ethno-racial discrimination and the resolution aims to strengthen the resources of the Centre for Equal Treatment (CET). The Minister of Education, Children and Youth is planning to set up a service specifically responsible for the integration and reception of children of foreign origin and to review the procedures for taking care of newly arrived pupils [less ▲]

Edge Computing: An Overview of Framework and Applications

Report (2020)

This report gives an overview of the Edge Computing paradigm and its applications. Indeed, with the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) era, many electronic devices and sensors produce a vast volume of ... [more ▼]

This report gives an overview of the Edge Computing paradigm and its applications. Indeed, with the advent of the Internet of Things (IoT) era, many electronic devices and sensors produce a vast volume of data which should be processed in a timely manner and this novel computing model is nowadays seen as a pertinent answer to this open challenge. This report thus explains why Edge Computing is needed and how the edge architecture is typically structured. It further presents the technologies that help this cutting-edge model to function properly. Since Edge Computing involves a heterogeneous architecture, it requires to adapt to a few technological recommendations for optimal performance. In this context, this report reviews the latest hardware technology trends tied to Edge Computing developments and points out technical challenges implementing this innovative computing model. In particular, we analyse how High-Performance Computing and CloudComputing infrastructures can be efficiently organised to design an Edge Computing-based framework able to tackle cutting-edge issues solved by Artificial Intelligence techniques. Finally, this report presents selected real-world applications of the Edge Computing paradigm across multiple domains affecting our daily life, i.e., healthcare, smart city and grids, industry 4.0 and public safety [less ▲]

Responses to long-term irregularly staying migrants: practices and challenges in EU Member States and Norway

Report (2020)

This study analyses the legal and factual situation in which long-term irregular staying migrants are in Luxembourg.

PRACE Best Practice Guide 2020: Modern Processors

Report (2020)

This Best Practice Guide (BPG) extends the previously developed series of BPGs by providing an update on new technologies and systems for the further support of European High Performance Computing (HPC ... [more ▼]

This Best Practice Guide (BPG) extends the previously developed series of BPGs by providing an update on new technologies and systems for the further support of European High Performance Computing (HPC) user community in achieving a remarkable performance of their large-scale applications. It covers existing systems and aims to provide support for scientists to port, build and run their applications on these systems. While some benchmarking is part of this guide, the results provided are mainly an illustration of the different systems characteristics, and should not be used as guides for the comparison of systems presented nor should be used for system procurement considerations. Procurement and benchmarking are well covered by other PRACE work packages and are out of this BPG's discussion scope. This BPG document has grown to be a hybrid of field guide and a textbook approach. The system and processor coverage provide some relevant technical information for the users who need a deeper knowledge of the system in order to fully utilise the hardware. While the field guide approach provides hints and starting points for porting and building scientific software. For this, a range of compilers, libraries, debuggers, performance analysis tools, etc. are covered. While recommendation for compilers, libraries and flags are covered we acknowledge that there is no magic bullet as all codes are different. Unfortunately there is often no way around the trial and error approach. Some in-depth documentation of the covered processors is provided. This includes some background on the inner workings of the processors considered; the number of threads each core can handle; how these threads are implemented and how these threads (instruction streams) are scheduled onto different execution units within the core. In addition, this guide describes how the vector units with different lengths (256, 512 or in the case of SVE - variable and generally unknown until execution time) are implemented. As most of HPC work up to now has been done in 64 bit floating point the emphasis is on this data type, specially for vectors. In addition to the processor executing units, memory in its many levels of hierarchy is important. The different implementations of Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) are also covered in this BPG. The guide gives a description of the hardware for a selection of relevant processors currently deployed in some PRACE HPC systems. It includes ARM64(Huawei/HiSilicon and Marvell) and x86-64 (AMD and Intel). It provides information on the programming models and development environment as well as information about porting programs. Furthermore it provides sections about strategies on how to analyze and improve the performance of applications. While this guide does not provide an update on all recent processors, some of the previous BPG releases do cover other processor architectures not discussed in this guide (e.g. Power architecture) and should be considered as a staring point for work. This guide aims also to increase the user awareness on energy and power consumption of individual applications by providing some analysis on usefulness of maximum CPU frequency scaling based on the type of application considered (e.g. CPU-bound, memory-bound, etc.). [less ▲]

Le statut de résident de longue durée dans l'UE

Report (2020)

Les ressortissants de pays tiers migrent vers l’Union européenne pour différentes raisons : raisons économiques, raisons familiales, pour suivre des études ou pour obtenir une protection internationale ... [more ▼]

Les ressortissants de pays tiers migrent vers l’Union européenne pour différentes raisons : raisons économiques, raisons familiales, pour suivre des études ou pour obtenir une protection internationale. Certaines de ces personnes restent sur le territoire des États membres de nombreuses années, et tissent des liens avec l’État membre concerné. C’est pourquoi l’intégration des ressortissants de pays tiers résidents de longue durée dans les États membres est considérée comme un élément clé pour promouvoir la cohésion économique et sociale au sein de l’Union européenne. L’un des premiers textes législatifs adoptés par l’UE en matière d’immigration vers l’Union européenne a été la directive 2003/109/CE du Conseil du 25 novembre 2003 relative au statut des ressortissants de pays tiers résidents de longue durée (ci-après la « directive »). Bien que la directive soit entrée en vigueur le 23 janvier 2006, sa mise en œuvre par les États membres n’a pas été uniforme. C’est la raison pour laquelle l’EMN Luxembourg a décidé, à la demande des autorités luxembourgeoises, de lancer une étude sur ce sujet par l’intermédiaire du Réseau européen des migrations. Comme il était nécessaire de procéder à une évaluation adéquate de la mise en œuvre de la directive, le comité directeur du REM a mandaté, le 21 octobre 2019, l’EMN Luxembourg de recueillir des informations via le mécanisme des questions ad-hoc du REM afin d’établir l’état des lieux de la mise en œuvre de la directive. Les informations nécessaires à l’élaboration de la présente note de synthèse ont été recueillies par le biais de quatre questions ad-hoc du REM portant sur des aspects spécifiques du statut de résident de longue durée (ci-après le « statut RLD ») dans l’UE. [less ▲]

