Delors Commission

The Delors Commission was the administration of Jacques Delors, the eighth President of the European Commission. Delors presided over the European Commission for three terms (though the last one lasted for around a year). The first term lasted from 1985 to 1988, the second until 1992 and the final one until 1994, making Delors the longest serving president, and his Commission is also seen as the most successful at advancing European integration. It was the only Commission to serve three times, and Delors served five two-year terms (as they were then). The third Commission was the first Commission of the European Union, the Maastricht Treaty having come into force in 1993.

History

The European Commissions led by Jacques Delors are regarded by some as the most successful in the European Union's history at advancing integration. Delors himself became an icon of Euro-federalists and widely disliked by Eurosceptics, especially in Britain.

Following Delors' arrival in Brussels, he visited the various member states and found the same complaint that Europe reacted too slowly to issues, but did find common agreement on the single market, with its business and cultural meaning, and hence Delors placed it as his main priority with a date for its achievement: 1992 (Objectif 1992). Despite his modern reputation he was criticised by federalists for not going far enough, even earning criticism from Altiero Spinelli in the European Parliament, but Delors defended his goals as pragmatic stating "we are all slaves to the circumstances" . To accomplish his goal of completing the single market, Delors had to master the political system of the community: with any member able to block a proposal in the Council, Delors convinced leaders to introduce Qualified Majority Voting so the procedure could not grind to a halt as it did under the budget disagreement. Thus, Delors set Lord Cockfield, his Internal Market Commissioner, in drafting the legislation. Now, Cockfield's work is seen as highly precise and his knowledge of the system legendary.

The Delors Commission was also responsible for the creation of the Committee of the Regions, having enshrined the idea of cohesion between EU states and regions in the SEA in 1986 leading Delors to propose the body in 1992. It was created in 1994 and the building the body occupies was named after Delors in 2006. Delors' Commission oversaw a large degree of expansion. The membership of Spain and Portugal came first in 1985; then the fall of the Berlin Wall enabled the Reunification of Germany; and in 1995 came the accession of Austria, Finland and Sweden. The Delors Commission also prepared the opening to the eastern countries who later joined in 2004. In 1992, as Delors' second term was coming to an end, the International Herald Tribune noted the effect of the Delors Commission, and the need for a third term;

Following his entrance into a Europe of eurosclerosis, Delors had heralded 20 years of euphoria.

In opposition to the strident neoliberalism of U.S. president Ronald Reagan (serv. 1981–1989) which dominated the American political agenda, Delors and his Commission promoted an alternative interpretation of capitalism that embedded it in the European social structure. He synthesized three themes. From the left came favouring the redistribution of wealth, and the protection of the weakest. Second ,a neomercantilist approach wanted to maximize European industrial output. A third was reliance on the marketplace. His emphasis on the social nature of Europe is central to an important exceptionalism narrative that became central to the self identification of the European Union.

Major events

thumb|The Second Delors Commission

The commission was the longest serving executive to date and oversaw many events in the history of the Union.

1985: Greenland leaves the Community. Gravier ruling by the ECJ on non-discrimination by nationality.
1986: Spain and Portugal join the Communities. The Single European Act is signed. Marshall ruling by the ECJ on non-discrimination by gender. The European flag is adopted by the Communities, it is raised outside the Berlaymont.
1987: 30 years since the Treaties of Rome. Membership application submitted by Turkey. Single European Act enters into force.
1988: Delors asked to draw up a report on Economic and Monetary Union (the Delors Report). The Court of First Instance is established. The Delors Package I was adopted, increasing the budget (notably for structural policy) and reforming the budgetary procedure.
1989: Cowan ruling by the ECJ on non-discrimination by nationality. Delors Report presented. Declaration of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms adopted by the Parliament. Third direct elections to Parliament held. Spain and Portugal join the European Monetary System. Berlin Wall falls, leading to agreements and accession of eastern countries. Lomé Convention signed. First European Union Merger law adopted.
1990: Commission meets for 1000th time. European Bank for Reconstruction and Development established. Schengen agreement signed. Reunification of Germany.
1991: Stoeckel ruling by the ECJ on non-discrimination by gender. ECHO established. Energy Charter signed. USSR dissolves.
1992: Maastricht Treaty signed, Denmark fails to ratify. European Economic Area (EEA) agreement signed, Switzerland fails to ratify.
1993: Single European Market enters force. Maastricht is ratified and enters into force.
1994: European Monetary Institute established. EEA enters force. Committee of the Regions established. Accession negotiations for Austria, Norway, Sweden and Finland conclude. European Investment Fund established. Hungary and Poland apply to join. Fourth direct elections to the Parliament are held.

Members

The three Delors Commissions (generally known as "Delors I", Delors II" and "Delors III") had considerable continuity of membership and political balance, but there were nonetheless differences.

First college

This Commission served from 1985 to 1988, although the Spanish and Portuguese members only joined as from their countries' membership of the European Communities on 1 January 1986.

