Jean-Claude Juncker is a Luxembourgish politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and 12th president of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019.
40 Facts About Jean-Claude Juncker
2.
Jean-Claude Juncker served as Finance Minister from 1989 to 2009 and President of the Eurogroup from 2005 to 2013.
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Jean-Claude Juncker is the first president to have campaigned as a candidate for the position prior to the election, a process introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon.
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Jean-Claude Juncker succeeded Jose Manuel Barroso as president on 1 November 2014.
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Jean-Claude Juncker was born in Redange and spent the majority of his childhood in Belvaux.
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Jean-Claude Juncker's father, Joseph, was a steel worker and Christian trade unionist who was forcibly conscripted into the German Wehrmacht during World War II, following the Nazi occupation of Luxembourg.
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Jean-Claude Juncker has often remarked that the horrors of war he heard from his father's experiences had a profound influence in shaping his views on the need for European reconciliation and integration.
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Jean-Claude Juncker studied at the Roman Catholic ecole apostolique at Clairefontaine on the edge of Arlon in Belgium, before returning to Luxembourg to study for his Baccalaureate at Lycee Michel Rodange.
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Jean-Claude Juncker joined the Christian Social People's Party in 1974.
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Jean-Claude Juncker studied law at the University of Strasbourg, graduating with a master's degree in 1979; although he was sworn into the Luxembourg Bar Council in 1980, he never practised as a lawyer.
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Jean-Claude Juncker grew up in Belvaux, in the commune of Sanem in the canton of Esch-sur-Alzette in the south of Luxembourg.
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Jean-Claude Juncker's father was heavily wounded during his service in the Wehrmacht at the Eastern Front, which left him visibly scarred.
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Jean-Claude went to a Jesuit Boarding school close to the border of Belgium; as a schoolboy, Juncker negotiated and debated with the school's administrators on behalf of his classmates.
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Jean-Claude Juncker was one of twelve children in a large household, where money was tight; he learned from a young age the importance of saving.
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Jean-Claude Juncker later won election to the Chamber of Deputies for the first time in 1984 and was immediately appointed to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Jacques Santer as Minister of Labour.
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Shortly before the 1989 election Jean-Claude Juncker was seriously injured in a road accident, spending two weeks in a coma.
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Jean-Claude Juncker has stated that the accident has caused him difficulty with balancing since.
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Jean-Claude Juncker nonetheless recovered in time to be returned to the Chamber of Deputies once more, after which he was promoted to become Minister for Finance, a post traditionally seen as a rite of passage to the country's premiership.
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Jean-Claude Juncker was largely responsible for clauses on Economic and Monetary Union, the process that would eventually give rise to the euro, as well as in particular is credited with devising the "opt-out" principle for the UK to assuage its concerns.
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Jean-Claude Juncker was himself a signatory to the Treaty in 1992, having, by that time taken over as parliamentary leader of the Christian Social People's Party.
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Jean-Claude Juncker was re-elected to the Chamber in 1994, maintaining his ministerial role.
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Jean-Claude Juncker relinquished his post at the World Bank at this time, but maintained his position as Minister for Finance.
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Jean-Claude Juncker instigated the "Euro 11", an informal group of European finance ministers for matters regarding his Economic and Monetary Union ideals.
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Jean-Claude Juncker succeeded in winning another term as Prime Minister in the 1999 election, although the coalition with the Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party was broken in favour of one with the Democratic Party.
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In 2005, Jean-Claude Juncker inherited a second term as President of the European Council.
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Shortly after the expiration of his term came Luxembourg's referendum on ratification, and Jean-Claude Juncker staked his political career on its success, promising to resign if the referendum failed.
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Jean-Claude Juncker's continued allegiance to European ideals earned him the 2006 Karlspreis.
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Jean-Claude Juncker added that he wanted NATO to take control of coalition military efforts in Libya as soon as possible.
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The report concluded that Jean-Claude Juncker had to bear political responsibility for SREL's activities, that he had been deficient in his control over the service and that he had failed to report all of the service's irregularities to the enquiry commission.
30.
Jean-Claude Juncker was appointed as the first permanent president and assumed the chair on 1 January 2005.
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Jean-Claude Juncker was re-appointed for a second term in September 2006.
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Under the Lisbon Treaty, this system was formalised and Jean-Claude Juncker was confirmed for another term.
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Jean-Claude Juncker stepped down on 21 January 2013, when he was succeeded by Dutch Finance Minister Jeroen Dijsselbloem.
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Jean-Claude Juncker was an outspoken proponent of enhanced internal co-operation and increased international representation of the group.
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Jean-Claude Juncker further stated that when asked by a journalist to comment on those meetings he had had to lie, making clear it went against his personal moral conviction as a Catholic.
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Once Jean-Claude Juncker had been nominated by the Council he started visiting all of the political groups of the European Parliament in order to explain his visions as well as gain their support in order to get appointed as Commission President.
37.
In March 2015, Jean-Claude Juncker called for the formation of a European army, because "a common army among the Europeans would convey to Russia that we are serious about defending the values of the European Union".
38.
In July 2017, Jean-Claude Juncker described the European Parliament as "ridiculous" after only a few dozen MEPs came to attend a debate dedicated to evaluating Malta's time holding the 6-month term rotating Presidency of the Council of the EU, accusing MEPs of showing a lack of respect for smaller EU countries.
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However, it is not known whether Jean-Claude Juncker apologised for his outburst.
40.
Jean-Claude Juncker suffers from sciatica attacks following a 1989 car accident, which cause him occasional unsteadiness while walking.