Thorn Commission

The Thorn Commission was the European Commission that held office from 6 January 1981 until 5 January 1985. Its President was Gaston Thorn.


Thorn Commission

Commission of the European Union
Date formed6 January 1981 (1981-01-06)
Date dissolved5 January 1985 (1985-01-05)
People and organisations
President of the CommissionGaston Thorn
History
PredecessorJenkins Commission
SuccessorDelors Commission

Work

It was the successor to the Jenkins Commission and was succeeded by the Delors Commission. With a current economic crisis, it had to speed up enlargement to Greece, Spain and Portugal while making steps towards the Single European Act in 1985. However, with a period of eurosclerosis, due to economic problems and British vetoing over the Community budget, Thorn was unable to exert his influence to any significant extent.

Membership

Portfolio Member state Office-holder
President (Secretariat-General, Legal Service, Spokesman’s Group, Culture and Security Office)  Luxembourg Gaston Thorn
Vice-President
Economic and Financial Credit and Investments		  France François-Xavier Ortoli
Vice-President
External Relations (Nuclear Affairs)		  Germany Wilhelm Haferkamp
Vice-President
Mediterranean Policy, Enlargement and Information		  Italy Lorenzo Natali
Vice-President
Industrial Affairs, Energy, Research and Science (Euratom Supply Agency and the Joint Research Centre)		  Belgium Étienne Davignon
Vice-President
Budget and Financial Control, Financial Institutions and Taxation		  United Kingdom Christopher Tugendhat
Regional Policy (Coordination of Community Funds)  Italy Antonio Giolitti
Transport, Fisheries and Tourism  Greece Giorgos Kontogeorgis
Internal Market, Industrial Innovation, Customs Union, the Environment, Consumer Protection and Nuclear Safety  Germany Karl-Heinz Narjes
Parliamentary Relations and Competition  Netherlands Frans Andriessen
Employment and Social Affairs (Tripartite Conference and Education Training)  United Kingdom Ivor Richard
Agriculture  Denmark Finn Olav Gundelach (Died 13 January 1981)
Agriculture  Denmark Poul Dalsager (From 20 January 1981)
Personnel and Administration (Mandate of 30 May 1980, Joint Interpreting and Conference Service, Statistical Office, Office for Official Publications)  Ireland Michael O'Kennedy (Resigned 3 March 1982)
Personnel and Administration (Mandate of 30 May 1980, Joint Interpreting and Conference Service, Statistical Office, Office for Official Publications)  Ireland Richard Burke (From 1 April 1982)
Development  France Claude Cheysson (Resigned 23 April 1981)
Development  France Edgard Pisani (From 26 May 1981; Resigned 3 December 1984)
The Thorn Commission

Summary by political leanings

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

Affiliation No. of Commissioners
Right leaning / Conservative 7
Liberal 1
Left leaning / Socialist 4
Unknown / Independent 5

References

  1. ↑ Discover the former Presidents: The Thorn Commission, Europa (web portal), Accessed 23 August 2007
  2. ↑ Eppink, Derk-Jan (2007). Life of a European Mandarin: Inside the Commission. Ian Connerty (trans.) (1st ed.). Tielt, Belgium: Lannoo. p. 24. ISBN 978-90-209-7022-7.