1.
University of Luxembourg
The University of Luxembourg is the only public university in Luxembourg, founded on 13 August 2003. Prior to that, there were several higher educational institutions such as the cour universitaire or the IST that offered one or two years of academic studies, luxembourgish students had to go abroad in order to complete their studies at a university. The new university makes it possible for students to complete their studies in their own country. The Faculty of Law and Finance will remain on Campus Limpertsberg, like Luxembourg itself, the studies at the university are characterised by their multilingualism. Courses are usually held in two languages, French/English, French/German, or English/German, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings in 2016 ranked the university 178rd worldwide and 14th in a separate under 50 ranking. The study programme is set up in the Bologna System and oriented towards the interest of young people, students may choose between eleven bachelors and 27 masters degrees.
The faculty offers training in general medicine, the Faculty of Law and Finance organises undergraduate courses in law, management, and IT management. Many study programmes require an obligatory semester abroad, snT launched a partnership programme with for example the European Space Agency, the Swiss university ETH Zürich and the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. The Centre’s projects include improved satellite systems, computer security, time-of-flight 3D cameras, vehicular networks, the LCSB focuses its research on the analysis of biological mechanisms with a special emphasis on neurodegenerative diseases. The initial focus will be on Parkinsons disease, the LCSB cooperates with the Institute for Systems Biology in Seattle, USA, with doctoral candidates spending time researching at both universities, and sharing their knowledge. The mission of the LSF is to evaluate, deal with, the LSF is particularly concerned with financial crises that may adversely affect the future of Luxembourg’s economy.
In October 2012, the university had 6,200 students originating from 100 countries and 213 lecturers originating from 20 countries, the enrollment fees are generally 200 euros per semester. Enrollment for the semester is open from July to September. The University of Luxembourg is the first university in the country, yet there have been a number of institutions that provided research. In addition there have been a department, a centre for francophone studies, a linguistics department as well as an English department. Furthermore, there was a centre for the formation of teachers for the Luxemburg school system in Walferdange, another institute trained graduate educators, while there was an institute for the technological formation of students. On October 10,2003 the University of Luxembourg was founded following the law of August 12,2003, the first rector of the institution was the French-Canadian Prof. François Tavenas who was followed by Prof. Rolf Tarrach. Prof. Rainer Klump, the rector, took over on January 15,2015
2.
Euro
Outside of Europe, a number of overseas territories of EU members use the euro as their currency. Additionally,210 million people worldwide as of 2013 use currencies pegged to the euro, the euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. The name euro was adopted on 16 December 1995 in Madrid. The euro was introduced to world markets as an accounting currency on 1 January 1999. While the euro dropped subsequently to US$0.8252 within two years, it has traded above the U. S. dollar since the end of 2002, peaking at US$1.6038 on 18 July 2008. In July 2012, the euro fell below US$1.21 for the first time in two years, following concerns raised over Greek debt and Spains troubled banking sector, as of 26 March 2017, the euro–dollar exchange rate stands at ~ US$1.07. The euro is managed and administered by the Frankfurt-based European Central Bank, as an independent central bank, the ECB has sole authority to set monetary policy.
The Eurosystem participates in the printing and distribution of notes and coins in all states. The 1992 Maastricht Treaty obliges most EU member states to adopt the euro upon meeting certain monetary and budgetary convergence criteria, all nations that have joined the EU since 1993 have pledged to adopt the euro in due course. Since 5 January 2002, the central banks and the ECB have issued euro banknotes on a joint basis. Euro banknotes do not show which central bank issued them, Eurosystem NCBs are required to accept euro banknotes put into circulation by other Eurosystem members and these banknotes are not repatriated. The ECB issues 8% of the value of banknotes issued by the Eurosystem. In practice, the ECBs banknotes are put into circulation by the NCBs and these liabilities carry interest at the main refinancing rate of the ECB. The euro is divided into 100 cents, in Community legislative acts the plural forms of euro and cent are spelled without the s, notwithstanding normal English usage.
Otherwise, normal English plurals are used, with many local variations such as centime in France. All circulating coins have a side showing the denomination or value. Due to the plurality in the European Union, the Latin alphabet version of euro is used. For the denominations except the 1-, 2- and 5-cent coins, beginning in 2007 or 2008 the old map is being replaced by a map of Europe showing countries outside the Union like Norway
3.
