Editorial - Cheers!

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The world is on fire and in Luxembourg, the political news – with the exception of a few unctuous but completely meaningless words from our government leaders on the US attack on Venezuela and a brief intermezzo on the presentation of a tax reform, which, however, will not come into force until 2028 – is still characterised by the New Year's receptions, which have been going on since the beginning of the year and are once again putting a strain on many people's livers and schedules, after the dreaded Christmas parties.

The parties, the ministries, the administrations, the municipalities, the professional chambers, the Chamber of Deputies… – they all invite you to a New Year's drink. Yes, even the press has its own event, to which it is invited by Prime Minister Luc Frieden, who is also responsible for the media, and his delegated Minister for Media, Elisabeth Margue. And on this occasion, the two ministers are doing exactly the same thing that their predecessors have been doing for all these years, or rather all these decades, namely promising improved access to information and a reform of the media law, which is now apparently actually on its way to becoming law.

Of course, the New Year's receptions organised by the political parties are a lot more lively. Whereas a few years ago they simply offered profane New Year's greetings, nowadays real, occasionally even interesting speeches are given, even if the militants are still primarily interested in the drinks and the gossip that follows.

Nonetheless, the party leaders are often almost as combative at these New Year's events as they are at their party congresses, as they can tell their respective party bases what is going on politically in a short, crisp and clear manner, whereas at their party congresses they usually have to endure hours of long-winded congress resolutions before they are allowed to speak.