We had a dis­cus­sion with Romain Sch­nei­der, the dele­gate Minis­ter in charge of Soli­da­rity-based Eco­nomy, who is also Minis­ter for Agri­cul­ture and Sports.
Which posi­tio­ning for soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy? What is plan­ned in the Govern­ment’s pro­gramme? What road­map does the Minis­ter plan to adopt?
But we also wan­ted to know who is Romain Sch­nei­der…

Mr Sch­nei­der, for a long time you have been invol­ved in soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy in Luxem­bourg…
Could you tell us in a few words about your poli­ti­cal action in this field?

I have been in poli­tics for a long time and the pro­blems of employ­ment are fami­liar to me. But also by my pro­fes­sion, in which I have been invol­ved since 1981 as an offi­cial in an employ­ment agency in Wiltz, busy in prac­ti­cal appli­ca­tion, selec­ting can­di­da­tes for employ­ment ini­tia­ti­ves. It was against that back­ground that I became invol­ved in this field, with the appea­rance of soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy, but also as a local poli­ti­cian and since 2004 as a Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment. In 2000, jointly with the OPE, we crea­ted a non-pro­fit making asso­cia­tion in Wiltz, CIGR Wiltz+, which rapidly deve­lo­ped beyond the bor­ders of the com­mune and enhan­ced the nor­thern part of the coun­try with some judi­cious pro­jects.





Against that back­ground, what con­vin­ced you?

When we deve­lo­ped this pro­ject in 2000, we were ente­ring unchar­ted ter­ri­tory here in the North. Since CIGR Wiltz+ came into exis­tence, an entire range of ser­vi­ces has been intro­du­ced, what you could call “so­cio-eco­no­mic ser­vi­ces” which trans­mit values. We qui­ckly rea­li­sed we were in a “win-win-win” situa­tion, for the com­mune, its citi­zens and those see­king jobs.

In the dis­cus­sions on a coa­li­tion bet­ween the LSAP and the CSV, what was the con­sen­sus on crea­tion of the “Eco­no­mie soli­daire-Res­sort”?

You have seen that my party dedi­ca­ted a com­plete sec­tion of its elec­tion mani­festo to the soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy. It was impor­tant for us to take new paths, to build new foun­da­tions for job crea­tion. We had also gai­ned con­si­de­ra­ble expe­rience in the socio-eco­no­mic field. It was our line to talk in real terms about the soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy. I must state clearly that in the last legis­la­tive period Fran­çois Bilt­gen, the for­mer Minis­ter of Labour and Employ­ment, stu­died employ­ment ini­tia­ti­ves asso­cia­ted with the soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy. For him, it was essen­tially a mat­ter of crea­ting a legal fra­me­work for employ­ment ini­tia­ti­ves, and nothing else, from which unfor­tu­na­tely nothing came.
As for soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy spe­ci­fi­cally, we are agreed in govern­ment that a socio-eco­no­mic sec­tor must be reco­gni­sed and streng­the­ned as such. The sta­tus of enter­pri­ses sup­por­ting a soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy plays an impor­tant role, par­ti­cu­larly if we want to make that eco­nomy the third pillar of our eco­nomy as a whole.

The coa­li­tion pro­gramme pro­vi­des the fol­lo­wing for the soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy:

• A sta­tus for enter­pri­ses in soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy
• Finance pro­vi­ded via a spe­ci­fic fund
• Regu­la­tion of acti­vi­ties in soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy
  

What is your approach?

This is unk­nown ground because, as we have already seen, we are reco­gni­sing a third com­po­nent within our eco­nomy. Soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy must be con­si­de­red an inte­gral part of the eco­nomy, and not one ope­ra­ting inde­pen­dently of the pri­vate and public sec­tors. It is the­re­fore logi­cal that it finds its place in the Minis­try of the Eco­nomy.
The road will cer­tainly take us to dis­cus­sions on the ground with the actors con­cer­ned. I want us toge­ther to find and to offer solu­tions.

The OPE crea­ted an inte­res­ting docu­ment, orde­red by Fran­çois Bilt­gen, the AIC pro­ject, the Asso­cia­tion d’Inté­rêt Col­lec­tif Col­lec­tive Inte­rest Asso­cia­tion, which will serve as the basis for the esta­blish­ment of a legal form.

A bud­get must also be voted for, in order to sup­port acti­vi­ties in soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy.
I intend to work on a cross-dis­ci­pline basis with other Minis­ters in order to release bud­gets to sup­port acti­vi­ties in soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy, for exam­ple in edu­ca­tion, envi­ron­ment and in family, to list just three.

As for sta­tus, isn’t the fun­da­men­tal ques­tion “how” to act and to pro­duce, in the sense of soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy and not just “what acti­vi­ties are a part of soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy”?

