Juncker–Polfer Government
The Juncker-Polfer government came to an end with the general election of 2004, after which the LSAP once again joined the CSV in coalition and the Democratic Party returned to opposition.
[2] On 16 April 2003 in Athens, 10 new member states (Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Czech Republic, Cyprus and Malta) signed the treaty of accession.
[2] This evolution confirmed the government's conviction that despite its small size, Luxembourg had to make all the more efforts to impose its presence on the international scene as the European Union grew.
[3] In negotiations on the European level, the Luxembourgish government demanded the maintenance of banking secrecy as long as its principal financial-service competitors maintained it as well.
in an "Economic and Financial affairs" council meeting, the European Ministers for Finances and the Economy finally reached an agreement on the taxation of revenue from savings.
[3] The move to the generalised automatic exchange of information was coupled to a similar action by third-party countries, including Switzerland.
[4] The Luxembourgish effort was now concentrated geographically on a certain number of target countries, and content-wise, on eradicating poverty, social structures, education, health, and equality of opportunities between men and women.
[5] The fiscal reforms of 2001 and 2002 concerning individuals and businesses turned out to be useful, as they contributed to maintaining domestic demand at a relatively stable level, despite economic disturbances.
[5] The European enlargement led the Luxembourgish state to invest heavily in the improvement and extension of the EU's infrastructure and services, based in Luxembourg.
[5] In February 2001, the company Agora, including representatives of the State, ARBED, and the communes of Esch-sur-Alzette and Sanem, was created to develop the wastelands.
[5] The Fonds Belval, a state-owned company, was charged with realising the government's plans on the Belval-Ouest site and to showcase the blast furnaces.
[5] A hospital plan provided for the reorganisation of healthcare, by putting more emphasis on outpatient treatment, and rationalising and modernising existing infrastructures.
[6] As part of its pledge to implement the Kyoto Protocol, Luxembourg had committed on the European level to reducing its greenhouse gas emission by 28% by 2012.
[6] However, the high petrol use, caused by the low taxation of fuel which attracted large numbers of cross-border customers, made it difficult to comply with the Kyoto commitments.
[6] The result of this approach was an integrated plan for transport and spatial development (Integriertes Landes- und Verkehrsentwicklungskonzept – IVL).
[6] This document had the advantage of highlighting certain imbalances and initiating a vast public debate on the means of avoiding a deterioration of the level of quality of life of Luxembourgers, while pursuing the country's economic growth.
[6] It proposed a development model based on three urban areas, separated by green belts: the Southern region of the country, the capital, and the "Nordstad".
[8] This was to be a public institution with an international dimension, offering multilingual teaching and personalised support, and which would have a great interest in the mobility of its students.
[8] In September 2003, the Luxembourgish government proposed to extend scope of Luxembourg, the European Capital of Culture 2007, to the Greater Region, which was accepted by the jury.
[8] As a sign of its openness towards new technologies, the government launched a programme of national action, "e-Luxembourg", which made public services accessible via the Internet.
