Luxembourg Research Articles

La stratégie «grande région» de la banque générale du Luxembourg SA, membre du groupe Fortis (The "Grande Région" strategy pursued by Banque Générale du Luxembourg SA, Member of Fortis Group)

Abstract. - The Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg is located at the heart of a vast crossborder region called "Grande Région Saar-Lor-Lux" . The specificity of this transnational area is based on a common history, the existence of two complementary cultural backgrounds and a highly interconnected economy. The Banque Générale du Luxembourg (BGL) SA, Member of the Fortis Group, is one of the most eminent banks in Luxembourg and the uncontested leader in the ME (mediumsized enterprises) market. Considering the fact that Luxembourg's economy is widely open, export- and import oriented and stimulated by companies serving this international market, the bank decided some years ago to develop its crossborder business. Through his paper the author is presenting the origins, the aims and the progress of the "Grande Région " strategy pursued by BGL.

Innovative policies for entrepreneurship: the Principality of Liechtenstein and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Despite the lack of abundant natural resources, Liechtenstein and Luxembourg have created a competitive advantage for themselves by means of innovative policies that foster enterprise. Based on interviews conducted in these two tiny countries, this paper gives an overview of the innovative policies that foster entrepreneurship in these two environments.

Contextual, Output and Operational Variables in Bilingual Education in Latvia

This paper evaluates the implementation and implications of the recent Education Act in Latvia for the education of language minority children in Latvia. By analysing the output, contextual and operational variables that determine language education policy, comparisons are made with two established Western European models of multilingual education, the European School model and the system of trilingual education in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. These comparisons reveal that, as elsewhere, it is the output variables, modified by contextual variables, which determine the operational strategies that need to be addressed.

Isotopic Assessment of Sources and Processes Affecting Sulfate and Nitrate in Surface Water and Groundwater of Luxembourg

Surface water and deep and shallow groundwater samples were taken from selected parts of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg to determine the isotopic composition of nitrate and sulfate, in order to identify sources and/or processes affecting these solutes. Deep groundwater had sulfate concentrations between 20 and 40mg/L, δ34Ssulfate values between −3.0 and −20.0‰, and δ18Osulfate values between +1.5 and +5.0‰ nitrate was characterized by concentrations varying between <0.5 and 10mg/L, δ15Nnitrate values of ∼−0.5‰, and δ18Onitrate values ∼+3.0‰. In the shallow groundwater, sulfate concentrations ranged from 25 to 30mg/L, δ34Ssulfate values from −20.0 to +4.5‰, and δ18Osulfate values from ∼+0.5 to +4.5‰ nitrate concentrations varied between ∼10 and 75mg/L, δ15Nnitrate values between +2.5 and +10.0‰, and δ18Onitrate values between +1.0 and +3.0‰. In surface water, sulfate concentrations ranged from 10 to 210mg/L, δ34Ssulfate values varied between −9.3 and +10.9‰, and δ18Osulfate values between +3.0 and +10.7‰ were observed. Nitrate concentrations ranged from 10 to 40mg/L, δ15Nnitrate values from +6.5 to +12.0‰, and δ18Onitrate values from −0.4 to +4.0‰. Based on these data, three sulfate sources were identified controlling the riverine sulfate load. These are soil sulfate, dissolution of evaporites, and oxidation of reduced S minerals in the bedrock. Both groundwater types were predominantly influenced by sulfate from the two latter lithogenic S sources. The deep groundwater and a couple shallow groundwater samples had nitrate derived mainly from soil nitrification. All other sampling sites were influenced by nitrate originating from sewage and/or manure. A decrease in nitrate concentration observed along one of the rivers was attributed to denitrification. It appears that sulfate within Luxembourg's aquatic ecosystem is mainly of lithogenic origin, whereas nitrate is often derived from anthropogenic activities.

Using 3D dynamic cartography and hydrological modelling for linear streamflow mapping

This paper presents a regionalization methodology and an original representation of the downstream variation of daily streamflow using a conceptual rainfall–runoff model (HRM) and the 3D visualization tools of the GIS ArcView. The regionalization of the parameters of the HRM model was obtained by fitting simultaneously the runoff series from five sub-basins of the Alzette river basin (Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg) according to the permeability of geological formations. After validating the transposability of the regional parameter values on five test basins, streamflow series were simulated with the model at ungauged sites in one medium size geologically contrasted test basin and interpolated assuming a linear increase of streamflow between modelling points. 3D spatio-temporal cartography of mean annual and high raw and specific discharges are illustrated. During a severe flooding, the propagation of the flood waves in the different parts of the stream network shows an important contribution of sub-basins lying on impervious geological formations (direct runoff) compared with those including permeable geological formations which have a more contrasted hydrological response. The effect of spatial variability of rainfall is clearly perceptible.

Identification of bioindicator species among Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera in a survey of streams belonging to the rhithral classification in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

(2002). Identification of bioindicator species among Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera and Trichoptera in a survey of streams belonging to the rhithral classification in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. SIL Proceedings, 1922-2010: Vol. 28, No. 1, pp. 381-386.

Potential of using Daphnia magna (crustacea) developing in an aerated waste stabilisation pond as a commercial source of chitin

The potential of using the planktonic crustacean Daphnia magna as a commercial source of chitin was studied on the basis of the estimation of the amount of chitin produced annually by this species and the specifications of this kind of chitin. D. magna was found to have a significant chitin content, ranging from 3% to 7% of the body dry weight. During three consecutive years, chitin biomass ( B) and daily somatic chitin production (daily P SOM) were monitored in a 59,000-m 2 aerated waste stabilisation pond located in the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg (Western Europe). These variables were found to vary a lot seasonally. Maximum values were observed in summer ( B>40 kg chitin; daily P SOM>20 kg chitin day −1). Annual somatic chitin production reached on average 1200 kg chitin year −1. The amount of chitin generated by the moulting of the daphnids (i.e. chitin contained in the exuviae) can also constitute a significant source of chitin, reaching about 1220 kg chitin year −1. Chitin was isolated from D. magna, following three different processing routes. The specifications of the isolated and purified chitin were similar to those of commercial chitin extracted from crabs and shrimps. The average molecular weight varied from 600,000 to 2,600,000 depending on the processing route. The isolated chitin had a low N content indicating a high degree of acetylation.

Luxembourg, a Multilingual Society at the Romance/Germanic Language Border

In 1839 the current borders of Luxembourg were drawn approximately along the Romance-Germanic language border. From that moment on, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg was inhabited by a population speaking a German dialect, while by historic tradition and political opportunity, the administrative and judicial language continued to be French. This paper focuses on two aspects: the study of the interference between Lëtzeburgesch on the one hand and French, German and English on the other. The description of the present linguistic situation based on a sociolinguistic survey done in 1997. Bourdieu's concept of the legitimate language is modified to match the Luxembourgish situation of 'triglossia with trilingualism' and the legitimate multilingual language competence, which requires a subtle understanding of the combination of different varieties of the three languages officially in use in Luxembourg, is depicted.

From the Luxembourg Agreement to Today: Representing a People

From the Luxembourg Agreement to Today: Representing a People

Les nouvelles dynamiques de peuplement dans les zones frontalières en Wallonie

The Recent Dynamics of Settlement in the Border Regions of Walloonia. For some years, certain localities have stopped losing their inhabitants and present, on the contrary, a spectacular population growth. This change is due to a strong migratory attraction, which takes place in a double context, both national and international. At the country level, the recent immigration toward these regions lies within the process of periurbanisation: people and families migrate to parkland, sometimes distant from their work place. At the international level, the origin is the free circulation of the goods that has transformed border spaces into transborder regions. This paper studies, on the long trend and in a comparative approach, the demographic dynamics of municipalities located along the border with Germany and the Grand-Duchy of Luxemburg. Thanks to the linkage between the individual data of the national register and the 1991 population census, we analyse the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of the populations who set up in these border regions between 1993 and 1998.

The DAFNE databank as a simple tool for nutrition policy. DAta Food NEtworking.

To identify, quantify and depict variation of food habits in Europe, using data from the DAFNE (DAta Food NEtworking) databank. Household budget survey data of 12 European countries, namely Belgium, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom, around 1990. Data from the DAFNE databank are presented in simple pictorial presentations, which reveal considerable disparities in food habits. Furthermore, there appears to be nutritional variation within countries by socio-demographic groups, defined by their residence and educational level. The distribution patterns of food availability provide insights into the determinants of food preferences, as conditioned by current forces. The factors influencing consumer choice are many and varied. Thus, in order to promote healthy eating, it is essential to identify the food habits of the target population. In this context, information derived from household budget surveys, used in the development of the DAFNE databank, could be very important.