The ans­wer to that ques­tion has two parts. The OPE docu­ment on the AIC shows that the various legal forms do not take account of a homo­ge­neous fra­me­work for soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy.
Soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy can­not be exclu­si­vely finan­ced out of public funds. We must the­re­fore work towards a mix of pri­vate and public finance which is trans­pa­rent. But this also means that soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy must pro­duce income.
The new legal form must ena­ble the soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy to achieve com­mer­cial income with what we might call “so­cio-eco­no­mic values”, so that enter­pri­ses in soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy can par­ti­ci­pate in the eco­nomy, for ins­tance public con­tracts. In this way, we can over­come the pro­blem of unfair com­pe­ti­tion which is some­ti­mes rai­sed by the pri­vate eco­nomy, as is the case with the text of Law 5144 ope­ning employ­ment finance to pri­vate enter­pri­ses.
All in all, it is a mat­ter of fin­ding a legal form which would be “semi-com­mer­cial”, that is to say which also reco­gni­ses socio-eco­no­mic values.

Can you des­cribe socio-eco­no­mic values?

The eco­nomy does not con­sist solely of mone­tary pro­fits, but at the same time there are ser­vi­ces which take account of socio-eco­no­mic values and for which the mone­tary fac­tor can­not be fully defi­ned. For exam­ple, a local ser­vice which clears the snow for elderly peo­ple is a prac­ti­cal case for us here in the North. Elderly peo­ple ask for help, the snow is clea­red but that is not all. Such a ser­vice crea­tes social con­tact, and our elderly citi­zens are sup­por­ted in their own auto­nomy, pro­ba­bly avoi­ding acci­dents. That in turn crea­tes savings for the Health Ser­vice. Local ser­vi­ces play a major social role by addres­sing the peo­ple and if neces­sary crea­ting a con­tact with other social actors. Elderly peo­ple are loo­ked after, they are not iso­la­ted and this is a pre­ven­tive mea­sure. I think that a great deal of money is thus saved in other pla­ces, although the mone­tary fac­tor is dif­fi­cult to define.

How was the soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy crea­ted in Luxem­bourg? What are its the­mes? How does it deve­lop?

Its ori­gins are cer­tainly to be found to a large extent in the fight against unem­ploy­ment in the Eigh­ties. Employ­ment ini­tia­ti­ves were intro­du­ced. If I use the OPE as an exam­ple, I must howe­ver observe that soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy also arose with regard to what it pro­du­ced. In the com­mu­nes where CIG were crea­ted, sus­tai­na­ble pro­jects and ser­vi­ces were intro­du­ced, such as local ser­vi­ces, envi­ron­men­tal pro­jects, Inter­nets­tuf­fen and so on, which are now an inte­gral part of com­mu­nal life. With time, other ini­tia­ti­ves have deve­lo­ped simi­lar results, and in the coun­try we now have a variety of ini­tia­ti­ves based on the prin­ci­ple of the soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy. This was a trig­ger to give real impor­tance to soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy.

Must soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy also be esta­bli­shed on a sus­tai­na­ble basis? Is not one of the steps to be taken that of esta­bli­shing a con­sis­tent research policy, for ins­tance with the crea­tion of a Research Cen­tre for soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy?

If we ask the ques­tion about ancho­ring soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy, then we must talk about the means we have at our dis­po­sal.
Research is cer­tainly one of those means. The main­te­nance and streng­the­ning of social cohe­sion should be the gene­ral objec­tive of any research. This can be achie­ved in various ways and eco­no­mic forms, with a model for the struc­tu­ring of the soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy, but also with a citi­zen infor­ma­tion policy, regar­ding the impor­tance of the social eco­nomy in social cohe­sion.
We must also streng­then the cross-dis­ci­pline nature of soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy.

You are also skilled in sport and agri­cul­ture. Can the “know-how” of soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy effec­ti­vely influence those two impor­tant fields?

Cer­tainly, in agri­cul­ture with a variety of qua­lity pro­ducts and also in rural deve­lop­ment, and that assu­mes col­la­bo­ra­tion with the com­mu­nes. Seve­ral ser­vi­ces in soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy can be applied, in order to improve the qua­lity of life.
And of course in sport, par­ti­cu­larly with citi­zen invol­ve­ment, which means volun­tary help in spor­ting acti­vi­ties.

Now that Luxem­bourg has com­pe­tence in soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy at a govern­ment level, is this not an oppor­tu­nity to play a lea­ding role in the field at a Euro­pean Union level?

