Luxembourg 2002

In 2002, Luxembourg was a small European country located in Western Europe with an area of 2,586 square kilometers and a population of around 446,000 people. According to computerannals, the capital of Luxembourg was Luxembourg City and its official languages were French, German and Luxembourgian. The landscape in Luxembourg featured rolling hills and valleys which were surrounded by Belgium, France and Germany. The climate in Luxembourg was temperate with temperatures ranging from -2°C to 22°C throughout the year. Natural resources included iron ore, timber and arable land. The economy in Luxembourg relied heavily on its financial services sector which accounted for over 40% of GDP as well as supplying over 70% of export revenues. Furthermore the country also had a growing tourism industry due to its rich cultural heritage which made it attractive for visitors to come explore the country’s history and architecture. In 2002 there were still many challenges facing Luxembourg; poverty levels remained high due to a lack of economic diversification away from financial services and low wages for workers in other industries such as manufacturing or services. Despite these issues in 2002 Luxembourg had made significant progress since gaining independence from Germany in 1866; it had established a constitutional monarchy with free elections and had joined international organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and Council of Europe (COE).

Yearbook 2002

Luxembourg. According to Countryaah website, national day of Luxembourg is every June 23. Luxembourg’s banking secrecy came into focus again as the EU tried to get a number of other tax havens to enter into cross-border information exchange agreements on foreigners’ bank accounts. Luxembourg was one of three EU countries that drafted transitional rules with the option of taxing interest income rather than disclosing information. But Switzerland demanded a significantly higher interest rate to join, which towards the end of the year seemed to jeopardize the entire agreement.

Luxembourg Border Countries Map

In November, 20 of 22 people died aboard a Luxair plane when it crashed just before landing in Luxembourg. It was foggy at the time of the accident. The plane came from Berlin and most of the dead were German businessmen.

HISTORY

At the turn of the millennium, the political scene of the Luxembourg continued to be characterized by the traditional hegemony of the Parti chrétien social (PCS) which had governed continuously since the second postwar period, with the exception of the period 1974-1979, when it was replaced by a formed executive by the other two important Luxembourg parties, the Parti ouvrier socialiste luxembourgeois (POSL) and the liberal Parti démocratique luxembourgeois (PDL).

He returned after the elections of June 1999 as head of an executive with the socialists of the POSL and with the PDL, and subsequently, with the same coalition of parties following the consultations of June 2004 (in which the PCS had won 5 new seats, while the POSL and the PDL had lost 1 and 5 respectively), the Christian-social J.-C. Juncker found himself facing the question of the harmonization of the fiscal policy of the Luxembourg with that of the European Union. International financial center, thanks to very advantageous tax legislation towards foreign capital, during the nineties the Luxembourg had already adopted a series of restrictive measures on bank deposits aimed at controlling their origin, but between 1998 and 1999 showed strong resistance to adopting the tax on savings and financial investment income of non-resident citizens, supported at the time by most European countries: only in November 2000an agreement was reached that established for all EU member states the end of banking secrecy for non-residents starting from 2010, and a taxation at source, from 2003, for the Luxembourg (together with Belgium and Austria). In October 2000, the Grand Duke of Luxembourg, Jean, abdicated in favor of his son, Prince Henri, who had exercised constitutional powers since 1998. Confirming the country’s traditional pro-European commitment, in July 2005 a popular referendum approved the adhesion to the European Constitution with 56.5% of the votes.

December

Vaccination against covid-19 begins, stricter restrictions

December 28th

The first vaccinations against covid-19 are being carried out, after Luxembourg, like other EU countries, received a first batch of a vaccine developed by Pfizer and Biontech. In the first round, 1,300 people receive the first of two syringes required. Two days earlier, on the second day of Christmas, new, stricter restrictions had come into force: the curfew imposed in November now applies from 9 pm, all non-essential shops have been forced to close and the start of school after the holidays has been postponed until 10 January.

November

New shutdown due to pandemic

November 23

The government decides to close bars, cafes, restaurants, cinemas and gyms until mid-December, to try to stop the spread of the coronavirus. Similar closures already exist in neighboring countries. There is already a curfew between 23 and 06, and a maximum of four visitors are allowed in the home. The spread of infection in Luxembourg is the highest per capita in the EU, according to the EU’s infection control authority ECDC.