Jean-Claude Juncker

Biography

Jean-Claude Juncker was born in Redange in 1954 and grew up in the steel town of Belvaux, the son of a steelworker and Christian trade unionist. He joined the Christian Social People's Party in 1974 and studied law at the University of Strasbourg, graduating in 1979, though he never practised.

Elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1984, he immediately became Minister of Labour in Jacques Santer's government, and from 1989 he was also Minister of Finance. Chairing the EU finance ministers during Luxembourg's 1991 Council presidency, he was a key author of the economic and monetary union provisions of the Maastricht Treaty. He succeeded Santer as prime minister in January 1995 and held the post for almost nineteen years, becoming the longest-serving head of government in the EU. From 2005 to 2013 he was the first permanent president of the Eurogroup, presiding over it during the euro crisis.

A scandal over the state intelligence service, SREL, cost him his coalition partner and forced early elections in 2013, after which he left office. In 2014 the European People's Party chose him as its lead candidate, and after the party came first in the European elections he was elected President of the European Commission, serving from November 2014 to November 2019. Days into his term the LuxLeaks revelations about tax rulings granted under his premiership led to a censure motion, which the European Parliament rejected.