Jacques Delors
Jacques Lucien Jean Delors is a French economist and politician, previously the eighth President of the European Commission and the first person to serve three terms in that office. He is the father of Martine Aubry, the former first secretary of the Socialist Party of France. Born in Paris in a family originating from Corrèze, Delors first held in the 1940s through the 1960s a series of posts in French banking and state planning with the Banque de France. As a member of the French Confederation of Christian Workers, he participated in its secularization, in 1974 Delors joined the French Socialist Party, with other left-wing Christians. He was one of the members of the party to be openly religious, thus challenging its long-standing secular tradition of Laïcité. He served in the European Parliament from 1979 to 1981, becoming chairman of its Committee on Economic, under President François Mitterrand, Delors served as Economics and Finance Minister from 1981 to 1983, and Economics and Budget Minister from 1983 to 1984.
He advocated a pause in the policies, a clear acceptance of the market economy. Critically, he held the line on Frances membership of the European Monetary System, Mitterrand flirted with the idea of naming him Prime Minister, but never made the appointment. Delors became the President of the European Commission in January 1985, during his presidency, he oversaw important budgetary reforms and laid the groundwork for the introduction of a single market within the European Community, which came into effect on 1 January 1993. In the autumn of 1988 Delors addressed the British Trade Union Congress, after 1988 it was to be the Conservatives who were divided, with Thatcher and her supporters opposed to further European integration. The article called Delors the Froggie Common Market chief, Delors has a longstanding interest in education. In 1994, members of the French Socialist Party attempted to persuade Delors to run for President of France, polls showed that he would have a very good chance of defeating either of the main conservative contenders – Prime Minister Édouard Balladur and Mayor of Paris Jacques Chirac.
However Delors declined to run and the eventual Socialist nominee, Lionel Jospin, was defeated in the 1995 presidential election by Chirac. In 1995 he won the Charles V Prize, awarded by the Fundación Academia Europea de Yuste Delors founded the Paris-based, centre-left think tank Notre Europe in 1996 and remains one of its presidents. He is president of the Conseil de lemploi, des revenus et de la cohésion sociale, on 15 September 2010 Delors supported the new initiative Spinelli Group, which was founded to reinvigorate the strive for federalisation of the European Union. Other prominent supporters include Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Guy Verhofstadt, Sylvie Goulard, Andrew Duff, in 2010, Delors was the first to be honored with the Leonardo European Corporate Learning Award. In 1990 he received the Freedom medal, Delors is the father of Socialist politician Martine Aubry. In 2012, Delors stated in the Handelsblatt newspaper that If the British cannot support the trend towards integration in Europe, we can nevertheless remain friends
4.
Maastricht Treaty
The Maastricht Treaty undertaken to integrate Europe was signed on 7 February 1992 by the members of the European Community in Maastricht, Netherlands. On 9–10 December 1991, the city hosted the European Council which drafted the treaty. The Maastricht Treaty and all pre-existing treaties, has subsequently been amended by the treaties of Amsterdam, Nice. The treaty led to the creation of the euro, one of the obligations of the treaty for the members was to keep sound fiscal policies, with debt limited to 60% of GDP and annual deficits no greater than 3% of GDP. The treaty created what was referred to as the pillar structure of the European Union. The first pillar was where the EUs supra-national institutions—the Commission, the European Parliament, the other two pillars were essentially more intergovernmental in nature with decisions being made by committees composed of member states politicians and officials. All three pillars were the extensions of existing policy structures, the European Community pillar was the continuation of the European Economic Community with the Economic being dropped from the name to represent the wider policy base given by the Maastricht Treaty.
In addition, the treaty established the European Committee of the Regions, coR is the European Unions assembly of local and regional representatives that provides sub-national authorities with a direct voice within the EUs institutional framework. The Maastricht criteria are the criteria for European Union member states to enter the stage of European Economic and Monetary Union. The four criteria are defined in article 121 of the treaty establishing the European Community and they impose control over inflation, public debt and the public deficit, exchange rate stability and the convergence of interest rates. Inflation rates, No more than 1.5 percentage points higher than the average of the three best performing member states of the EU.2. Government finance, Annual government deficit, The ratio of the government deficit to gross domestic product must not exceed 3% at the end of the preceding fiscal year. If not, it is at least required to reach a level close to 3%, only exceptional and temporary excesses would be granted for exceptional cases.