Distribution of persistent lipophilic contaminants in fish from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Distribution of persistent lipophilic contaminants in fish from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.

Distribution of Persistent Lipophilic Contaminants in Fish from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Distribution of Persistent Lipophilic Contaminants in Fish from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

Breast cancer screening pathology: an assessment of the practise and needs in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Education and quality assurance (QA) in breast screening pathology have been encouraged by the Europe Against Cancer programme. As a prerequisite for the set-up of a QA programme in Belgium and in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, an inquiry was initiated to evaluate the daily practise in breast pathology, the modalities in handling and analysing breast specimens and the willingness of the pathologists to participate in a QA scheme. Of the 278 mailed questionnaires, 109 confidential and valid questionnaires were returned, meaning a participation rate of 40%. All 109 respondents indicated their willingness to voluntarily participate in the further QA programme. Segmental resections for conservative surgery and excision biopsies ranked first and second, respectively, in examination requests. Of the respondents, 50% complained about the lack of clinical information on the pathology request form. A multidisciplinary team approach for the diagnosis of screen-detected lesions was deemed desirable by 87% of the respondents, but only 16% of them actually participate in such pre-operative meetings. Even more puzzling is that 75% of the respondents report regular unavailability of the control radiogram of the surgical specimen removed for non-palpable lesions. One-quarter to one-third of the pathologists still regularly perform frozen sections on microcalcifications or tumours smaller than 1 cm. However, 81% of the respondents estimate that pre-operative diagnosis is not appropriate for this type of lesion. The results of this inquiry show that the guidelines for the diagnosis of screen-detected breast lesions are not yet fully applied in daily practise. The development of local comprehensive breast teams involving a pathologist should improve the co-ordination between the medical disciplines, represent an important way of disseminating the guidelines on breast screening pathology and stimulate the relay unit to conduct QA programmes.

Recent trends in rainfall-runoff characteristics in the Alzette River basin, Luxembourg

The effects of rainfall structure and atmosphericcirculation variability on streamflow in the AlzetteRiver basin (Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Europe) wereinvestigated. Evidence is presented regarding the local-scalesensitivity of the Alzette River basin to large-scalechanges in atmospheric circulation. Since the1950s, there has been a marked increase in thecontribution of the westerly component of atmosphericcirculation to rainfall. These changes in atmosphericcirculation are on a par with an increase in rainfallintensity and duration, which has induced a significantincrease in the winter maximum daily storm flow in theAlzette River basin since the 1970s.

Social Theory and the Transformation of Capitalism in the Twentieth Century

industrialization is identified with many of the great theorizers of economic development in the twentieth century: Schumpeter, Veblen, Trotsky, Lux emburg, Keynes, Rostow, Gerschenkron, Chandler, Galbraith, and Schon field. Each of these thinkers, while differing amongst themselves on a broad array of issues of theory, shared in common the view that there was an epochally specific social system of capitalism, founded on private property and free markets for labor power. In its early phases, this system operated according to a very specific logic of task- and product-specialization, guided by rational market exchange, that led to increases in the scale of production. This dynamic yielded a process of centralization and concentration in the organizational and property forms governing the social division of labor which, as the system matured, ultimately led to the displacement of market rationality by a rationality of hierarchy and bureaucracy. Naturally, these unitary theorists of capitalism held that different societies would experience this common process in different ways, owing to the contingencies of timing and the greater and lesser tractability of tradition. But that there was one process and that it had a single and determinable directionality was never doubted. Indeed, it was taken to be one of the great discoveries of modern economic science. This unitary view of capitalism and its trajectory of development was also a core part of classical social theory as it emerged in the first fifty years of the twentieth century?in particular in the work of Weber, Polanyi, Parsons, Aron, Bell and the neo-Marxian tradition of critical social theory represented most notably by Horkheimer, Marcuse, Pollock and Neumann.

Aminoglycoside resistance in Gram-negative blood isolates from various hospitals in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Aminoglycoside Resistance Study Group.

