Luxembourg

Cluster Munition Ban Policy

Last updated: 29 July 2015

Five-Year Review: State Party Luxembourg was among the first 30 ratifications that triggered entry into force of the convention on 1 August 2010. Luxembourg’s 2009 ratification law also serves as its implementing legislation for the convention and includes an explicit ban on investment in the production of cluster munitions. Luxembourg has attended all of the convention’s meetings, promotes universalization of the convention, and has elaborated its views on important issues for the interpretation and implementation of the convention. Luxembourg has condemned new use of cluster munitions, including in Libya, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen.

In its initial transparency report provided in 2011, Luxembourg confirmed it has never used, produced, transferred, or stockpiled cluster munitions and does not possess any for research or training.

Policy

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 10 July 2009. It was among the first 30 ratifications that triggered entry into force of the convention on 1 August 2010.

Luxembourg’s 2009 ratification law also serves as its national implementation legislation and includes a comprehensive prohibition on cluster munitions as well as penal sanctions for violations.[1]

Luxembourg submitted its initial Article 7 transparency report for the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 30 March 2011 and has provided annual updated reports ever since, most recently on 15 June 2015.[2]

Luxembourg participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions and was one of a small number of states that began national legislative initiatives on cluster munitions before the Oslo Process was launched.[3]

Luxembourg engages in the work of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.  It has participated in all of the convention’s Meetings of States Parties since 2011, including the Fifth Meeting of States Parties in San José, Costa Rica in September 2014. Luxembourg has attended all of the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva since 2011.

Luxembourg promotes universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions through public declarations and bilateral contacts.[4] It sought to include cluster munitions in the reporting by the UN Security Council’s Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict in 2014, when it chaired the group.[5]

During the June 2015 meeting of the convention, Luxembourg strongly condemned recent use of cluster munitions, including in Libya, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine, and Yemen.[6]

As a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, Luxembourg expressed concern at the use of cluster munitions in eastern Ukraine during a Security Council debate on 24 October 2014 and encouraged the government Ukraine to “cooperate with an impartial and independent investigation to shed light on those serious allegations” and stated “we expect the separatists to do the same.”[7] In May 2014, Luxembourg voted in favor of Security Council Resolution 2155, which expressed concern at the use of cluster munitions in South Sudan and called for “all parties to refrain from similar such use in the future.”[8]

Since 2013, Luxembourg has condemned the use of cluster munitions in Syria on several occasions.[9] It has also voted in favor of UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the cluster munition use in Syria, most recently Resolution 69/189 on 18 December 2014, which expressed “outrage” at the continued use.[10]

Interpretive Issues

Luxembourg has elaborated its views on a number of important issues for the interpretation and implementation of the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Concerning the issue of the prohibition on assistance during joint military operations with non-signatories, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has described Article 21 on relations with states not party as “an important clause to allow continued collaboration with countries that are not yet ready to relinquish the possession of cluster munitions, but also to convince them to join the many countries which have decided to abandon this class of weapons.”[11]

In 2011 and 2012, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the text of Article 1 of the convention enumerates the prohibitions on cluster munitions, including stockpiling, but “does not make a reference to transit.”[12]

The Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Justice issued a joint statement in September 2011 expressing Luxembourg’s “full compliance” with its obligations under NATO and the Convention on Cluster Munitions and stating that there is “no information or evidence to believe that the airport of Luxembourg or its infrastructure capacity can be or has been used in the context of NATO, or any other capacity, for a purpose prohibited by the Convention on Cluster Munitions.”[13] In September 2011, Wikileaks released a United States (US) diplomatic cable detailing a 12 December 2007 meeting with Luxembourg officials that claimed Luxembourg “will not allow” for the convention “to hinder the transshipment of CM [cluster munitions] through Findel International Airport” or “CM related procurement services at the Luxembourg-based NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency (NAMSA).”[14]

Disinvestment

Luxembourg’s 2009 ratification law prohibits investment in cluster munitions, making it one of the convention’s leaders on disinvestment.[15]