Attracting and Protecting Seasonal Workers from third countries in the EU

Report (2020)

For almost 150 years, Luxembourg depends on two kinds of migration, qualified and non-qualified, in order to deal with the workforce needs of its economy. Compared to other EU Member States, Luxembourg is ... [more ▼]

For almost 150 years, Luxembourg depends on two kinds of migration, qualified and non-qualified, in order to deal with the workforce needs of its economy. Compared to other EU Member States, Luxembourg is a country with the largest proportion of foreigners; however, this foreign population is mainly composed of EU citizens. In Luxembourg, 296.500 residents (47,4%) of a total population of 626.100 are foreigners. 247.900 are EU citizens representing 39.6% of the total population of the country and 83,6% of the foreign population of the country. The 48.600 third-country nationals represent only 7,8% of the total population and 16.4% of the foreign population. Due to its size and geographic location, Luxembourg has an access to a very particular form of economic migration: cross-border workers. Globalisation has also played a decisive role in the development of economic migration for the Luxembourgish labour market. The financial center was obliged to become highly specialised in order to remain competitive in regards to other financial centers and to maintain its volume of business. In order to maintain its competitive advantage, Luxembourg needs highly skilled personnel, which, up until now, the country has found within the Greater Region. With regards to the labour market: the number of salaried workers on 31 December 2019 shows that Luxembourgish residents represented only 26,5%, EU citizens (other than Luxembourgish) 23,4% and third-country national residents only 4,2%. Cross-border workers from Belgium, France and Germany represented 46% of the workforce. The Luxembourgish labour market is not a national labour market but rather a labour market of the Greater Region with a trend to become an international labour market. This situation can be explained in the context of the free movement of services and the posted workers coming from other Member States to Luxembourg. The need of workforce must be placed in this particular context, taking into account the “internal reserves”, the free movement of persons from which EU citizens, who reside in the country, benefit and the large majority of cross-border workers. To this framework one must add a range of measures that were introduced by the Luxembourgish authorities in order to regulate the labour market. Some of these measures did not have labour market needs as their only objective, but were also foreseen to manage integration processes. The attitude of the successive governments was to adapt immigration to the economic needs of the country. The government policy intends to implement an economic diversification policy, focused on attracting high added value activities such as ICT, health technologies, space, logistics, industry and FinTech. In consequence and taking into consideration the specificities of Luxembourg’s labour market, third-country national seasonal workers are not a priority of the Luxembourgish government. [less ▲]

Zwischen pädagogischen Angeboten, Betreuungsinteressen und Bildungsauftrag: Das Wohlbefinden der Kinder in der Maison Relais Strassen

Report (2020)

Statelessness in the EU

Report (2020)

Statelessness is a global phenomenon which is also present in the European Union. At the end of 2018, UNHCR estimated the total number of stateless persons in the European Union plus Norway at 399 283 ... [more ▼]

Statelessness is a global phenomenon which is also present in the European Union. At the end of 2018, UNHCR estimated the total number of stateless persons in the European Union plus Norway at 399 283 individuals. This includes both stateless individuals and persons of undetermined nationality. UNHCR and UNICEF also estimate that, in 2017, there were 2 100 children registered stateless in Europe, a fourfold increase since 2010. Article 1 of the 1954 Convention Relating to the Status of Stateless Persons defines a stateless person as ‘a person who is not considered as a national by any State under the operation of its law’. Statelessness is a legal anomaly, which can prevent those concerned from accessing fundamental human, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights. As a result, such persons often live in conditions of protracted marginalisation and discrimination, facing numerous difficulties, such as the inability to receive medical assistance, enrol in educational programmes, acquire property, obtain legal employment, marry or open a bank account. Even though statelessness can occur in various contexts, its most common causes include state succession, ill-defined or discriminatory nationality laws, and arbitrary deprivation of nationality. Statelessness can also be a consequence of forced displacement and forced migration and can result when people face difficulties accessing civil registration documents, including birth certificates, necessary to acquire or confirm nationality. [less ▲]

RAPPORT ANNUEL SUR LES MIGRATIONS ET L'ASILE Luxembourg 2019

Report (2020)

Le présent rapport trace les principaux développements et débats relatifs à la migration et à l'asile au Luxembourg en 2019. Le Luxembourg reste un pays d'immigration important, comme en témoignent les ... [more ▼]

Le présent rapport trace les principaux développements et débats relatifs à la migration et à l'asile au Luxembourg en 2019. Le Luxembourg reste un pays d'immigration important, comme en témoignent les chiffres du solde migratoire, qui reste la principale raison de la croissance démographique de la population résidente luxembourgeoise. L'immigration nette de ressortissants de pays tiers reste élevée (7 336) et dépasse celle des citoyens de l'Union européenne (UE; 4 806). Le nombre de personnes demandant une protection internationale est resté élevé en 2019 (2 047 demandes) par rapport aux niveaux enregistrés avant la «crise migratoire» (1 091 en 2014). Le regroupement familial reste la principale raison pour laquelle les ressortissants de pays tiers immigrent au Luxembourg, suivi des raisons économiques et de la protection internationale. Plusieurs développements majeurs se sont produits dans le domaine de la migration légale. L'introduction d'un nouveau visa de longue durée simplifie l'entrée et le séjour des ressortissants de pays tiers pour une période pouvant aller jusqu'à un an, sans avoir à demander un permis de séjour. Afin de garantir les droits des citoyens britanniques travaillant et résidant au Luxembourg avant le retrait du Royaume-Uni (UK) de l'UE (Brexit), quatre lois ont été adoptées, la plupart d'entre elles étant censées entrer en vigueur en cas d’un Brexit sans accord. D'autres changements importants liés à la migration résultent de l'adoption de la loi du 4 décembre 2019 modifiant la loi du 29 août 2009 sur la libre circulation des personnes et l'immigration. Cette loi prend en compte les commentaires de l'expert lors de l'évaluation en 2016 de l'application de Schengen. [less ▲]

