Jacques Santer is a Luxembourgish politician who served as the ninth president of the European Commission from 1995 to 1999. He served as the finance minister of Luxembourg from 1979 until 1989, and the 22nd prime minister of Luxembourg from 1984 to 1995, as a member of the Christian Social People's Party (CSV), which was the leading party in the Luxembourg government between 1979 and 2013. As Prime Minister of Luxembourg he also led the negotiations on the Single European Act, which effectively set aside the 20-year-old Luxembourg Compromise.
Santer in 1994
Santer meets with Luxembourgish Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker in 5 February 1997
Santer meets with French President Jacques Chirac in 16 July 1997
Jacques Santer, 2006
President of the European Commission
The president of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The president of the Commission leads a cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the College. The president is empowered to allocate portfolios among, reshuffle, or dismiss Commissioners as necessary. The College directs the commission's civil service, sets the policy agenda and determines the legislative proposals it produces. The commission is the only body that can propose or draft bills to become EU laws.
President of the European Commission
Headquarters of the European Commission in Brussels (Berlaymont building)
Walter Hallstein, the first president of the Commission
President Mansholt opened the first enlargement talks with Denmark, Ireland, Norway and the United Kingdom