Jean-Claude Juncker

Biography

Jean-Claude Junker served as the President of the European Commission for five years, during one of the bloc’s most eventful periods. Prior to that he President of the Eurogroup, a role which coincided with the latter period of his time as Prime Minister of Luxembourg. A political leader he is also noted as one of the founding figures of the euro and a leader of European unification.

After being elected to Luxembourg's Chamber of Deputies Jean-Claude was quickly appointed Minister for Work before becoming Minister for Finances, a brief he oversaw for a decade. He was also Luxembourg's representative on the Board of Governors of the World Bank.

A leading political figure in one of the European Union’s founding nations, Jean-Claude chaired the Council of Economic and Financial Affairs and was a key architect of the Maastricht Treaty. He was also heavily influential in developments around European economic and monetary union and is often described as one of the founding fathers of the euro.

Jean-Claude was Prime Minister for 18 years, making him the longest-serving EU head of government. He was elected President of the European Commission shortly afterwards, becoming the 12th leader of the Union’s executive branch. Alongside the challenges of leading the day-to-day business of EU policy implementation, his time in charge also saw Europe face the refugee crisis and, perhaps most notably, the UK’s decision to leave the EU.