Government debt, The ratio of government debt to GDP must not exceed 60% at the end of the preceding fiscal year. Even if the target cannot be achieved due to the specific conditions, as of the end of 2014, of the countries in the Eurozone, only Estonia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Finland still met this target. Long-term interest rates, The nominal long-term interest rate must not be more than 2 percentage points higher than in the three lowest inflation member states, the purpose of setting the criteria is to maintain price stability within the Eurozone even with the inclusion of new member states. The signing of the Treaty of Maastricht took place in Maastricht, representatives from the twelve member states of the European Communities were present, and signed the treaty as plenipotentiaries, marking the conclusion of the period of negotiations. The process of ratifying the treaty was fraught with difficulties in three states, in Denmark, the first Danish Maastricht Treaty referendum was held on 2 June 1992 and ratification of the treaty was rejected by a margin of 50. 7% to 49. 3%
5.
Dominique de Villepin
Dominique Marie François René Galouzeau de Villepin is a French politician who served as the Prime Minister of France from 31 May 2005 to 17 May 2007. A career diplomat, Villepin rose through the ranks of the French right as one of Jacques Chiracs protégés and he came into the international spotlight as foreign minister with his opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq, which culminated with a speech to the UN. Villepin has enjoyed a modest return to public favour for his critique of President Sarkozys style of imperial rule. He has written poetry, a book about poetry, and several historical and political essays, Villepin is an honorary member of the International Raoul Wallenberg Foundation. Villepin was born in Rabat and spent some time in Venezuela and he graduated from the Lycée Français de New York in 1971. He has three children, Marie and Victoire, contrary to what his surname suggests, Villepin is not from an aristocratic background but from a middle class family. His ancestors added the particle de to the family name and his great-grandfather was a colonel in the French army, his grandfather was a board member for several companies, and his father Xavier de Villepin was a diplomat and a member of the Senate.
Villepin speaks French and Spanish, Villepin studied at the Institut dÉtudes Politiques de Paris and went on to the École nationale dadministration, Frances highly selective post-graduate school which trains its top civil servants. Villepin holds degrees in Civil law and French literature from the universities of Panthéon-Assas, at the end of his studies he completed his military service as a naval officer on board the Aircraft Carrier Clemenceau, Villepin entered a career in diplomacy. His assignments were, Advising Committee on African affairs The French embassy in Washington, in 1993 he became chief of staff of Alain Juppé, the Foreign Minister in Édouard Balladurs cabinet, who was Chiracs political heir apparent. He advised the president to hold a general election in 1997. This was a gamble, and Chiracs party went on to lose the elections. Villepin offered Chirac his resignation afterwards, but it was turned down, Villepin has had an uneasy relationship with the members of his own political side.
He has in the past made a number of demeaning remarks about members of parliament from his own party, in addition, the mutual distaste between Villepin and Nicolas Sarkozy, head of the Union for a Popular Movement majority party, is well known. He was appointed minister by Chirac in the cabinet of Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin at the beginning of Chiracs second term in 2002. During the 2004 coup détat in Haiti, Villepin obtained the backing of the United States Secretary of State, Colin Powell, the speech he gave to the UN to block a second resolution allowing the use of force against Saddam Husseins regime received loud applause. During mid-2003 Villepin organized the Opération 14 juillet that attempted to rescue his former student, Ingrid Betancourt, the operation failed, and because he had neither informed Colombia, nor President Chirac of the mission, it resulted in a political scandal. During the cabinet reshuffle that made Nicolas Sarkozy Finance Minister, Villepin was appointed to him as interior minister on 31 March 2004
6.
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an international organization headquartered in Washington, D. C. It now plays a role in the management of balance of payments difficulties. Countries contribute funds to a pool through a system from which countries experiencing balance of payments problems can borrow money. As of 2016, the fund had SDR477 billion, the rationale for this is that private international capital markets function imperfectly and many countries have limited access to financial markets. The IMF provides alternate sources of financing and this assistance was meant to prevent the spread of international economic crises. The IMF was intended to help mend the pieces of the economy after the Great Depression. As well, to provide investments for economic growth and projects such as infrastructure. The IMFs role was altered by the floating exchange rates post-1971. It shifted to examining the economic policies of countries with IMF loan agreements to determine if a shortage of capital was due to economic fluctuations or economic policy, the IMF researched what types of government policy would ensure economic recovery.