Pathways to citizenship for third-country nationals in Luxembourg

Report (2019)

The main objective of this study of the European Migration Network is to provide objective and reliable information about the pathways to citizenship for third-country nationals in Luxembourg, with a ... [more ▼]

The main objective of this study of the European Migration Network is to provide objective and reliable information about the pathways to citizenship for third-country nationals in Luxembourg, with a particular focus on the ordinary naturalisation procedure. The laws and regulations regarding the acquisition of nationality in Luxembourg underwent a complete overhaul in 2017, with the amended Law of 8 March 2017 on Luxembourgish nationality abrogating the Law of 23 October 2008. This new Nationality Law instituted a number of important overarching modifications and additions that are addressed throughout the study. In general, the Luxembourg Nationality Law does not differentiate between applications introduced by EU citizens or third-country nationals. Apart from obtaining Luxembourgish nationality by simple operation of law, i.e. automatically and without any action being taken by the person concerned, the Luxembourgish Nationality Law foresees three modes through which a third-country national can acquire Luxembourgish nationality by procedural means: acquisition of nationality via ordinary naturalisation, via option or via reclamation. A look at the statistics regarding the acquisition of nationality via procedural means, including all the pathways open to third-country nationals, for the period 2014 to 2018 show that the simplified option procedure (regrouping all the 10 specific cases) is the most common pathway through which third-country nationals have acquired Luxembourgish nationality, followed by the reclamation procedure and the ordinary naturalization. In this context, it is important to make a distinction between acquisitions by residents of Luxembourg and by persons that are not residing in Luxembourg. Luxembourg introduced the principle of multiple nationalities through the legislative reform of 2008, which resulted in a significant increase of acquisitions of Luxembourgish nationality, as applicants are no longer required to renounce their other nationality or nationalities. [less ▲]

Rapport annuel sur les migrations et l'asile Luxembourg 2018

Report (2019)

Le présent rapport fait la synthèse des principaux débats et des évolutions majeures concernant les migrations et l’asile au Luxembourg en 2018. L’année 2018 a été marquée par les élections législatives ... [more ▼]

