Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1313317
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 29 NOVEMBER 2020 4 AUDITING THE name Elvinger is well known among lawyers and legal specialists in Luxem- bourg, and Joëlle Elvinger has contribut- ed to this. After studying law in France and the UK, she worked for two law firms in Luxembourg. Then, after a few years, she decided to start her own law firm. 'It was my entrepreneurial spirit!' She also passed the notary exam after being ad- mitted to the Luxembourg Bar. Although she was working in the pri- vate sector, Joëlle Elvinger got involved in politics soon after she finished her legal studies. 'I was elected as member of the municipal council of Walferdange in Oc- tober 2005, and in 2009 I decided it was better to combine my political activities with having my own law practice.' In 2013 she became a Member of Parliament in Luxembourg, a position she would keep until becoming an ECA Member. 'At that time I had also been the deputy mayor of Walferdange since 2011. When I be- came a Member of Parliament I decided to close all my legal files, concentrating instead on my political duties at the local and national levels.' Joëlle Elvinger remained deputy mayor, and became the mayor of Walferdange in 2016, combining this with her parlia- mentary duties, until she stepped down as mayor in November 2017. She never con- sidered this a problem. On the contrary: 'I believe it is a good thing, because in mu- nicipalities you are working closer to the people — on the ground, so to speak — whereas in the parliament you are work- ing on legislation which often relates to these municipalities.' She explains that sharing this combined experience can be useful. 'It is a gain for the parliament as well, because you can bring experiences from the local level to the national level.' Several of the colleagues she had in the parliament also occupied the same po- sition, also serving as mayors or deputy mayors. With her legal interests and political experience, Joëlle Elvinger saw working for a European institution as an attractive option. 'I am a convinced European, and I have always been interested in Europe- an law and issues related to the EU. I had already considered joining a European institution. Becoming an ECA Member was a unique opportunity for me , after my years in parliament. I was a Member of Parliament for six years. I could prob- ably have continued, but I knew I did not want to spend the rest of my working life in parliament. Politics is very challenging, not only from a professional but also from a private perspective.' In her recent past, the new ECA Mem- ber accompanied a number of important laws ratified by the Luxembourg parlia- ment during the last years, including laws on the budget and on tax reform. 'As a politician, you need to be a generalist, but people still expect you to know all topics in depth. Personally, I like topics where you can really go into depth, such as the budget and tax reform, and that is what we have here at the ECA as well. You have tasks, audits, for which you really need to go into detail. Together with the audit team, you get to know the topic from the beginning to the end. In politics, you of- ten do not have enough time to study all subjects in that depth.' Dealing with topics that concern people directly — also as an ECA Member As soon as Joëlle Elvinger started her mandate, she resigned from all side activ- ities she had been carrying out while she was still in politics. 'I did that to prevent any appearance of a conflict of interest. It was particularly difficult to say good- bye to non-profit organisations, since there is always a lack of people engaging. But it is essential to be completely inde- pendent, even though these organisations I was active for did not benefit from EU funds.' Likewise, she will not be involved in any political activities, at any level. 'As an ECA Member you cannot be involved in politics any more. We have to lead by example and not be linked to any political party or any government , and we must treat every Member State in the same way.' Joëlle Elvinger clearly has good memo- ries of her swearing-in ceremony at the Court of Justice of the European Union, on 13 February 2020. 'It is very formal, as is to be expected. But as a lawyer, just shortly after I had resigned from the Lux- embourg bar, it was a nice experience to be in front of the European Court of Jus- tice.' Soon after she began her mandate at the ECA, the new Member from Luxembourg started to work in the 'Sustainable Use of Natural Resources' audit chamber. While this chamber deals with rather different policies than those that she focused on while serving in parliament, this is exactly what she wanted. 'I think it is a good thing to change. And the topics dealt with in this audit cham- ber — climate change, public health, agri- culture, water, clean air — are issues that people are really concerned about.' On 1 January 2020, Joëlle Elvinger succeeded Henri Grethen as the ECA Member from Luxembourg. She previously served as mayor and as a Member of Parliament in Luxembourg, but she also worked as a lawyer in the private sector. With this background, she is keen to take up new tasks in areas which the ECA has not tread on before Auditing for the sake of