Rather than maintaining a position of oversight of only exchange rates and their role became a lot more active because the IMF now manages economic policy rather than just exchange rates. In addition, the IMF negotiates conditions on lending and loans under their policy of conditionality, nonconcessional loans, which include interest rates, are provided mainly through Stand-By Arrangements, the Flexible Credit Line, the Precautionary and Liquidity Line, and the Extended Fund Facility. The IMF provides emergency assistance via the Rapid Financing Instrument to members facing urgent balance-of-payments needs, the IMF is mandated to oversee the international monetary and financial system and monitor the economic and financial policies of its member countries. This activity is known as surveillance and facilitates international cooperation, the responsibilities changed from those of guardian to those of overseer of members’ policies. In 1995 the International Monetary Fund began work on data dissemination standards with the view of guiding IMF member countries to disseminate their economic and financial data to the public.
The executive board approved the SDDS and GDDS in 1996 and 1997 respectively, the system is aimed primarily at statisticians and aims to improve many aspects of statistical systems in a country. It is part of the World Bank Millennium Development Goals, some countries initially used the GDDS, but upgraded to SDDS. The IMF does require collateral from countries for loans but requires the government seeking assistance to correct its macroeconomic imbalances in the form of policy reform, if the conditions are not met, the funds are withheld. The concept of conditionality was introduced in a 1952 Executive Board decision, conditionality is associated with economic theory as well as an enforcement mechanism for repayment
7.
Luxembourg City
Luxembourg, known as Luxembourg City, is the capital city of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, and the countrys most populous commune. The city contains Luxembourg Castle, established by the Franks in the Early Middle Ages, as of January 2016, the commune had a population of 115,227, which was more than three times the population of the countrys second most populous commune. The citys metropolitan population, including that of surrounding communes of Hesperange, Strassen, in 2011, Luxembourg was ranked as having the second highest per capita GDP in the world at $80,119, with the city having developed into a banking and administrative centre. In the 2011 Mercer worldwide survey of 221 cities, Luxembourg was placed first for personal safety while it was ranked 19th for quality of living, in the Roman era, a fortified tower guarded the crossing of two Roman roads that met at the site of Luxembourg city. Siegfried built his castle, named Lucilinburhuc, on the Bock Fiels, in 987, Archbishop Egbert of Trier consecrated five altars in the Church of the Redemption.
At a Roman road intersection near the church, a marketplace appeared around which the city developed, the city, because of its location and natural geography, has through history been a place of strategic military significance. The first fortifications were built as early as the 10th century, by the end of the 12th century, as the city expanded westward around the new St. Nicholas Church, new walls were built that included an area of 5 hectares. In about 1340, under the reign of John the Blind, in 1443, the Burgundians under Philip the Good conquered Luxembourg. Subsequently, the Burgundians, the Spanish, the French, the Spanish again, the Austrians, the French again, in the 17th century, the first casemates were built, Spain built 23 km of tunnels, starting in 1644. These were enlarged under French rule by Marshal Vauban, during the French Revolutionary Wars, the city was occupied by France twice, briefly, in 1792–3, later, after a seven-month siege. After the Luxembourg Crisis, the 1867 Treaty of London required Luxembourg to dismantle the fortifications in Luxembourg City.
Their demolition took sixteen years, cost 1.5 million gold francs, the Prussian garrison was to be withdrawn. When, in 1890, Grand Duke William III died without any heirs, the Grand Duchy passed out of Dutch hands. Despite Luxembourgs best efforts to remain neutral in the First World War, on 30 August, Helmuth von Moltke moved his headquarters to Luxembourg City, closer to his armies in France in preparation for a swift victory. However, the victory never came, and Luxembourg would play host to the German high command for another four years. At the end of the occupation, Luxembourg City was the scene of an attempted communist revolution, on 9 November 1918, communists declared a socialist republic, in 1921, the city limits were greatly expanded. The communes of Eich, Hamm and Rollingergrund were incorporated into Luxembourg City, in 1940, Germany occupied Luxembourg again. Under the occupation, the citys streets all received new, German names
8.