Le présent rapport fait la synthèse des principaux débats et des évolutions majeures concernant les migrations et l’asile au Luxembourg en 2018. L’année 2018 a été marquée par les élections législatives d’octobre 2018 qui ont débouché sur la reconduction de l’ancienne coalition gouvernementale. L’accord de coalition prévoit un certain nombre de mesures relatives aux politiques migratoires. Le Luxembourg reste un pays d’immigration important. Les mouvements migratoires expliquent en grande partie la croissance de la population. Les migrations pour raisons familiales et économiques demeurent à un niveau élevé. Si certaines nationalités stagnent ou reculent tandis que d’autres progressent, cela est avant tout dû à la conjonction de deux phénomènes : d’une part, le ralentissement des flux migratoires et d’autre part, la naturalisation. Le nombre de titres de séjour délivrés pour des raisons économiques a augmenté de plus de 23% par rapport à 2017, confirmant ainsi la nette tendance à la hausse observée depuis ces dernières années. Cette progression est notamment due à l’augmentation de titres de séjour accordés aux catégories « travailleur salarié », « carte bleue européenne » et « travailleur transféré intragroupe » pour experts et cadres. La loi du 1er août 2018 qui transpose la directive n° 2016/801/UE a introduit des modifications significatives dans la politique d’admission des étudiants et des chercheurs internationaux au Luxembourg. Cette loi permet aux étudiants et aux chercheurs de séjourner au Luxembourg pendant neuf mois s’ils ont terminé leurs études de master ou de doctorat et s’ils disposent de ressources suffisantes. Le Gouvernement issu des élections législatives d’octobre 2018 entend organiser l’immigration légale en tenant compte des besoins de l’économie. L’agenda politique de l’année 2018 a également été marqué par le débat autour de la signature du Luxembourg au Pacte mondial pour une migration sûre, ordonnée et régulière (PMM). Ce débat, tant au Luxembourg qu’à l’international, a suscité un certain nombre de réactions de suspicion et de rejet, en particulier dans les milieux nationalistes de certains pays européens. Toutefois, la majorité de la classe politique luxembourgeoise ainsi que le Gouvernement ont défendu le Pacte. Le nombre de personnes demandant une protection internationale est resté élevé en 2018 et demeure relativement stable par rapport aux deux années précédentes. Le taux de reconnaissance des demandes a continué à progresser. De nombreux BPI restent hébergés dans les structures d’accueil prévues pour les DPI en raison de leurs difficultés à trouver un logement sur le marché privé ou un logement social, ce qui augmente la pression exercée sur les structures d’hébergement. Cette question problématique figure parmi les priorités des autorités nationales, comme en témoigne l’accord de coalition. Les conditions d’accueil et d’hébergement ont suscité un certain nombre de débats et de réflexions au sein de la société civile. Elles ont été abordées dans la plupart des programmes des partis politiques dans le cadre des élections législatives de 2018 et occupent une place centrale dans le nouveau plan d’action national pluriannuel d’intégration 2018 (PAN), l’accueil et l’encadrement des DPI constituant l’un des deux grands domaines d’action de ce plan. Une évolution institutionnelle majeure a eu lieu à la suite des élections législatives de 2018 : il s’agit de l’extension des compétences du ministère des Affaires étrangères et européennes qui reprend le volet « Accueil des demandeurs de protection internationale », qui relevait jusque-là du ministère de la Famille et de l’Intégration. Enfin, sur le plan européen, le nouveau gouvernement confirme son engagement en faveur du Régime d’Asile Européen Commun qui tient notamment compte de la solidarité europenne. Les mineurs non accompagnés (MNA) ont été un autre sujet de préoccupation au cours de l’année 2018 comme en témoignent le projet de loi qui vise à instaurer une équipe pluridisciplinaire pour évaluer l’intérêt supérieur de l’enfant dans le contexte d’une procédure de retour, le débat largement médiatisé autour de la pratique des examens pour la détermination de l’âge des MNA DPI, ou encore l’accent particulier que le nouveau gouvernement entend donner au renforcement de la prise en charge de ces personnes. Dans le domaine de l’intégration, il convient de souligner l’établissement d’un plan d’action national pluriannuel d’intégration 2018 (ou PAN Intégration). Ce document est le résultat d’un large processus de consultation mené par les autorités avec les différentes parties prenantes impliquées dans l'accueil et l'intégration des ressortissants non luxembourgeois. Le PAN Intégration fournit un cadre général, stratégique et durable en vue de développer des programmes et outils en faveur de l’intégration de tous les non-Luxembouregois résidant sur le territoire et de la cohésion sociale entre Luxembourgeois et non-Luxembourgeois. La loi du 8 mars 2017 sur la nationalité luxembourgeoise a généré des conséquences sur le nombre d’acquisitions de nationalité et explique la stagnation, voire le léger recul de la population étrangère au Luxembourg (et en particulier de certaines nationalités) ainsi que l’augmentation du corps électoral au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg. Les deux organes consultatifs chargés de la défense des intérets des résidents étrangers au Luxembourg ont commencé à fonctionner avec, au niveau national, le Conseil national pour étrangers (CNE) et, au niveau communal, les Commissions consultatives communales d’Intégration (CCCI), renouvelées à la suite des élections communales de 2017. Le nouveau gouvernement entend valoriser ces deux organes. Il propose d’offrir le Contrat d’accueil et d’intégration (CAI) de façon décentralisée et soutenir les communes au niveau de leur travail d’intégration locale. Le système éducatif reste confronté à des défis majeurs résultant de l’hétérogénéité de la population scolaire. Le deuxième rapport national sur l’éducation a permis de mettre en évidence les inégalités du système éducatif dues aux facteurs sociaux et au contexte migratoire des élèves. Pour faire face à cette situtaion, les autorités ont développé plusieurs mesures telles que l’élargissement de l’offre scolaire internationale et européenne, le développement de classes spécifiques pour jeunes migrants, l’établissement d’un service de médiateur au maintien, à l’inclusion et à l’intégration scolaire ainsi que l’introduction du programme d’éducation plurilingue au niveau des mini-crèches. La question de la langue luxembourgeoise, en tant que facteur d’intégration, a également fait l’objet de débats tout au long de l’année. La loi du 20 juillet 2018 relative à la promotion de la langue luxembourgeoise a introduit un certain nombre de mesures visant à renforcer l’importance de la langue luxembourgeoise, à soutenir son utilisation, son étude et son apprentissage. Plusieurs organes ont été institués afin de mettre en œuvre ce plan d’action de promotion de la langue et de la culture luxembourgeoises. La question linguistique fut également omniprésente lors de la campagne électorale. La plupart des partis politiques ont souligné dans leurs programmes électoraux l’importance de la langue luxembourgeoise comme facteur d’intégration tout en mettant en évidence l’atout du multilinguisme pour le pays. Enfin, quelques évolutions sont à signaler au niveau de la politique de retour, en particulier deux propositions de modification de la loi sur l’immigration : l’une autorisant la police à pénétrer dans des locaux d’habitation afin de procéder plus facilement à l’exécution d’une décision d’éloignement en cas de retour forcé ; l’autre prévoyant un contrôle systématique par les juridictions d’une rétention prolongée au-delà de la durée de 4 mois. Le nouveau gouvernement s’engage à compléter le dispositif actuel de rétention à travers la création d’une structure spécifique de rétention pour femmes, familles et personnes vulnérables. [less ▲]

Migratory pathways for start-ups and innovative entrepreneurs in the EU and Norway (Country report Luxembourg)

Report (2019)

The main objective of this study of the European Migration Network is to provide objective and reliable information about migratory pathways for start-ups and innovative entrepreneurs to Luxembourg ... [more ▼]

The main objective of this study of the European Migration Network is to provide objective and reliable information about migratory pathways for start-ups and innovative entrepreneurs to Luxembourg. Fostering start-ups and innovative enterprises is a national policy priority for Luxembourg as providing support to entrepreneurship and start-ups has been on the Luxembourgish governments’ agenda since 2013. It has been a part of a more general diversification policy of existing economic structures in order to increase economic growth of the country and reduce dependence on the financial sector, which remains the dominant economic pillar. The current Governmental programme 2018–2023 encourages support to start-ups, the acceleration of the development of the start-up ecosystem in Luxembourg as well as the promotion of Luxembourg as a ‘start-up nation’ both at national and international level. What should be pointed out is that this policy is not specifically targeted at third-country start-ups and innovative entrepreneurs, but aims to attract international investment, (innovative) enterprises and researchers in general. Thus, the mainstream immigration policy established by the amended Law of 29 August 2008 on free movement of persons (hereafter referred to as ‘Immigration Law’) for ‘self-employed worker’ or ‘investor’ residence permits is applied. The conditions that need to be fulfilled in order to be issued either a ‘self-employed worker’ or ‘investor’ residence permit as well as the conditions for the renewal of the residence permits are explained in detail in Section 3.3 and in Section 5, respectively. Several of the stakeholders involved in the context of this study reported that the existing regulations are sufficient and there is no need to introduce new ones or ones that would specifically target third-country nationals. Several initiatives have implemented in order to support the development of innovation in Luxembourg. Luxinnovation, the National Agency for the promotion of Research, Development and Innovation, was established already in 1985 and currently is reinforcing Government’s economic development objectives by providing support to companies and researchers in order to foster innovation. One of these initiatives, launched by the Ministry of the Economy in 2015 and implemented by Luxinnovation, is the Fit4Start acceleration programme which is particularly aimed at innovative ICT start-ups and recently also at start-ups from the health technologies. This programme provides coaching, business development support and funding to innovative projects or young innovative start-ups from around the world. Another important policy in the context of this study is the amended Law of 17 May 2017 on the Promotion of Research, Development and Innovation which provides a national funding scheme for Young Innovative Enterprises. Under this scheme, unlisted small enterprises that are registered for a maximum of five years can apply for State aid at the Ministry of the Economy’s Research and Innovation Directorate. Furthermore, Luxinnovation also animates the Luxembourg Cluster Initiative established by the Government in 2002. The objective of this initiative is to encourage communication and exchange of knowledge between cluster members (involving both the public and private sector) as well as to encourage use of new technologies and identification of possible business opportunities. This study further presents a table of rights and incentive measures in place to attract start-up founders and particularly highlights the access to special funding and investments, the co-working spaces as well as the access to incubation/accelerator support programmes, among others. In addition to the elements presented above, this study also elaborates on the following questions: What is the process and what are the requirements for starting up a business in Luxembourg? What are the main sectors and industries in which Luxembourg aims to attract start-ups? What is the role of local and regional authorities in creating and supporting entrepreneurial ecosystems? What role can actors such as local authorities, the private sector or higher education institutions play in attracting start-ups? Are there factors/conditions in place that incentivise start-ups and innovative entrepreneurs to use specific immigration routes? Lastly, with the use of fictional scenarios, four case studies aim to provide an understanding of the possible admission options of different types of start-ups and innovative entrepreneurs. [less ▲]

