Présidents de la Commisson

Question 1

Walter Hallstein

Answer 1

1st (1858 - 1967)
Deutschland

The first President of the Commission of the European Economic Community and one of the founding fathers of the European Union.

Question 2

Jean Rey

Answer 2

2nd (1967 - 1970)
Belgique

Question 3

Franco Maria Malfatti

Answer 3

3rd (1970 - 1972)
Italia

He began as the integration process was relaunched: the EC adopting a financial framework and competing the single market. There was also the beginnings of political cooperation, monetary cooperation and of enlargement as talks opened with Denmark, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom.

Question 4

Sicco Mansholt

Answer 4

4th
(1972) - Nederland

It oversaw the creation of the European Monetary System on 24 April 1972 and the first enlargement on 1 January 1973.

Question 5

François-Xavier Ortoli

Answer 5

5th (1973 - 1976)
France

It was the first Commission since the first enlargement at the start of the year. It managed the extended Community during the instability of the Yom Kippur war, the 1973 oil crisis and the Turkish invasion of Cyprus.

Question 6

Roy Jenkins

Answer 6

6th (1977 - 1980)
United Kingdom

Despite stagnating growth and a higher energy bill, the Jenkins Commission oversaw the development of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union from 1977, which began in 1979 as the European Monetary System, a forerunner of the Single Currency or euro. President Jenkins was the first President to attend a G8 summit on behalf of the Community.

Question 7

Gaston Thorn

Answer 7

7th (1981 - 1985)
Luxembourg

With a current economic crisis, it had to speed up enlargement to Greece, Spain and Portugal while making steps towards the Single European Act in 1985. However, with a period of eurosclerosis, due to economic problems and British vetoing over the Community budget, Thorn was unable to exert his influence to any significant extent

Question 8

Jacques Delors

Answer 8

8th (1985 - 1995)
France

he first term lasted from 1985 to 1988, the second until 1992 and the final one until 1994, making Delors the longest serving president, and his Commission is also seen as the most successful at advancing European integration.

Question 9

Jacques Santer

Answer 9

9th (1995 - 1998)
Luxembourg

The administration was led by Jacques Santer (former Prime Minister of Luxembourg).

The body had 20 members and oversaw the introduction of the euro. It was cut short when the Commission became the first to resign en masse, owing to allegations of corruption. Some members continued under Manuel Marín until the Prodi Commission was appointed.

Question 9

Romano Prodi

Answer 9

10th (1999 - 2004)
Italia
As well as the enlargement and Amsterdam Treaty, the Prodi Commission also saw the signing and enforcement of the Nice Treaty as well as the conclusion and signing of the European Constitution: in which he introduced the “Convention method” of negotiation.
From 1999 Prodi saw in the euro and by 2002 it came into cash form and the single currency for 12 of the EU’s 15 member states. The body was however criticised for being lacklustre, with poor communication and failing to make an impact despite major events such as enlargement and the euro

Question 10

José Manuel Barroso

Answer 10

11th (2004 - 2014)
Portugual

Barroso was at first seen as the lowest common denominator by outside commentators, but his proposed team of Commissioners earned him some respect before triggering a crisis when the European Parliament objected to some of them, forcing a reshuffle. In 2007 the Commission gained two new members when Romania and Bulgaria joined the European Union.

Barroso’s handling of his office was markedly more presidential than his predecessors.[ During his term the Commission passed major legislation including the REACH and ‘Bolkestein’ Directives. Under Barroso, the civil service in the Commission became more economically liberal.

Question 11

Jean-Claude Juncker

Answer 11

12th (2014 - 2019)
Luxembourg

Juncker made the Commission’s work more top-down by strengthening the Secretariat-General in two ways. Firstly, he gave it a gatekeeper function regarding new initiatives. All “major initiatives” must henceforth be approved by the “relevant Vice-President(s) and the First Vice-President, unless they are initiated directly by the President”. Secondly, the SG was made chair of all inter-service steering groups (ISGs) dealing with priority initiatives in the Commission’s work programme.

Juncker also abolished the position of Commissioner for Climate Action, merging it with the energy portfolio, to improve cooperation between staff in the Directorate-General (DG) Energy and the former DG Climate Action.

Question 12

Ursula van den Leyen

Answer 12

13th (2020 - 2024)
Deutschland