Jacques Santer

Career

Santer graduated in 1959 from Sciences Po, before receiving his doctorate in law from the University of Strasbourg in 1961. From 1972 to 1974 he was a junior minister in the Luxembourgish government. From 1979 to 1984 he was Minister of Finance, Minister for Work and Minister for Social Security, under Pierre Werner, in the coalition government between the Christian Social People's Party (CSV) and the liberal Democratic Party.

After the general election of 1984, Werner retired as prime minister and from political life in general, and Santer became the new prime minister. He and the CSV now formed a new coalition with the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party (LSAP), which had come out of the elections as the second-largest party in the legislature, beating the Democratic Party into third place; the CSV remained the largest party. This CSV/LSAP coalition was to last until 1999.

On 10 November 1990 an article appeared in the Zeitung vum Lëtzebuerger Vollek, the title of which translated into "Five years of state secret – The bombing NATO terror commando", which caused a parliamentary inquiry in which Santer was forced to reveal the existence of a stay-behind army in Luxembourg and being politically responsible to call for its dissolution. The organisation was active since its creation by the then prime minister Pierre Werner in 1959 and was organised by the secret service of Luxembourg, the Service de Renseignement de l'Etat (SREL) and coordinated by the NATO. On 17 December 1990 he told the constitutional committee the organisation had never more than 12 members and was only foreseen to handle intelligence operations, as well as escape and evasion manoeuvers. There were weapons caches established in 1973, but direct access would not have been granted, according to Santer. On 14 October 1990, the remaining members of the organisation were informed and requested to return their radio communication equipment.

Presidency of the European Commission

Santer became the ninth President of the European Commission in 1995 as a compromise choice between the United Kingdom and a Franco-German alliance, after the Franco-German nominee Jean-Luc Dehaene was vetoed by British prime minister John Major. Santer's selection was barely ratified by a European Parliament upset with the process for which Commission presidents are selected.

In the same year, 1995, Santer became the first recipient of the Vision for Europe Award.

Allegations of corruption concerning individual EU commissioners led to an investigation into administrative failings (incompetence and malpractice) by a so-called Committee of Independent Experts. Despite clearing most commissioners, the report stated that they had not found a single person showing the slightest sense of responsibility. Because the implicated commissioners refused to resign and the president of the European Commission did not have the power to dismiss individual commissioners, Santer and his entire commission resigned on 15 March 1999, the very day of the report's publication. As the Commission would only have lasted for half a year from then, he was replaced by Vice-President Manuel Marín on an interim basis.

Later career

In the October 1999 communal elections, Santer was the CSV's candidate for Mayor of Luxembourg City, with a promise to make the city attractive and "family-friendly". He was unsuccessful, as the DP, headed by incumbent mayor Paul Helminger, remained the largest party on the city's communal council, and chose to keep his seat at the European Parliament, to which he had been elected in June of that year. He remained an MEP until 2004.

He also was on General Mediterranean Holdings' board, a financial holding owned by Anglo-Iraqi Nadhmi Auchi.

In January 2012, Santer was appointed to head the board of the Special Purpose Investment Vehicle (SPIV), which was designed to boost the firepower of the European Financial Stability Facility, the eurozone rescue fund.

In May 2013, Santer became an Honorary Member of SME Europe, the official pro-business organisation of the European People's Party.

Honours

• Iceland : Grand Cross of the Order of the Falcon (1990)
• Japan : Grand Cordon of the Order of the Rising Sun (2015)
• Luxembourg : Grand Cross of the Order of the Oak Crown
• Luxembourg : Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg
• Poland : Golden Medal for Merit to Culture – Gloria Artis (2008)
• Portugal : Grand Cross of the Order of Prince Henry (1990)
• Portugal : Grand Cross of the Military Order of Christ (1988)
• Romania : Grand Cross of the National Order of Faithful Service (2004)
• Italy: Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (26 October 1973)

References

References

1. "Les gouvernements du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg depuis 1848".
2. "Annual Report 2017 - RTL".
3. (2013-04-10). "Verbrechen im Namen des Staates".
4. (25 March 2012). "Luxemburgs Schattenkämpfer: Der Santer-Bericht zu "Stay behind"". Luxemburger Wort.
5. (1998-06-11). "Europe’s presidential race: the form". [[The Economist]].
6. McCormick, John. (2004). "The European Union: Politics and Policies".
7. (1999-10-07). "Cliff-hanger".
8. (2012-01-25). "Jacques is back".
9. [https://www.quirinale.it/onorificenze/insigniti/34949 Le onorificenze della Repubblica Italiana (quirinale.it)]