Frequently Asked Questions

A petition is a request addressed to the Chamber of Deputies whereby a person seeks to voice a concern or a demand which is of public interest.

At the Chamber of Deputies, there are two types of petitions: public petitions (which may be signed online or through a paper form) and ordinary petitions.

Furthermore, if the request has a European and/or concerns a European matter, it is also possible to submit a petition to the European Parliament:

Public petition: The primary objective of a public petition is to collect enough signatures (electronic and/or paper) to trigger a public debate in the Chamber of Deputies in presence of MPs and of government representatives. The idea is to gather the support of as many fellow citizens as possible in order to be able to defend a given cause before the Chamber of Deputies.
Ordinary petition: The primary objective of an ordinary petition is to bring an issue or request to the attention of the Petitions Committee’s attention with the aim of encouraging it to respond by any means at its disposal.

You can find it all in the chapter on petitions of the Chamber’s Regulation

Any person aged 15 or over who is registered in the National Register of Natural Persons, i.e. who has a “matricule”, may submit a request for a public petition. It is therefore not necessary to be of Luxembourg nationality or to be a Luxembourg resident to submit or sign a petition.

• on this site using LuxTrust or eIDAS authentication;

• in person at the Chamber of Deputies, provided that you fill in paper form beforehand and show proof of identity;

• by post, provided that the paper form has been completed in advance and the signature has been authenticated.

The petition must be submitted in one of the three administrative languages: French, German or Luxembourgish. The petitioner may also provide a translation of the public petition in one of the following languages: French, German, Luxembourgish or English. The parliamentary administration does not translate petitions.

Before being opened for signature, the admissibility of a request for a public petition is analysed by the Petitions Committee. Only if and when a favourable decision has been given is the petition opened for signature. The author of the petition is informed of the decision of the Petitions Committee.

The petitioner has 42 days to collect electronic and paper signatures (using the form provided by the Parliamentary Administration).
This paper form can be downloaded on the petition’s direct page.

• the petition request does not comply with the conditions of admissibility;
• the petitioner has not responded to the request for reformulation within the deadline.

Yes, the petitioner may submit an appeal to the President of the Chamber of Deputies by post within 30 days of the decision to reject the petition:

Chambre des Députés
Président de la Chambre
23, rue du Marché-aux-Herbes
L-1728 Luxembourg
Luxembourg

An appeal to the judge is only possible after an attempt at an informal appeal.

Anyone aged 15 or over who is registered in the National Register of Natural Persons, i.e. has a “matricule”.
Beware of double signatures: a public petition may not be signed more than once by the same person.

If you have a “matricule” but do not know it, you have two options:

• contact your municipality of residence, or

• go to  www.myguichet.lu  and log on, then click on "My data" and select "National register of natural persons" under the heading "Citizenship".

If you do not have a “matricule”, you are advised to contact the Helpdesk at www.guichet.lu, who will be able to help you.

There are two ways to sign a public petition:

• electronically, by filling in the form available on this website;
• on paper, using a form provided by the Parliamentary Administration.

It is not compulsory to identify yourself on LuxTrust or eIDAS to sign a petition. However, it does mean that you can sign several petitions more quickly, as you do not have to enter your personal details each time.

The data provided by petitioners or signatories will be stored electronically until the end of the petition’s administrative procedure. They will then be deleted. The parliamentary administration also reserves the right to check your identity in the National Register of Natural Persons.

When filling in the signature form, signatories can decide whether to display their signature (first name, surname and town) on the petition page or not. In the latter case, only the Parliamentary Administration will be able to view the signature and know the signatory’s identity. The list of electronic signatures remains available on the Chamber's website until the Petitions Committee certifies the result of the public petition. Personal data will be stored electronically until the end of the administrative procedure. Signatures collected on paper are not published on the Chamber's website.

Any public petition that obtains at least 5500 valid signatures, both electronically and on paper, gives rise to a public debate. A date for the public debate is set, taking into account the availability of the various parties invited to the debate.

During the public debate, the initiator of the petition may be accompanied by a maximum of five people who are also authorised to speak. MPs who are members of the parliamentary committees concerned and one or more members of the government will also be present at the public debate to give their views.

Petitioners or those accompanying them who do not speak Luxembourgish may obtain a simultaneous translation of the debate into French or German. Simply request this from the Parliamentary Administration.

Anyone interested can attend the public debate from the stands in the plenary hall.

Access is through the visitors’ entrance on rue de l'Eau and all visitors must carry identification. The debate will also be filmed and broadcast live on Chamber TV and via streaming (www.chd.lu  or  www.petitiounen.lu)

A public petition that has not obtained enough signatures to give rise to a public debate may be reclassified as an ordinary petition. In this case, the Petitions Committee may continue with the examination of the public petition in the same way as it would an ordinary petition.

• on this site using LuxTrust or eIDAS authentication;

• in person at the Chamber of Deputies, provided that you fill in the paper form beforehand and show proof of identity;

• by post, provided that the paper form has been completed in advance and the signature has been authenticated.

The petitioner must sign the petition and provide his or her surname, first name, matricule and address.

• request a written statement from the relevant Minister;
• hear the petitioners at one of its meetings, invite any body or expert concerned by the petition;
• make site visits as part of the petition investigation.