Jean-Claude Juncker

The Honorable Jean-Claude Juncker
Juncker in 2019
President of the European Commission
In office 1 November 2014 – 30 November 2019
First Vice President	Frans Timmermans
Preceded by	José Manuel Barroso
Succeeded by	Ursula von der Leyen
23rd Prime Minister of Luxembourg
In office 20 January 1995 – 4 December 2013
Monarchs	Jean Henri
Deputy	Jacques Poos Lydie Polfer Jean Asselborn
Preceded by	Jacques Santer
Succeeded by	Xavier Bettel
President of the Eurogroup
In office 1 January 2005 – 21 January 2013
Preceded by	Position established
Succeeded by	Jeroen Dijsselbloem
Minister for the Treasury
In office 23 July 2009 – 4 December 2013
Prime Minister	Himself
Preceded by	Luc Frieden
Succeeded by	Vacant
Minister for Finances
In office 14 July 1989 – 23 July 2009
Prime Minister	Jacques Santer Himself
Preceded by	Jacques Santer
Succeeded by	Luc Frieden
Minister for Work and Employment
In office 20 July 1984 – 7 August 1999
Prime Minister	Jacques Santer
Preceded by	Jacques Santer
Succeeded by	François Biltgen
Member of the Chamber of Deputies
In office 20 July 1984 – 20 July 1984
Personal details
Born	(1954-12-09) 9 December 1954 (age 69) Redange, Luxembourg
Political party	Christian Social People's Party (since 1974)
Other political affiliations	European People's Party
Spouse	Christiane Frising
Education	University of Strasbourg
Signature

Jean-Claude Juncker (Luxembourgish: [ˈʒɑ̃ːkloːt ˈjuŋkɐ]; born 9 December 1954) is a Luxembourgish politician who was the 23rd prime minister of Luxembourg from 1995 to 2013 and 12th president of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019. He also was Finance Minister from 1989 to 2009 and President of the Eurogroup from 2005 to 2013.

By the time Juncker left office as prime minister in 2013, he was the longest-serving head of any national government in the EU and one of the longest-serving democratically elected leaders in the world, with his tenure encompassing the height of the European financial and sovereign debt crisis.^[1] In 2005, he became the first permanent President of the Eurogroup.^[2]

In 2014, the European People's Party (EPP) had Juncker as its lead candidate, or Spitzenkandidat, for the presidency of the Commission in the 2014 elections. This marked the first time that the Spitzenkandidat process was employed.^[3] 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. The EPP won 220 out of 751 seats in the Parliament. On 27 June 2014, the European Council officially nominated Juncker for the position,^[4][5][6] and the European Parliament elected him on 15 July 2014 with 422 votes out of the 729 cast.^[7] He took office on 1 November 2014 and served until 30 November 2019, when he was succeeded by Ursula von der Leyen.^[8]

Juncker has stated that his priorities would be the creation of a digital single market, the development of an EU Energy Union, the negotiation of the Transatlantic Trade Agreement, the continued reform of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union—with the social dimension in mind, a "targeted fiscal capacity" for the Eurozone, and the 2015–2016 British EU membership renegotiations.^[9]