{| class=wikitable width=100%

!width=40%|Portfolio

!Name

!State

!Party

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|President

|Jacques Delors

|Socialist Party

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Vice-President Agriculture and fisheries

|Frans Andriessen

|CDA

|---- bgcolor=#FFFFDD

|Vice-President Budget, financial control, personnel and administration

|Henning Christophersen

|Venstre

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Vice-President Internal market, tax law and customs

|Lord Cockfield

|Conservative Party

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Vice-President Social affairs, employment and education

|Manuel Marin

|PSOE

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Vice-President Industry, information technology and science and research

|Karl-Heinz Narjes

|CDU

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Vice-President Cooperation, development affairs and enlargement

|Lorenzo Natali

|DC

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Mediterranean policy and north–south relations

|Claude Cheysson

|Socialist Party

|---- bgcolor=#FFFFDD

|External relations and trade policy

|Willy De Clercq

|Liberal

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Environment, consumer protection and transport

|Stanley Clinton Davis

|Labour

|----- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Fisheries

|António Cardoso e Cunha

|Social Democratic Party

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Credit, investments, financial instruments and small & medium-sized enterprises

|Abel Matutes

|CSU

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Institutional reforms, information policy, culture and tourism

|Carlo Ripa di Meana

|PSI

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Economic affairs and employment

|Peter Schmidhuber

|CSU

|----- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Competition, social affairs and education

|Peter Sutherland

|Fine Gael

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Relations with the European Parliament, regional policy and consumer protection

|Grigoris Varfis

|PASOK

Second college

This Commission served from 1989 to 1992.

{| class=wikitable width=100%

!width=40%|Portfolio

!Name

!State

!Party

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|President

|Jacques Delors

|PS

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Vice-President External relations and trade policy

|Frans Andriessen

||CDA

|---- bgcolor=#FFFFDD

|Vice-President Internal market and industrial affairs

|Martin Bangemann

|FDP

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Vice-President Competition and financial institutions

|Sir Leon Brittan

|Conservative

|---- bgcolor=#FFFFDD

|Vice-President Economic & financial affairs and coordination of structural funds

|Henning Christophersen

|Venstre

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Vice-President Cooperation, development and fisheries

|Manuel Marin

|PSOE

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Vice-President Science, research, development, telecommunications and innovation

|Filippo Maria Pandolfi

|DC

|------bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Energy, Euratom, small businesses; staff and translation

|António Cardoso e Cunha

|PSD

|Audiovisual and cultural affairs

|Jean Dondelinger

|None

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Agriculture and rural development

|Ray MacSharry

|Fianna Fáil

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Mediterranean and Latin American policy

|Abel Matutes

|People's Party

|------bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Transport and consumer protection

|Karel Van Miert

|SP

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Regional Policy

|Bruce Millan

|Labour

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Employment, industrial relations and social affairs

|Vasso Papandreou

|PASOK

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Environment, nuclear safety and civil protection

|Carlo Ripa di Meana

|PSI

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Budget

|Peter Schmidhuber

|CSU

|---- bgcolor=#FFFFDD

|Taxation and customs union

|Christiane Scrivener

|Republican Party

Third college

This Commission served from 1993 to 1994. It was the first Commission of the European Union, with the Maastricht Treaty coming into force. Its short tenure was designed to bring the mandates of the Commission into line with those of the European Parliament.

{| class=wikitable width=100%

!width=40%|Portfolio

!Name

!State

!Party

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|President

|Jacques Delors

|PS

|---- bgcolor=#FFFFDD

|Vice-President Internal market, industrial affairs and ICT

|Martin Bangemann

|FDP

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Vice-President External economic affairs and trade policy

|Sir Leon Brittan

|Conservative

|---- bgcolor=#FFFFDD

|Vice-President Economic and financial affairs

|Henning Christophersen

|Venstre

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Vice-President Cooperation, development and humanitarian aid

|Manuel Marin

|PSOE

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Vice-President Competition

|Karel Van Miert

|SP

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Vice-President Science, research, technological development and education

|Antonio Ruberti

||PSI

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Transport and energy

|Marcelino Oreja

|People's Party

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Environment, fisheries

|Ioannis Paleokrassas

|ND

|---- New Democracy (Greece)

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Agriculture and rural development

|René Steichen

|CSV

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Transport and energy

|Abel Matutes

|People's Party

|Institutional reform, internal market and enterprise

|Raniero Vanni d'Archirafi

|None

|---- bgcolor=#FFFFDD

|Taxation, customs union and consumer policies

|Christiane Scrivener

|Liberal

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Budget, financial control and the cohesion fund

|Peter Schmidhuber

|CSU

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Social affairs and employment

|Pádraig Flynn

|Fianna Fáil

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Relations with Parliament, culture and audiovisual

|João de Deus Pinheiro

|PSD/PP

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|External relations and enlargement

|Hans van den Broek

|CDA

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Regional policy and cohesion

|Bruce Millan

|Labour

Key

The colour of the row indicates the approximate political leaning of the office holder using the following scheme:

{| class="wikitable sortable"

!class="unsortable"|Affiliation

!First term

!Second term

!Third term

|---- bgcolor=#DDEEFF

|Right leaning / Conservative

| 10

| 7

| 8

|---- bgcolor=#FFE8E8

|Left leaning / Socialist

| 6

| 7

| 5

|---- bgcolor=#FFFFDD

|Centrist / Liberal

| 2

| 3

|---- bgcolor=#FFFFFF

| Other / Unknown

| 0

| 1

Secretary-General

The Secretary-General of the European Commission throughout the three Delors Commissions was David Williamson.

Footnotes

References

European Commission archive of the Delors I Commission. "[http://ec.europa.eu/avservices/photo/photo.cfm?id=1565&sitelang=en]" Retrieved 17 March 2007.
EU Press release (1988). "Responsibilities of the members of the new commission". Retrieved 24 March 2005.
EU Press release (1992). "Composition of the new Commission". Retrieved 17 March 2007.

External links

Delors Report ec.europa.eu
Photos of the First Delors Commission ec.europa.eu
Photos of the Second Delors Commission ec.europa.eu
Photos of the Third Delors Commission ec.europa.eu
History of the EU, 1985 europa.eu

History

Major events

Members

First college

Second college

Third college

Key

Secretary-General

See also

Footnotes

References

External links