The fact that we have ancho­red soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy in the Minis­try of the Eco­nomy, and that we have appoin­ted a spe­ci­fic minis­ter, is a great recog­ni­tion of the actors on the ground who are often invol­ved volun­ta­rily. They are the ones who have crea­ted this eco­no­mic sec­tor.
As for a Euro­pean level, we must say that for the time being Luxem­bourg is the only coun­try with a minis­te­rial pro­gramme for soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy. Indeed Luxem­bourg ser­ves as model in Europe. Wha­te­ver is done in Luxem­bourg must have an impor­tance for Euro­pean orga­ni­sa­tions and pro­gram­mes. We must not be con­tent with the pre­sent state of affairs, but also sup­port the actors in soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy at a Euro­pean level. I hope we will soon have both results and con­crete pro­po­sals, and for that I am relying on the col­la­bo­ra­tion of eve­ryone con­cer­ned.

Mr Sch­nei­der, who are you…?
A few words about you as a per­son…

I am 47, and mar­ried with two chil­dren. As you know, I come from Wiltz ori­gi­nally and I joi­ned the LSAP at a very early stage, at the begin­ning of the Eigh­ties. I come from a wor­king-class family, and my father was a dri­ver at the Simon Bre­wery. For me, invol­ve­ment in poli­tics gives me an oppor­tu­nity to take part in the rea­li­sa­tion of values, and in par­ti­cu­lar the social and soli­da­rity values which form a part of eve­ry­day wor­king life.

…and your poli­ti­cal career?

I can sum­ma­rise my poli­ti­cal career with a few key dates. In 1994, I was elec­ted a local coun­cil­lor, at the time in the oppo­si­tion, because we lost the elec­tions. Then, in 2000, after the elec­tions, I became Mayor of Wiltz and in 2004 I was elec­ted a Mem­ber of Par­lia­ment for the first time. That same year I held the post of Pre­si­dent of the Nor­thern Dis­trict for the LSAP and I became the party’s Secre­tary Gene­ral. At the last par­lia­men­tary elec­tions in June, I was elec­ted to Par­lia­ment for a second time and, on 23 July 2009, I was appoin­ted a Minis­ter. It is impor­tant for me that our party keeps its four feet on the ground, that is to say that the four elec­to­ral dis­tricts are repre­sen­ted in Par­lia­ment. And, as for my approach, I am com­mit­ted to natio­nal poli­tics not losing con­tact with rea­lity on the ground, being invol­ved in cons­tant dia­lo­gue with the various actors.

Would you like to say a few words about your region, the Oes­ling?

I am extre­mely atta­ched to Luxem­bourg and I could not ima­gine living in any other coun­try in the long term. Our coun­try is beau­ti­ful, the dif­fe­rent land­sca­pes and the peo­ple of Luxem­bourg too… and of course I am even more atta­ched to the Oes­ling. Its nature is beau­ti­ful and to be seen eve­ryw­here. When I leave home I am imme­dia­tely sur­roun­ded by nature so to speak. All year the Oes­ling offers a fine cul­tu­ral pro­gramme and the North does not lack its spor­ting acti­vi­ties. Natu­rally, when we talk of the North my heart beats fas­ter.

Without spea­king of poli­tics, what is your com­mit­ment to civil society?

You know that for a long time I played foot­ball, in Wiltz, but also in the natio­nal team, pas­sing from cadet, to junior, to hope­ful and as far as the A team. I was also Pre­si­dent of FC Woltz71, a post I had to leave when I was appoin­ted Minis­ter of Sports.
For a long time I wor­ked with young peo­ple, as a mem­ber of the youth asso­cia­tion, and also for disa­bled peo­ple.
In addi­tion, I wor­ked in soli­da­rity-based eco­nomy as co-foun­der of CIGR Wiltz+.

What about your pri­vate lei­sure time?

I love to spend time with my family, time which I appre­ciate enor­mously. I had to undergo an ope­ra­tion so I can no lon­ger play foot­ball, but at a modest level I ride a bicy­cle at the wee­kend.
I love tra­vel­ling and espe­cially making short trips, for three or four days. I like to visit large cities, like Paris. And I love taking excur­sions here in our coun­try.

What are your weak points?

I find it dif­fi­cult to say no.

And what are your strong points?

I am some­body who seeks solu­tions in com­pro­mise. I am keen on pre­pa­ra­tion and above all I owe that to sport, I am a com­pe­ti­tor and I have endu­rance.

Dem Ber­nard Pivot säi ques­tion­naire

1. Your favou­rite word? How do you do?
   
2. The word you hate most? No
   
3. Your favou­rite drug? Beer
   
4. The sound or noise you like? Music
   
5. The sound or noise you hate? A child crying
   
6. Your favou­rite swear word? Ass
   
7. Man or woman whose face should adorn a new bank­note? Barak Obama
   
8. The pro­fes­sion you would not have liked to be in? Law
   
9. The plant, tree or ani­mal in which you would like to be rein­car­na­ted? Dog
   
10. If God exists, after you die what would you like to say to him? Yes, there is a great deal of injus­tice in the world.