Victor Bodson
Bodson was born in 1902 in Luxembourg City. He practiced as a lawyer in Luxembourg, and was a motorcyclist, for a while, he was the president of the Luxembourgish boxing federation. His political career started in 1930, when he became a member of the Luxembourg Socialist Workers Party, in 1934 he was elected into the Chamber of Deputies, and in 1935 he became a member of the council of Luxembourg City. He was a campaigner for those Luxembourgers who volunteered to fight on the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War. On 6 April 1940 he became Minister for Justice, Public Works, like most other government members, he went into exile after the German invasion on 10 May 1940. After the liberation, he had the portfolios and, as justice minister, was partially responsible for purification in the Liberation Government. In 1948 and 1951 he was re-elected to the Chamber, in 1967 he was appointed as Luxembourgs European Commissioner and served on the Rey Commission until 1970. Victor Bodson lived close to the river Sauer, which acts as the border between Luxemburg and Germany, Victor Bodson helped create and operate an escape route for Jews during World War II.
The route required fleeing Jews to cross over the river Sauer before meeting up with Victor Bodson at his house in Steinheim, here using a special apparatus in his car, he would ferry these people to a safe haven that had been prepared in advance by his friends. During the course of his actions, Victor Bodson risked his life several times, due to the results of his actions approximately 100 Jews were saved from the concentration camps. The Victor Bodson Bridge in Hesperange, in southern Luxembourg, is named after Bodson, yad Vashem The Holocaust Martyrs and Heroes Remembrance Authority
9.
Jean Monnet
Jean Omer Marie Gabriel Monnet was a French political economist and diplomat. An influential supporter of European unity, he is considered as one of the fathers of the European Union. Never elected to office, Monnet worked behind the scenes of American and European governments as a well-connected pragmatic internationalist. He was named patron of the 1980–1981 academic year at the College of Europe, Monnet was born in Cognac, a commune in the department of Charente in France, into a family of cognac merchants. Subsequently, he traveled widely – to Scandinavia, Egypt, Monnet firmly believed that the only path to an Allied victory lay in combining the war efforts of Britain and France, and he reflected on a concept that would coordinate war resources. In 1914, young Monnet was allowed to meet French Premier René Viviani on this issue and he managed to convince the French government to agree with him, in principle. However, during the first two years of the war, Monnet did not have much success pressing for an organization of the allied economic cooperation.
It was not until two years that stronger combines like the Wheat Executive and the Allied Maritime Transport Council were set into motion, adding to the overall war effort. At the Paris Peace Conference, Monnet was an assistant to the French minister of commerce and industry, Etienne Clémentel, the scheme was officially rejected by the Allies in April 1919. He returned to politics and, as an international financier, proved to be instrumental to the economic recovery of several Central. He helped stabilise the Polish złoty in 1927 and the Romanian leu in 1928, in 1935, when Monnet was still in Shanghai, he became a business partner of George Murnane in Monnet, Murnane & Co. He was considered among the most connected persons of his time, in December 1939, Monnet was sent to London to oversee the collectivization of the British and French war industries. His influence inspired Charles de Gaulle and Winston Churchill to agree on an Anglo-French union, in August 1940, he was sent to the United States by the British Government, as a member of the British Supply Council, to negotiate the purchase of war supplies.
Soon after his arrival in Washington, D. C. he became an advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1941, with Churchills agreement, launched the Victory Program, which represented the involvement of the United States in the war effort. After the war, John Maynard Keynes, a British economist, claimed that through his coordinating, in 1943, Monnet became a member of the National Liberation Committee, the French government of De Gaulle in exile in Algiers, designated Commissaire à lArmement. During a meeting on 5 August of that year, Monnet declared to the Committee, There will be no peace in Europe, the countries of Europe are too small to guarantee their peoples the necessary prosperity and social development. The European states must constitute themselves into a federation, following World War II, France was in severe need of reconstruction and completely dependent on coal from Germanys main remaining coal-mining areas, the Ruhr and the Saar. In 1945, Monnet proposed the Monnet Plan, known as the Theory of lEngrenage, the plan was adopted by Charles de Gaulle in early 1946
