Jean-Claude Juncker

Jean-Claude Juncker
Juncker in 2019
President of the European Commission
In office
1 November 2014 – 30 November 2019
First Vice PresidentFrans Timmermans
Preceded byJosé Manuel Barroso
Succeeded byUrsula von der Leyen
23rd Prime Minister of Luxembourg
In office
20 January 1995 – 4 December 2013
MonarchsJean
Henri
DeputyJacques Poos
Lydie Polfer
Jean Asselborn
Preceded byJacques Santer
Succeeded byXavier Bettel
President of the Eurogroup
In office
1 January 2005 – 21 January 2013
Preceded byPosition established
Succeeded byJeroen Dijsselbloem
Minister for the Treasury
In office
23 July 2009 – 4 December 2013
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byLuc Frieden
Succeeded byVacant
Minister for Finances
In office
14 July 1989 – 23 July 2009
Prime MinisterJacques Santer
Himself
Preceded byJacques Santer
Succeeded byLuc Frieden
Minister for Work and Employment
In office
20 July 1984 – 7 August 1999
Prime MinisterJacques Santer
Preceded byJacques Santer
Succeeded byFrançois Biltgen
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office
20 July 1984 – 20 July 1984
Personal details
Born (1954-12-09) 9 December 1954 (age 69)
Redange, Luxembourg
Political partyChristian Social People's Party (since 1974)
Other political
affiliations
European People's Party
SpouseChristiane Frising
EducationUniversity of Strasbourg
Signature

Jean-Claude Juncker (Luxembourgish: [ˈʒɑ̃ːkloːt ˈjuŋkɐ]; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who was the 23rd prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and 12th president of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also was Finance Minister from 1989 to 2009 and President of the Eurogroup from 2005 to 2013.

By the time Juncker left office as prime minister in 2013, he was the longest-serving head of any national government in the EU and one of the longest-serving democratically elected leaders in the world, with his tenure encompassing the height of the European financial and sovereign debt crisis.[1] In 2005, he became the first permanent President of the Eurogroup.[2]

In 2014, the European People's Party (EPP) had Juncker as its lead candidate, or Spitzenkandidat, for the presidency of the Commission in the 2014 elections. This marked the first time that the Spitzenkandidat process was employed.[3] Juncker is the first president to have campaigned as a candidate for the position prior to the election, a process introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon. The EPP won 220 out of 751 seats in the Parliament. On 27 June 2014, the European Council officially nominated Juncker for the position,[4][5][6] and the European Parliament elected him on 15 July 2014 with 422 votes out of the 729 cast.[7] He took office on 1 November 2014 and served until 30 November 2019, when he was succeeded by Ursula von der Leyen.[8]

Juncker has stated that his priorities would be the creation of a digital single market, the development of an EU Energy Union, the negotiation of the Transatlantic Trade Agreement, the continued reform of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union—with the social dimension in mind, a "targeted fiscal capacity" for the Eurozone, and the 2015–2016 British EU membership renegotiations.[9]

  1. ^ McDonald-Gibson, Charlotte (11 July 2013). "Luxembourg PM Jean-Claude Juncker calls snap elections amid secret". The Independent. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
  2. ^ "Jean-Claude Juncker, former president of the Eurogroup – Consilium". www.consilium.europa.eu. Archived from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 24 July 2019.
  3. ^ Crisp, James (13 February 2017). "The Brief: The race to succeed Jean-Claude Juncker". euractiv.com. Retrieved 16 February 2017.
  4. ^ "Results of the 2014 European elections – European Parliament". www.europarl.europa.eu. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2014.
  5. ^ "Summit backs Juncker in blow to UK". BBC News. 27 June 2014.
  6. ^ "EU leaders give thumbs up to Juncker, Britain isolated". euractiv.com. 27 June 2014.
  7. ^ "European Commission – PRESS RELEASES – Press release – A new start for Europe: My agenda for Jobs, Growth, Fairness and Democratic Change". europa.eu.
  8. ^ "Juncker elected to top EU job". BBC News. 15 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Jean-Claude Juncker: My priorities". juncker.epp.eu. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2014.