The reception session of Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, former President of the European Commission and former Prime Minister of Luxembourg, as an honorary member of the Academy of Athens, will be broadcast live on Wednesday 18 May 2022 at 19.00.
During the welcoming ceremony, in the presence of the President of the Academy of Athens Mr. Antonios Regkakos and the General Secretary Mr. Christos Zerefos, as well as other official guests, Academician Mr. Loukas Papadimos will present Mr. Jean-Claude Juncker, who he will then deliver a speech on “Quel avenir pour l’Europe?”.
The ceremony will be broadcast live to the public from the website of the Academy of Athens via the following link:
http://www.academyofathens.gr/lectures/20220518
Over the course of his long and multifaceted career, Mr Juncker has distinguished himself for his political and diplomatic skills and has emerged as one of the most ardent supporters of European integration, as well as one of the founders of the single European currency, the Εuro. In his homeland, Luxembourg he 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 and has held senior positions in European Union institutions. 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.
Demonstrating its support for Greece and Cyprus in practice, 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 it vigorously resisted the view that Greece should leave the Euro zone to address its fiscal problems and rejoin the EU in future, contributing substantially to the relevant negotiations.
The work of Jean-Claude Juncker has been recognized internationally, as he has been honored with the highest honors from many countries and has been awarded an honorary doctorate by many universities.
