The Academy of Athens, at its Plenary Session of 22 June 2021, elected Jean-Claude Juncker, a prominent European politician, former President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Luxembourg, as its Honorary Member.
Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker was born in 1954 in Redange, Luxembourg. He studied law at the University of Strasbourg, where he obtained a Master’s degree in 1979. He became involved in politics in 1974, when he became a member of the Christian Social People’s Party and has since made a remarkable career in politics.
In his homeland, Luxembourg served as Prime Minister for 19 consecutive years, from 1995 to 2013, and Minister of Finance from 1989 to 2009. He strongly supported the idea of European solidarity and the adoption of policies to improve the living standards of the less developed regions of the European Union. Following his political orientation, he held senior positions in European Union institutions. He was President of the European Commission from 2014 to 2019 and President of the Eurogroup, the Council of Ministers of Finance and Economy of the Eurozone Member States, from 2005 to 2013.
During his long and multidimensional career he was distinguished for his political and diplomatic skills and emerged as one of the most ardent supporters of European integration, as well as one of the founders of the single European currency, the Euro. As President of the Eurogroup and President of the European Commission, he has been instrumental in tackling major economic policy challenges, in particular the 2008-2009 international financial crisis and the subsequent fiscal and banking crisis in Eurozone countries. Expressing his practical support to Greece and Cyprus, he contributed to their monetary and economic stability at critical times, as well as to the general assurance of the stability of the single European currency. In addition, he played a key role in Greece’s stay in the Eurozone in both 2011-2012 and 2015, when he vigorously resisted the view that Greece should leave the Euro area to address its fiscal problems and rejoin the EU in the future, contributing substantially to the relevant negotiations.
Jean-Claude Juncker’s work has been recognized internationally, having been awarded the highest honors by many countries and has been awarded an honorary doctorate by many universities.
