Historical background
The first steps towards a national representation of Luxembourgish communes dates back to 1951 with the creation of a Luxembourg section of the Council of European municipalities. At the origin of this initiative was Mr. Hubert Clement, who chaired the Luxembourg section until 1953.
Mr. Hubert Clement was succeeded by Mr. Antoine Krier until 1963, the year of the establishment of SYVICOL under its current form, the form of a not-for-profit “Association of Luxembourg towns and municipalities” (AVCL), whose mission it is to defend the interests of Luxembourg’s communes on national, European and international levels.
The successive Presidents of the AVCL were:
M. Henry Cravatte | 1964 - 1965 |
M. Jos Wohlfahrt | 1965 - 1970 |
M. Henry Cravatte | 1970 - 1986 |
In 1986, in order to better integrate the representation of the communal sector in Luxembourg’s public institutional framework, the AVCL became an association of communes called “Inter-communal association of Luxembourg cities and municipalities with multiple vocations for the promotion and safeguarding of general and collective communal interests” (SYVICOL).
The Presidency of SYVICOL is ensured successively by:
M. Henry Cravatte | 1986-1990 |
M. Léon Bollendorf | 1990-1994 |
M. Norbert Konter | 1994-2000 |
M. Jean-Pierre Klein | 2000-2009 |
M. Dan Kersch | 2009-2012 |
M. Emile Eicher | since 7 May 2012 |
Bringing together all Luxembourgish municipalities, SYVICOL has succeeded in imposing itself as their mouthpiece by becoming the privileged interlocutor of central Government for all matters concerning the municipal sector.
Alongside the "lobbying" work in the context of the national decision-making processes, SYVICOL is actively involved in several European and international organisations whose vocation it is to defend communal interests: the Committee of the regions of the European Union (CoR), the Congress of local and regional authorities of the Council of Europe (CLRAE) the Council of European municipalities and regions (CEMR) and internationally, The World Organisation of United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG).