So when he stunned his 480,000 subjects by refusing to give his royal blessing to a euthanasia law adopted by parliament, this tiny country shoehorned between Belgium, Germany and France was thrown into crisis.

On Thursday, the 60-member legislature votes on a constitutional change that strips Henri of his power to “approve” legislation adopted in parliament, limiting him only to announcing — or “promulgating” — the decisions made by lawmakers.

The legal tweak, which is set to pass easily, makes it possible for the euthanasia bill to become law and prevent future crises of conscience at the gingerbread palace in the cobblestoned capital.

It’s not the first time a monarch has been muzzled to make way for a law.

In 1990, the Belgian government made King Baudouin a commoner for a few days when he refused to sign an abortion law. He was put back on the throne after the legislature enacted the bill unilaterally.

The devoutly Roman Catholic Henri, 53, doesn’t seem too bothered by the royal downgrade: according to Prime Minister Jean-Claude Junker, the Grand Duke and his wife Maria Teresa approve of Thursday’s proposed change.

A Dec. 3-4 poll said 60 percent of Luxembourgers disapprove of the Grand Duke withholding royal assent, 69 percent want him as a “purely ceremonial” monarch and 70 percent back the euthanasia law parliament adopted on Feb. 18 in a 30-to-26 vote.

These finding appeared at first to boost Juncker’s chances of quickly resolving the constitutional crisis. But some in his long-ruling Christian Democratic party now have second thoughts and fear Thursday’s vote may trigger a divisive referendum on the Grand Duke’s role and powers. It takes only 5 Luxembourgers to launch a referendum if they can produce 25,000 signatures.

Frank Engel, secretary general of the Christian Democratic parliamentary delegation, sees conservative Catholics agitating to portray the monarch as a defender of ethics. “If it comes to a referendum the euthanasia law will get entangled with the issue of the monarch’s constitutional duty,” says Engel. “These are two very different matters.”

Guy Arend, an elderly Luxembourger shopping on a busy street near the grand ducal palace, said it is wrong “for parliament to change the constitution. It means the Grand Duke will no longer be able to vote with his conscience.”

Euthanasia has been debated here for over a decade. Luxembourg legalized abortion in 1978, a bill Henri’s father signed without protest. The new law makes euthanasia possible after at least two doctors have been consulted.

It was largely written by Jean Huss, a Green parliamentarian and right-to-die activist, who sees much “opposition from the Vatican which fears, of course, a domino effect, that Germany, Italy and other European countries will follow suit.” Luxembourg would be the fourth country to legalize euthanasia after the Netherlands, Belgium, Colombia.

According to a news report broadcast by Luxembourg television station RTL, Goodyear will next week stop production at its Colmar-Berg, Luxembourg facility. The reason given for this week-long pause in production is a sharp decline in demand for truck tyres. According to the broadcaster, this stoppage is a one-off action. Since early October the manufacturer has first shut down production in the truck tyre factory on Sundays, and then also on Saturdays.

Recent successes reflect the FLF’s increased efforts in encouraging young players through its academy in Monnerich, and the nation hosted the 2006 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. A women’s national team was established in 2003, and the nation has produced some top match officials too, including Alain Hamer, the fourth official at the opening game of UEFA EURO 2004™, and UEFA Champions League referee Luc Wilmes. The FLF may represent one of UEFA’s smaller nations, but in terms of spirit and style, it continues to punch well above its weight.

This weekend, there will be a wide variety of events for young and old, celebrating Luxemburg’s past and present. Luxemburg, a village of approximately 2,100 residents, was named for the first settlers who came from the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. In the past century, Luxemburg has grown from a small settlement to the thriving village that will be on display for the centennial celebration.

During the weekend, people can view antique displays by private collectors, as well as an antique car and tractor display. Following the historical theme, children can play a variety of games and experience toys that were popular a century ago — including Gracies, jacks, hoop and roll, Jacob’s ladder and egg races.

Visitors will also have an opportunity to learn about Luxemburg’s history and settlers during cemetery walks at St. John Lutheran Church Cemetery and St. Mary’s Catholic Church Cemetery. There will be a self-guided walking tour or guided hay wagon tour of 56 sites of the village’s first businesses.

Although Luxemburg is small it has a big reputation for thinking progressively, offering a nice blend of recreation, education and cultural opportunities for the entire family. The Luxemburg Centennial Committee encourages people to learn about this thriving community — its past, present and future.

Mr Meyer and the association’s director, Jean-Jacques Rommes, addressed the press yesterday and stated that the operational result for banks in the Grand Duchy for the first six months of the year amounted to 3,244 billion euro which shows a slight drop of 1.8% over the corresponding period last year. While revenue from interest grew by 27% from inter-bank business, the income from commissions fell.

Grand Duke Henri will attend the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympic Games and other relevant activities, according to sources with the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

The new company, with annual sales of over 2 billion euros, would be formed through the merger of CEGEDEL CEGK.LU, the Grand Duchy’s main electricity provider, SOTEG, a local gas supplier and Saar Ferngas (SFG), a German gas distribution company.

“Today, only integrated, international operating utilities with a certain scale have the critical mass to survive the sector consolidation and remain independent,” a statement issued by the companies and the Luxembourg government said.

“CEGEDEL, SFG and SOTEG are particularly exposed to these adverse market conditions as the three companies are rather small in size and only serve markets comparatively small in size and volume.”

The main shareholders will be the state of Luxembourg with 28.3 percent, ArcelorMittal with 25.3 percent, Germany’s RWE with 19.8 percent and E.ON with 10.8 percent as well as France’s Suez with 5.1 percent.

The deal requires an unconditional clearance by competition authorities.

The number of quotation lines at the Luxembourg Stock Exchange reached 48,067 on 30 June 2008. This represented an increase of 5.47% over six months and 11.58% over 12 months. Listings on the regulated market amounted to 43,226 on the EU regulated market, while 4,841 securities were listed on the Euro MTF market.

Listed securities were made up of the following: 32,818 bonds, 297 Luxembourg and foreign shares and certificates (including 229 Depositary Receipts), 7,750 investment funds (including 7,584 Luxembourg funds), and 7,202 warrants.

In an increasingly competitive environment, the Luxembourg Stock Exchange remains the leading centre for the listing of international securities in Europe.

The report finds that while France, Germany, the UK and Italy top the league in terms of size of national markets for investment funds, reflecting the importance of the respective domestic savings markets, Luxembourg leads the way in terms of domiciliation, with 24.4% of the European market share, ahead of France (19.8%), Germany (13.5%), the UK (10%) and Italy (5.1%).

Mr Justice Edward Evans-Lombe ruled in the High Court on 4th July that Vodafone does not have to pay UK corporation tax on income attributed to its Luxembourg holding company Vodafone Investments Luxembourg Sarl (VIL). Consequently, he ordered HMRC to shut an ongoing tax inquiry into Vodafone’s tax for the year to March 2001.

Vodafone has estimated that the court victory has saved it more than GBP2bn (USD4bn) in tax and interest that it might have been ordered to pay had the judgment gone against the company. However, the ruling also has ramifications that go much wider than Vodafone’s corporate arrangements, and several UK-based multinationals with subsidiaries in favorable EU tax jurisdictions such as Ireland, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, who are said to be under a similar type of scrutiny from HMRC, are likely to be breathing a sigh of relief as a result.