A total of 1102 consecutive clinical blood isolates, including 897 Enterobacteriaceae and 205 non-fermenting bacilli, were obtained from 13 university and university-affiliated hospitals, which were divided into a Northern and a Southern group. Resistance to gentamicin, tobramycin, netilmicin, amikacin and isepamicin was determined using a microdilution technique according to NCCLS procedures. The overall mean resistance level was 5.9% for gentamicin, 7.7% for tobramycin, 7.5% for netilmicin, 2.8% for amikacin and 1.2% for isepamicin. Resistance to amikacin and isepamicin was significantly higher in the Northern hospitals than in the Southern hospitals. In total, 157 isolates were found not to be susceptible to aminoglycosides. By PCR, 179 aminoglycoside resistance mechanisms, i.e. 150 genes encoding modifying enzymes and 29 permeability mechanisms, were detected in 148 isolates. A resistance mechanism could not be detected in nine isolates. Moreover, in a further 14 isolates the resistance profile was not fully explained by the detected genes. The aac(6')-I genes were found to be the most predominant resistance mechanism in both the Northern and Southern isolates, followed by aac(3) genes and permeability resistance. A total of 29 non-susceptible isolates harboured a combination of genes, 72.4% of which were a combination with the aac(6')-lb gene. The majority of these combinations were broad-spectrum combinations which represented 9.0% of the resistance mechanisms in non-susceptible Enterobacteriaceae and 19.3% in the non-fermenting bacilli.

Commission of the European Communities v. Grand Duchy of Luxembourg

279Relationship of international law and municipal law — Treaties — EC Treaty, 1957 — Supremacy of EC law over conflicting provisions of national law — Whether EC law taking precedence even over national constitutional provisionsTreaties — Successive treaty obligations — Existing treaty obligations — EC Treaty, Article 234 — Whether authorizing Member States to exercise rights in intra-Community relations under treaties concluded prior to the EC Treaty which conflict with Community obligations — European Convention on Establishment, 1955, Article 13 — Whether capable of constituting derogation from Article 48(4) of EC TreatyTreaties — Derogations — Existing treaty obligations — EC Treaty, Article 233 — Scope of derogation permitted to members of Benelux Union from EC treaty rules — Benelux Treaty, 1958, Article 61 — Whether limiting scope of application of Article 48 of EC Treaty — Protocol to EC Treaty on Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Article 2 — Scope of right of Grand Duchy to have its special demographic situation taken into accountAliens — Freedom of movement of workers — EC rules — Scope of derogations — Employment in public service — Nationality requirement — Permissibility — EC Treaty, Article 48(4) — Scope of exceptionInternational tribunals — Court of Justice of the European Communities — Jurisdiction — Actions against Member States for failure to fulfil treaty obligations — EC Treaty, 1957, Articles 169–71 — Finding of breach by Court of Justice of the European Communities — Whether Court empowered to grant period of grace for compliance with its judgments — The law of the European Community

Les plus anciens Vertébrés du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg : des Arthrodires Brachythoraci (Placodermi ; Dévonien inférieur)

Two dermal plates of the thoracic shield of brachythoracid arthrodires have been discovered in Emsian localities of the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg (GDL). They represent the first confirmed discovery of vertebrates in the Lower Devonian of the GDL, and thus become the oldest vertebrates of this country. They are also interesting by the fact that the occurrence of Brachythoraci in the Devonian of the Ardenne Allochthon has been, until now, very rare. The features of one of both plates fit rather well with the shape of the homologous plate of the Coccosteidae; this family is usually unreported in Lower Devonian rocks.

Luxembourg and Letzebuergesch: Language and Communication at the Cross-Roads of Europe

The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg sits at the heart of the European Union, yet it forms a very private and close-knit community. The book addresses that apparent paradox, and shows how it is reflected in and sustained by the linguistic practices of the people who live there, both native and foreign. Letzebuergesch, the country's national language, is most closely related to the German dialects of the western Rhineland and the Moselle river valley, but the country's historical and cultural links with Belgium, the Netherlands, and France are much closer than with Germany. Since the demise of Latin in the late Middle Ages as the language of administration, that role has been filled at various times by the standard varieties of French and German. Declared a protected neutral country in 1867, Luxembourg has been twice invaded by Germany in the twentieth century. But since 1945 French and Letzebuergesch have come to predominate and the use of German has once again receded. It is the unwritten social code governing the use of these languages (and latterly also of English) which gives this volume of specially commissioned papers its focus: the purpose is to provide an insider's view of the community, and of its little-known language. The book contains the most detailed linguistic description of Letzebuergesch so far available in English.