Absolute gravity measurements in the mass laboratory of ILNAS in Capellen, Luxembourg

Report (2019)

Inclusive education: The effect of teacher characteristics and school support on inclusive practice

Report (2019)

Die Offices Sociaux in Luxemburg aus Sicht der AkteurInnen und Adressatinnen - Abschlussbericht zur Evaluation des luxemburgischen Sozialhilfegesetzes

Report (2019)

Assurance Qualité in der Jugendarbeit: Konzeption, Rahmenbedingungen und erste Praxiserfahrungen - Abschlussbericht der Programmevaluation

Report (2019)

Space Law at Unispace +50: Consequences and Future Perspectives

Report (2019)

Report of IISL Session E7.4 on the occasion of the 69th International Astronautical Congress,

Spillovers to small business credit risk

Report (2019)

Conciliating scientific requirements and relevance to practice: why is it such a dilemma for the development of UX design and evaluation methods?

Report (2018)

Labour Market Integration of Third-Country Nationals in EU Member States

Report (2018)

Luxembourg is characterized by a very specific demographic situation with 47,9% of its resident population being non-Luxembourgish nationals as of 1 January 2018. This particular circumstance makes ... [more ▼]

Luxembourg is characterized by a very specific demographic situation with 47,9% of its resident population being non-Luxembourgish nationals as of 1 January 2018. This particular circumstance makes Luxembourg the EU Member State with the highest share of non-citizens residing on its territory. At the same time, around 85% of the foreign population are citizens of another EU Member State, leading to the fact that third-country nationals constitute only 7,3% of the total resident population of Luxembourg, the lowest share of foreigners coming from a third-country in the European Union. Integration is defined in national legislation as a ‘two-way process by which the foreigners shows their will to participate on a long-term basis to the host society, which, in turn, takes all the necessary measures at the social, economic, political, and cultural levels, to encourage and facilitate this approach. Integration is a task that the State, municipalities and civil society achieve together’. In addition to this legal provision, several strategic documents, most notably the multi-annual national action plan on integration 2018, or PAN integration, published in July 2018, make reference to integration and its definition. The PAN integration provides the framework for the programs and tools favouring the social cohesion of Luxembourgish and non-Luxembourgish nationals and the overall national integration policy by identifying five priority domains, one of which explicitly relates to the reinforcement of employability of non-Luxembourgish nationals. Generally speaking, employment is viewed as a core element of the overall integration process, making both the access to as well as the integration into the Luxembourgish labour market a key element in becoming a part of society. At the same time, this access to and integration into the labour market pose a challenge, particularly to third-country nationals, as the statistics show that their employment rate is lower than that of Luxembourgish nationals or citizens of another EU Member State. Third-country nationals are predominantly occupied in the accommodation and food service activities sector, followed by the administrative and support service activities sector and the wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles sector. A closer look at the evolution of the sectors employing third-country nationals over the last years, however, indicates that in particular the information and communication technologies sector, the professional, scientific and technical activities sector and the financial and insurance activities sector register the most significant growth rates, leading to a development that seem to indicate a ‘double immigration’ of (highly) skilled migrants on the one hand and less or low skilled migrants in the more traditional economic sectors on the other hand. In regard to the general integration approach as well as the labour market integration policy, this study shows that Luxembourg does have not have a specific policy/strategic document/model in place that only focusses on third-country nationals. All political documents (laws and strategic documents such as the PAN 2010-2014 and the new PAN integration of 2018) and public measures (Welcome and Integration Contract (CAI), linguistic leave, support measures provided by the National Employment Agency (ADEM), measures facilitating school integration, electoral registration campaigns, etc.) are aimed at all foreign nationals without distinguishing between EU nationals and third-country nationals. It is the Immigration Law that provides the legal framework regarding the various grounds of migration for economic purposes. Additionally, the legislator aims to be attractive for certain categories of migrants coming to Luxembourg for economic purposes in order to meet the needs of the country’s economic development (via legislative measures such as the European Blue Card, the ‘investor’ residence permit or the agreement between Luxembourg and Cape Verde). This being said, this study will present examples of practices that have been identified as good practices in the context of the topic of labour market integration of third-country nationals, despite the fact that they, for the most part, do not fit 100% into the pre-set structure of the study template at hand. In section 2.2, three Member State measure are presented, the first of which is the linguistic leave, a specific form of additional special leave that is accessible for salaried and independent workers of all nationalities, resident or non-resident, to learn or perfect the command of the Luxembourgish language. This legislative measure was introduced by law in 2009 with the intention to facilitate the integration of the beneficiaries into society through the labour market. The second measure is the AMIF-project ‘InSitu JOBS’ by the non-governmental organisation CLAE asbl (with co-financing from the Luxembourgish State). This project, which ended in April 2018 was targeted at third-country nationals within the scope of this study as well as at beneficiaries of international protection by providing them information and counselling in the context of access and integration into the Luxembourgish labour market. The third measure was also an AMIF-project and consists of a practical guide that was developed and drafted by IMS Luxembourg, a network of Luxembourgish companies, in order to provide information on how to hire and integrate third-country nationals. As for the private sector measures in section 2.3. of this study, research of secondary resources as well as consultations with various relevant stakeholders proved to be rather difficult in terms of finding private sector initiatives that specifically target at supporting or facilitating the labour market integration of third-country nationals within the scope of this study. Two measures were selected in this context, the first consisting of a specific recruitment method (simulation-based recruitment method) by a large international company which allows them to evaluate various different profiles of people that are not necessarily detectable through the classic CV-based recruitment methods. The second measure is a business guide developed by the American Chamber of Commerce Luxembourg and aims to promote and facilitate the establishment of new business in Luxembourg by providing information on everything that entrepreneurs and international companies need to know in this context. [less ▲]

