History of Luxembourg (1984—present)

The recent history of Luxembourg (1984—present) began with the 1984 election, which saw Jacques Santer take office as prime minister.

Major economic and social changes took place during this time. The steel industry, still significant at the beginning of the period, continued its decline from the 1970s and steadily lost importance in the wider economy.

At the same time, the period saw the rapid rise of the banking and financial sector, and of services in general, taking a dominant role in place of steel. This led to social changes, such as the massively increased role of cross-border commuters in the economy, and a substantial rise in the number of foreign residents, attracted by opportunities in its finance sector and by the small country's many international institutions.

Politically, the period saw great stability in governments. From 1984 to 2023, there were only three prime ministers (Jacques Santer, Jean-Claude Juncker, and Xavier Bettel), each in office for at least 10 years. The Christian Social People's Party (CSV) broadly speaking continued its post-World War II dominance of the country's political scene, as the major coalition partner in all governments of the 1984-present period, with the notable exception of the 2013-2023 Bettel governments, when the CSV was in opposition.

Luxembourg continued to become ever more involved in European integration during the period. Almost symbolically of this, two former prime ministers became presidents of the European Commission. In terms of wages and industrial relations, the "Luxembourg model" and the tradition of consensus, illustrated by the Tripartite Committee between government, employers and trade unions, remained in effect. Despite the CSV's general dominance, the period saw wide-ranging social reforms in areas such as same-sex marriage, euthanasia, abortion, and church-state relations.