In 2010, the Ministry of Finance acknowledged the need to address the law’s use of the term “knowingly” with respect to financial investment and to develop a list of producers of cluster munitions.[16] The government said that the Social Security Compensation Fund would establish a blacklist of companies active in the field of manufacturing cluster munitions that would permit their exclusion from the fund.[17] The fund published its first exclusion list in 2011, identifying more than a dozen companies.[18] The fund’s administrative council ordered fund managers to immediately sell all assets held in any of the companies identified.[19] In 2012, the fund presented its new policy on socially responsible investments and list of excluded companies to the Parliament Committee of Health and Social Affairs.[20] In 2013, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed that all incriminated assets from the fund had been sold and said it would ensure compliance by other government investments with the 2009 law prohibiting investment in cluster munitions.[21]

In 2010, Luxembourg proposed the creation of an ethics council to check and verify its current and future public investments in order to prevent any improper investments in companies involved in the production of cluster munitions.[22] As of July 2015, however, the proposed council had not been put in place.[23]

Luxembourg is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, transfer, and stockpiling

Luxembourg is not known to have ever used or transferred cluster munitions.

In its initial Article 7 report provided in 2011, Luxembourg declared that it has not produced cluster munitions and has not stockpiled any, including for research or training purposes.[24]



[1]Loi du 4 juin 2009 portant approbation de la Convention sur les armes à sous-munitions, ouverte à la signature à Oslo le 3 décembre 2008 (Doc. parl. 5981; sess. ord. 2008–2009)” (“Act of 4 June 2009 approving the Convention on Cluster Munitions, opened for signature in Oslo, 3 December 2008 (Parl. doc. 5981; reg. sess. 2008–2009)”), Mémorial: Journal Officiel du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg (Memorial: Official Journal of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg), A–No. 147, 22 June 2009; and Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 21 January 2011. For detailed analysis of Luxembourg’s national implementation legislation, see CMC, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, October 2010), pp. 82–83.

[2] Various time periods are covered by the reports submitted 30 March 2011 (for the period from 1 August 2010 to 31 December 2010), 13 April 2012 (for calendar year 2011), 4 April 2013 (for calendar year 2012), 14 April 2014 (for calendar year 2013), and 15 June 2015 (for calendar year 2014).

[3] For more details on Luxembourg’s cluster munition policy and practice through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 111–113.

[4] Letter from Jean Olinger, Political Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Martin Lagneau, Handicap International (HI) Luxembourg, 12 May 2014; and letter from Georges Friden, Political Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs to Martin Lagneau, HI Luxembourg, 21 May 2013. In April 2012, during UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s visit to Luxembourg, the President of the Parliament of Luxembourg, Laurent Mosar, appealed to the Secretary-General to promote universalization of the Convention on Cluster Munitions. Statement by Laurent Mosar, President of the Parliament of Luxembourg, during UN Sec.-Gen. Ban Ki-Moon’s visit to Luxembourg, Chamber of Deputies, Luxembourg City, 17 April 2012.

[5] Letter from Jean Olinger, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 12 May 2014.

[6] Statement of Luxembourg, Preparatory Meeting for the Convention on Cluster Munitions First Review Conference, Geneva, 24 June 2015. Notes by HRW.

[9] During a UN Security Council debate on 24 April 2013, Luxembourg’s permanent representative to the UN in New York described his government’s deep alarm at Syria’s use of cluster munitions. In May 2013, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official said, “we condemn all recourse to this weapon as the humanitarian consequences are potentially tragic.” Statement by Sylvie Lucas, Permanent Representative of Luxembourg to the UN in New York, UN Security Council, New York, 24 April 2013; and letter from Georges Friden, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 21 May 2013.

[10]Situation of human rights in the Syrian Arab Republic,” UNGA Resolution A/RES/69/189, 18 December 2014. Luxembourg voted in favor of similar resolutions on 15 May and 18 December 2013.