Rapport annuel sur les migrations et l'asile (2017)

Report (2018)

The present report provides an overview of the main developments and debates in relation to migration and asylum in Luxembourg in 2017. The number of people applying for international protection remained ... [more ▼]

The present report provides an overview of the main developments and debates in relation to migration and asylum in Luxembourg in 2017. The number of people applying for international protection remained high in 2017 (2.322 applications) compared to the levels registered pre- ‘migration crisis’ (1.091 in 2014). However, the number of registrations remained relatively stable if compared to the two preceding years (2.447 in 2015 and 2.035 in 2016). This relative stability in numbers also reflected on the general public and policy debate in the field of migration and asylum. Since 2016, its focus has continuously shifted from an ‘emergency’ discourse axed on the implementation of reception measures and conditions towards discussions on longer-term integration measures and policies. In this regard, the newly introduced Guided Integration Trail (parcours d’intégration accompagné - PIA) can be considered a flagship project of OLAI, the national agency responsible for the reception and integration of foreigners. This multidisciplinary package of measures aims to empower applicants and beneficiaries of international protection and to support them in developing their life project. The trail, compulsory for all adult applicants for international protection, consists of a linguistic component and a civic component and is split into three phases. Although increasing housing capacities for the reception of applicants for international protection was high on national authorities’ agenda, housing remained a challenging aspect of the asylum system and triggered debate on a national scale. Alongside access to training, problems related to housing were among the issues most frequently raised by applicants for international protection in 2017. The lack of affordable housing on the private market, an increasing number of family reunifications as well as the increasing number of beneficiaries and persons who have been issued a return decision who remain housed in structures of OLAI were all identified as interplaying barriers for finding available accommodation for applicants for international protection. The difficulties with the construction of modular housing structures also persisted in 2017. A certain reticence of the population towards the construction of these so-called ‘container villages, planned in response to the increasing influx that started in August 2015, was visible in the appeals introduced into Luxembourg’s First Instance Administrative Courts to annul the land-use plans related to the projects. Living conditions in the various reception facilities were also one of the subjects of discussion in 2017. This included a debate on the (lack of) kitchen infrastructure in reception facilities and the varying systems for provision of food, the types of food available, as well as the availability of internet. As an answer to the resurgence of an increased influx of applicants of international protection from the Western Balkans in early 2017, a new ‘ultra-accelerated procedure’ was put in place for applicants of international protection stemming from the Western Balkans. According to the state authorities, the ultra-accelerated procedure was set up to take pressure off the reception facilities, but also as a deterrent to avoid creating false hopes for long-term stay. In April 2017, a ‘semi-open return structure’ (Structure d’hébergement d’urgence au Kirchberg – SHUK) was put in place, from which people are transferred to states applying the Dublin regulation. Due to home custody (assignation à résidence), the SHUK is considered to be an alternative to detention by national authorities. The newly created structure as well as the related conditions for assignment, were nevertheless criticised by civil society. The outcry among civil society was equally high during and after the adoption the Law of 8 March 2017, which endorses the extension of the permitted period of detention of adults or families with children from 72 hours to 7 days, in order to improve the organisation of the return and ensures that it is carried out successfully. A commission in charge of determining the best interests of unaccompanied minors applying for international protection was decided at the end of 2017. The commission is in charge of carrying out individual assessments regarding the best interest of the child with the aim of delivering an authorisation of stay or a return decision. Among the elements taken into consideration when the best interest of the child is evaluated in the context of a potential return decision is information provided by the International Organization for Migration (IOM). The latter made an agreement with the Directorate of Immigration in 2017 to search for the parents of UAMs in the country of origin. With the focus of debates having slowly shifted towards long-term integration issues, the Council of Government also approved the elaboration of a new multiannual national action plan on integration. The plan will be based on two axes: (1) the reception and follow-up of applicants for international protection and (2) the integration of Luxembourg’s non-Luxembourgish residents. Luxembourg’s National Employment Agency (ADEM) set up a “cellule BPI” (beneficiaries of international protection cell) in its Employer Service in early 2017. This cell provides employers with information regarding job applications and evaluations of the competences of beneficiaries of international protection. A new law on the Luxembourgish nationality entered into force on 1 April 2017. Given the particular demographic situation of Luxembourg characterised by a significant increase in the total population and a decrease in the proportion of Luxembourgers in the total population, the reform intends to promote the societal and political integration of non-Luxembourgish citizens and to strengthen cohesion within the national community. The main changes introduced by the law include a decreased length of residence requirement for naturalisation (from 7 to 5 years), the right of birthplace (jus soli) of the first generation, a simplified way of acquiring Luxembourgish nationality by ‘option’, as well as new scenarios to avoid cases of statelessness. The law maintains previous linguistic requirements but makes some adjustments in order to prevent the language condition from becoming an insurmountable obstacle. Ahead of the local elections held on 8 October 2017, the Ministry of Family, Integration and the Greater Region launched a national information and awareness-raising campaign titled “Je peux voter” (I can vote) in January 2017. This campaign aimed to motivate Luxembourg’s foreign population to register on the electoral roll for the local elections. The government’s intention to legislate face concealment was arguably one of the most debated topics in the field related to community life and integration in the broader sense, both in parliament as well as in the media and public sphere. Bill n°7179 aims to modify article 563 of the Penal Code and to create the prohibition of face concealment in certain public spaces. The bill defines face concealment as the action of covering part of or all of the face in a way of rendering the identification of the person impossible and provides a wide variety of examples, such as the wearing of a motor cycle helmet, a balaclava or a full-face veil. Opposing views among stakeholders, whether political parties, public institutions, civil society or the media, emerged with regard to the necessity to legislate in the matter and if so, on the basis of which grounds and to what extent. The phenomenon of migration has also led to a more heterogeneous population in Luxembourg’s schools. To face this situation, the education authorities continued to diversify Luxembourg’s offer in education and training, creating for instance a bigger offer for youngsters and adults who do not master any of Luxembourg’s vehicular languages, offering more alphabetisation courses or basic instruction courses. The Minister for National Education continued to develop and adapt the school offer to the increased heterogeneity by increasing the international and European school offer, introducing of a new mediation service and putting in place a plurilingual education programme. In the area of legal migration, the most significant changes concerned admission policies of specific categories of third-country nationals. In this respect, bill n°7188 mainly aims to transpose Directive (EU) 2016/801 of the European Parliament and the Council of 11 May 2016 on the conditions of entry and residence of third-country nationals for the purposes of research, studies, training, voluntary service, pupil exchange schemes or educational projects and au pairing. The directive aims to make the European Union a world centre of excellence for studies and training, while favouring contacts between people and favouring their mobility, these two being important elements of the European Union’s external policy. Bill N°7188 intends to facilitate and simplify the procedures for intra-European mobility of TCN researchers and students. Moreover, the proposed changes include incentive mechanisms to retain students and researchers. To this end, it proposes that students and researchers, once they have completed their studies/research, can be issued a residence permit for “private reasons” for a duration of 9 months at most in view of finding employment or creating a business. Finally, bill n°7188 also foresees provisions to regulate the family reunification of a researcher staying in Luxembourg in the context of short- and long-term mobility with his/her nuclear family. The legislator furthermore transposed Directive 2014/36 on seasonal workers and Directive 2014/66 on temporary intragroup transfer into national law, and adapted Luxembourg’s immigration law to the needs to the economy, by introducing, amongst other things, and authorisation of stay for investors. Organising the admission of stay and the issuance of authorisations of stay was also a key component within the agreement between Luxembourg and Cape Verde on the concerted management of migratory flows and solidary development. Other objectives of the agreement include the promotion of the movement of people, detailing readmission procedures, fighting against irregular migration, strengthening the legal establishment and integration of the concerned nationals, as well as the mobilisation of skills and resources of migrants in favour of solidary development. [less ▲]

