He was the surprise winner of Luxembourg's elections in October. Xavier Bettel - 40 years old, the... euronews, the most watched news channel in Europe Subscribe for your daily dose of international news, curated and explained:http://eurone.ws/10ZCK4a Euronews is available in 13 other languages: http://eurone.ws/17moBCU http://www.euronews.com/2013/12/20/stop-the-cliches-about-luxembourg-says-new-pm-xavier-bettel He was the surprise winner of Luxembourg's elections in October. Xavier Bettel - 40 years old, the centre-right former mayor of Luxembourg City - formed an alliance with socialists and ecologists. It was enough to end the near 19-year reign of the elder statesman of European summits, the Conservative Jean-Claude Juncker. Bettel took office as Prime Minister of Luxembourg on December 4. Audrey Tilve, euronews: "Xavier Bettel, for your first European summit, here's a slightly annoying question. Jean-Claude Juncker, your predecessor, left a mark on European politics. Is it not too burdensome being in his shadow?" Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister of Luxembourg: "No, he has certainly made his mark on summits, but now people will have to do with someone else, and I can tell you the welcome has been very, very warm. Thanks to the people of Luxembourg who made a choice and a parliamentary majority, I've been able to be present among my colleagues today." euronews: "How would you like to stand out or differ from him on the European scene? Xavier Bettel: "It's not a case of wanting to stand out or be different, each has his own style. All I want is to continue in a pro-European, friendly spirit, not confrontational but trying to find solutions, and above all what I appreciate is respect, since I recognise I am not prime minister of the biggest country." euronews: "Right from this first summit, your European partners have put pressure on Luxembourg to stop blocking a measure aimed at stopping tax evasion via trusts and funds. Is your country's position tenable?" Xavier Bettel: "Well firstly it's not only Luxembourg, it's Austria and Luxembourg which have a common position on this, and that's a commitment that we undertook in May, to say that we agreed for the Savings Directive to be set in motion, on the condition that we negotiate with five non-EU countries, including Switzerland, and this wasn't done. Find us on: Youtube http://bit.ly/zr3upY Facebook http://www.facebook.com/euronews.fans Twitter http://twitter.com/euronews

• published: 20 Dec 2013
• views: 5