[11] Email from Claude Faber, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1 May 2010.

[12] Letter from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to HI, 8 April 2011; and letter from Georges Friden, Ministry of Foreign Affairs to HI, 22 June 2012.

[13]Réponse Commune du Ministre de la Justice et du Ministre des Affaires Etrangères à la question no. 1647 de Monsieur le Député André Hoffman” (“Joint response of the Minister of Justice and the Minister of Foreign Affairs to the question no. 1647 of Deputy André Hoffman”), 5 September 2011. In addition, on 13 September 2011, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean Asselborn said that “there has never been an airplane transporting cluster munitions which has taken off or landed at Findel and there never will be so long as I am part of the government of Luxembourg.” “BASM: Asselborn lève toute ambiguïté” (“Cluster Bombs: Asselborn removes all ambiguity”), Le Quotidien, 13 September 2011.

[14]Luxembourg: Oslo Process will not interfere with alliance responsibilities,” US Department of State cable 07LUXEMBOURG491 dated 13 December 2007, released by Wikileaks on 1 September 2011. After the cable was made public, parliamentary questions were put to the government requesting clarification of Luxembourg’s position on cluster munitions, including on foreign stockpiling and transit of US cluster munitions. “Question écrite no. 1647, Sujet: transbordement ou stockage de bombes à sous-munitions à l’aéroport de Luxembourg” (“Written question no. 1647, Subject: transshipment or stockpiling of cluster munitions at the airport of Luxembourg”), submitted by André Hoffman, Deputy, Chamber of Deputies, 4 September 2011.

[15] Chamber of Deputies, “Projet de loi portant approbation de la Convention sur les armes à sous-munitions ouverte à la signature à Oslo, le 3 décembre 2008” (“Draft legislation approving the Convention on Cluster Munitions open for signature in Oslo, 3 December 2008”), No. 5981, Regular Session 2008–2009, 12 January 2009.

[16] In April 2010, a Ministry of Finance official stated that banks, in collaboration with the government and supervisory board of the financial sector, should organize themselves to implement the prohibition on investment in production. The official also noted that the absence of a list of producers is problematic for the implementation of the law, especially in light of the inclusion of the term “knowingly” in the text of the legislation. HI telephone interview with M. Kamphaus, Ministry of Finance, 22 April 2010; and email from Jérôme Bobin, Communications, Advocacy and Awareness Manager, HI, 22 July 2010.

[17] It also said that, in cooperation with the president of the fund, a process would begin to dispose of the shares in the companies. “Réponse commune à la question parlementaire no. 0847 du 17 août 2010 de Monsieur le Député André Hoffman” (“Joint response to the parlimentary question no. 0847 of 17 August 2010 of Deputy André Hoffman”), submitted by Jean Asselborn and Mars Di Bartolomeo, entered 16 September 2010, Ref: 2009-2010/0847-02.

[18] See IKV Pax Christi and FairFin, “Worldwide investments in Cluster Munitions: a shared responsibility, June 2012 update,” June 2012, pp. 91–92. In 2011, the Social Security Compensation Fund adopted a socially responsible investment policy to exclude investments in companies that had been determined not to meet its criteria, which included respect for the Convention on Cluster Munitions and other international treaties ratified by Luxembourg. The fund contracted GES Investment Services to analyze all investments held by the fund and to identify companies to be excluded. Compensation Funds (Fonds de Compensation, FDC), “Investissement socialement responsable” (“Socially responsible investment”), undated; and “Liste d’Exclusion Du FDC” (“Exclusion List of the FDC”), undated.

[19] FDC, “Investissement socialement responsable” (“Socially responsible investment”), undated; and “Liste d’Exclusion Du FDC” (“Exclusion List of the FDC”), undated.

[20]Pensions: finis les investissements aveugles” (“Pensions: blind investments finished”), Le Quotidien, 17 February 2012.

[21] Letter from Georges Friden, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 21 May 2013.