Detecting Document Fraud

Report (2018)

The high numbers and mixed flows of migrants entering the EU during the migration crisis in recent years has meant that the effective identification of third-country nationals has become a concern of ... [more ▼]

The high numbers and mixed flows of migrants entering the EU during the migration crisis in recent years has meant that the effective identification of third-country nationals has become a concern of increasing importance. One of the main issues around the use of documents to establish identity has been the risk of document fraud. This includes the production and use by third-country nationals of false documents, as well as the use of fraudulently obtained genuine documents (‘FOG’s) in procedures relating to entry and stay in Member States. The examination of documents such as passports and other travel documents are only part of identification procedures; however, given that they may contain biometric information such as facial image and iris data, the role they play in identification is significant. Where third-country nationals are unable to fulfil the criteria for legal entry using legitimate documents and channels, or seek to disguise or assume a different identity, document fraud can open alternative channels to entering Member States. In terms of understanding the scale of and trends in document fraud, according to Frontex’s Risk Analysis Report 2018, Member States reported some 6 700 third-country nationals presenting false documents at the EU / Schengen borders in 2017, and identified this as the lowest number of detections since 2013.1 The decreasing trend at the border, however, contrasts with an increase of 9% in detections within the EU/Schengen area, the second highest number of detections since 2013.2 This Inform aims to establish the current state of play in detecting document fraud perpetrated by third-country nationals intending to enter and stay in the EU Member States and Norway, including in the context of asylum procedures. [less ▲]

"Outreach Youth Work-Maisons des Jeunes" - Eine Perspektive für Jugendliche in schwierigen Lebenslagen. Abschlussbericht der externen Evaluation eines Pilotprojektes in Luxemburg.

Report (2018)

(Member) States' Approaches to Unaccompanied Minors Following Status Determination

Report (2018)

The legal framework in Luxembourg does not provide a specific legal status for unaccompanied minors (hereafter UAM), which is why the large majority of them apply for international protection. This allows ... [more ▼]

The legal framework in Luxembourg does not provide a specific legal status for unaccompanied minors (hereafter UAM), which is why the large majority of them apply for international protection. This allows them to stay in the country and to benefit from social and legal assistance, as well as from accommodation. Cases of UAMs presumed or identified victims of human trafficking are rare in Luxembourg. Overall, specific legal frameworks exist according to the status of the UAM: The Law on Asylum, the Law on Immigration and the Law on victims of trafficking in human beings. This framework is completed by general provisions of the Youth Protection Law, which applies to all minors independent of their immigration or legal status. Until the influx of applicants for international protection in 2015 and 2016, the phenomenon of unaccompanied minors has been relatively small in Luxembourg. Particularly 2015 was marked by a high number of UAMs applying for international protection, with 102 introductions of applications compared to 31 applications in 2014. Since, the number of applications has stabilised over the last two years, with 51 applications in 2016 and 50 applications in 2017. In 2015, Afghanistan and Albania were the leading countries of origin of UAMs. In 2016, Afghanistan was still the leading country of origin, followed by Morocco. In 2017, the profiles of the UAMs changed again, with Albania and Morocco as leading countries of origin. In Luxembourg, UAMs are predominantly boys and a large majority is close to the age of majority, or have already reached the age of majority, when a final decision on their application for international protection is issued. However, the Directorate of Immigration reported that they were confronted with a new phenomenon in 2017, namely the arrival of very young UAMs aged between 12 and 14. Every UAM, whether s/he files an application for international protection or not, will be assigned an ad-hoc administrator as soon as possible in order to assist him/her in all legal proceedings. In addition to the designation of an ad-hoc administrator, the organisations that accommodate the UAMs applying for international protection usually request the guardianship (either institutional or personal guardianship) of the UAM who has introduced his application. Different from the ad-hoc administrator, the guardian is assisting and supporting the UAM in all daily life affairs, such as social guidance, integration, education, medical care, acquisition of language skills, leisure activities, etc. In regard to education, the overall aim in Luxembourg is to integrate migrant children, independent of their immigration status, into the general educational system as soon as possible. The latter has experienced a diversification of its offer with a number of specialised measures and services. Together with leisure and extracurricular activities, school is considered to be one of the main contributors to the overall well-being and integration of UAMs into the Luxembourgish society. There are no integration measures that specifically target UAMs. There are no specific transition measures or procedures for UAMs who are approaching their majority, neither in regard to the accommodation and guardianship arrangements, nor in the general context of integration. The organisations responsible for the accommodation and care of the UAMs provide them with a supervision and support according to their specific individual needs. This is also true for the respective legal framework of the UAM, including eventual extensions of residence permits. The return of UAMs is considered to be rare in the Luxembourgish context. As mentioned earlier, this is related to the fact that the large majority of UAMs applying for international protection are close to the age of majority or have already reached majority when a final decision on their application is issued. Furthermore, although foreseen by the Immigration Law, Luxembourg does not carry out forced returns of persons considered to be unaccompanied minors. The International Organisation for Migration (IOM), responsible for (assisted) voluntary returns, reported that they have approximately one voluntary return of an UAM every two years. In 2017, following the recommendation of the evaluation of the Schengen acquis in the area of return in Luxembourg, the government adopted the creation of a new commission with the function of assessing the best interest of the child in the context of return of UAMs. This commission entered into force at the beginning of 2018 and is composed of members of the prosecution service, the National Childhood Office (ONE), the Luxembourg Reception and Integration Agency (OLAI), and finally the Directorate of Immigration, which is chairing the commission. In addition, the ad-hoc administrator is invited to attend the commission meeting for the minor s/he represents. Based on the elements of his/her application, an individual opinion assessing the best interest of the child, in the context of his/her return, will be given for each minor. One of the major reported challenges is the appointment of legal representatives of UAMs (ad-hoc administrator and guardian), as well as the lack of precision of the legal provisions in this context. In the context of return, the Directorate of Immigration reported that they are faced with challenges in regard to getting in contact with the respective countries of origin as well as in regard to cases of applicants not telling the truth. One of the main good practices that has been identified by a number of stakeholders are the new care and accommodation arrangements, allowing to house UAMs in specifically dedicated reception facilities with a 24/7 supervision, depending on the availability of these facilities. In the same context, it was reported that it is of great importance to provide the minors with an environment of trust and support, to listen to them and to reassure them in order to be able to understand their current situation. Particularly the approach of supporting them in elaborating a life plan or life project (“projet de vie”) is considered as being very important for the stability and general well-being as well as for the integration of the UAMs. In addition, it is also important to support them in other matters of integration, such as education, acquisition of language skills, extracurricular activities, etc. In the context of return, Directorate of Immigration reported the newly concluded agreement with IOM in order to conduct family assessments of UAMs in the countries of origin as a good practice. On the one hand, this assessment is one element that will be taken into consideration in the examination of the application of the minor. On the other hand, it helps in assessing the best interest of the child in the event of a return if the application is rejected. [less ▲]

Tutorial Big Data Analytics: Overview and Practical Examples

Report (2018)

This tutorial will offer a synthetic view of Big Data Analytics challenges, the tools permitting to address these challenges and focus on one of these tool through a practical session with a set of ... [more ▼]

This tutorial will offer a synthetic view of Big Data Analytics challenges, the tools permitting to address these challenges and focus on one of these tool through a practical session with a set of concrete examples. Level: beginner - advanced [less ▲]

On Rational Entailment for Propositional Typicality Logic

Report (2018)

Propositional Typicality Logic (PTL) is a recently proposed logic, obtained by enriching classical propositional logic with a typicality operator capturing the most typical (alias normal or conventional ... [more ▼]

Propositional Typicality Logic (PTL) is a recently proposed logic, obtained by enriching classical propositional logic with a typicality operator capturing the most typical (alias normal or conventional) situations in which a given sentence holds. The semantics of PTL is in terms of ranked models as studied in the well-known KLM approach to preferential reasoning and therefore KLM-style rational consequence relations can be embedded in PTL. In spite of the non-monotonic features introduced by the semantics adopted for the typicality operator, the obvious Tarskian definition of entailment for PTL remains monotonic and is therefore not appropriate in many contexts. Our first important result is an impossibility theorem showing that a set of proposed postulates that at first all seem appropriate for a notion of entailment with regard to typicality cannot be satisfied simultaneously. Closer inspection reveals that this result is best interpreted as an argument for advocating the development of more than one type of PTL entailment. In the spirit of this interpretation, we investigate three different (semantic) versions of entailment for PTL, each one based on the definition of rational closure as introduced by Lehmann and Magidor for KLM-style conditionals, and constructed using different notions of minimality. [less ▲]