After each legislative election, a Grand-ducal decree establishes the ministries and defines their respective attributions. According to the decree currently in force, the ministry of Culture is competent for all areas relating to national and international cultural policy, cultural heritage protection, the coordination of national cultural institutes, relations with public and para-state cultural institutions and the implementation of the current Cultural development plan (KEP)[1].
Furthermore, there are a number of advisory councils to the ministry of Culture in the area of music, books, libraries, as well as commissions for heritage sites and religious edifices. These committees generally gather experts from public and private structures, depending on the topic and the organisation of the relevant cultural area itself.
Since 2016, the ministry also regularly organises either general or sectorial “assises”, i.e. plenary meetings with all cultural actors or actors from one specific area. These meetings serve as forum to exchange on ideas or gather input from the sector as to developments deemed necessary in the area of cultural policy.
Other ministries that intervene in cultural policies are the ministry of Education, Children and Youth (in charge of music education, music schools and the promotion of the Luxembourgish language) and the ministry of Finance (in terms of budgetary allocations).
On the legislative side, cultural policy involves the Parliament (Chambre des députés), made up of 60 deputies elected for five years via direct universal suffrage in four multi-seat constituencies (nb. voting is mandatory for all registered voters, registration on the electoral rolls being automatic for Luxembourgish citizens). Besides its main function to vote on government and parliament bills and ratify international treaties, the Chambre has means to exert control over the government both in financial matters and in political and administrative matters. The work within parliamentary commissions (composed of min. 5 and max. 15 MPs) is vital in the legislative procedure and commissions can also request the opinion of MEPs, as well as extra parliamentary persons or structures, such as the professional chambers. Culture is being dealt with by the Commission of Culture, currently comprising 15 members.
[1] https://legilux.public.lu/eli/etat/leg/agd/2018/12/05/a1099/jo
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