[22] Government of Luxembourg press Release, “Jean Asselborn à la première réunion des États-parties à la Convention sur les armes à sous-munitions à Vientiane (Laos)” (“Jean Asselborn at the First Meeting of States Parties to the Convention on Cluster Munitions in Vientiane (Laos)”), 11 November 2010. The ethics council would consist of the financial institutions of Luxembourg (Alfi, Gafi, ABBL, and CSSF) and the public institutions of the Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Compensation Fund. Letter from Etika to HI, 22 February 2011.

[23] Email from Cyrielle Chibaeff, Communications Officer, HI, 15 July 2015.

[24] It responded “not applicable” to the section on the conversion of production facilities indicating that Luxembourg does not have any cluster munition production facilities. Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Reports, Form E, 14 April 2014, 13 April 2012, and 21 January 2011.


Mine Ban Policy

Last updated: 18 December 2019

Policy

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 4 December 1997 and ratified it on 14 June 1999, becoming a State Party on 1 December 1999. Legislation to enforce the antipersonnel mine prohibition domestically entered into force in December 1999.

Luxembourg has attended most meetings of the treaty, most recently the Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties in Geneva in December 2018, but it did not provide a statement. Luxembourg also attended the Third Review Conference in Maputo in June 2014. Luxembourg did not attend the intersessional meetings in Geneva in May 2019.

Luxembourg is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons and its Amended Protocol II on landmines and Protocol V on explosive remnants of war. Luxembourg is also party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions.

Production, use, transfer, and stockpiling

Luxembourg has not produced or exported antipersonnel mines, but previously imported mines from Belgium and the United States.[1] Export of antipersonnel mines was banned in April 1997.[2]

Luxembourg finished destruction of its stockpile of 9,600 antipersonnel mines in August 1997. It initially retained 988 mines for training purposes, reducing this number to 599 by 1 January 2011.[3] In May 2011, Luxembourg destroyed all these mines, and currently does not retain any for training.[4]



[1] Telephone interview with Lt. Col. Ries, Deputy Chief of Staff, 22 March 1999.

[2] A ministerial regulation of 7 April 1997 added antipersonnel mines to the items included in the Grand Ducal regulation of 31 October 1995 regulating the import, export and transit of arms, ammunition and military-related material and technology.

[3] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form D, 2010.

[4] Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 Report, Form B, 2011.


Support for Mine Action

Last updated: 18 November 2021

In 2020, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg contributed €1.3 million (US$1.2 million)[1] to four affected countries and global activities.

Contributions by recipient: 2020[2]

Recipient

Sector

Amount (€)

Amount (US$)

Iraq

Clearance

700,000

798,700

Lao PDR

Clearance, risk education and victim assistance

(cluster munition remnants)

150,000

171,150

Libya

Risk education

178,800

204,011

Global

(European Defense Agency)

Capacity-building

80,000

91,280

Myanmar

Victim assistance

73,525

83,892

Total

 

1,182,325

1,349,033

 

Five-year support to mine action

From 2016 to 2020, Luxembourg’s contributions to mine action totaled just under €6 million (about $6.8 million), with an annual contribution averaging €1.2 million ($1.4 million). In comparison, in the previous five-year period from 2011 to 2015, Luxembourg’s support to mine action amounted to €6.5 million ($8.3 million).

Summary of contributions: 2016–2020[3]

Year

Amount (€)

Amount (US$)

% change from previous year (US$)

2020

1,182,325

1,349,033

+5

2019

1,144,400

1,281,041

-10

2018

1,200,000

1,418,040

-1

2017

1,269,552

1,434,721

+10

2016

1,182,848

1,309,649

-18

Total

5,979,125

6,792,484

N/A

Note: N/A=not applicable.



[1] Average exchange rate for 2020: €1=US$1.1141. US Federal Reserve, “List of Exchange Rates (Annual),” 4 January 2021.

[2] Response to Monitor questionnaire by Steve Hoscheit, Disarmament Desk, Luxembourg Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, 21 May 2021.

[3] See previous Monitor reports.