Henning Christophersen
Henning Christophersen (8 November 1939 – 31 December 2016) was a Danish politician, a former Vice President of the European Commission (1985–1995), former leader of the Danish liberal party Venstre (1978–1984) and former member of the European Convention.[1] Christophersen was one of the early architects of the Single Market and the Euro.
Henning Christophersen | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Vice President of the European Commission for Economic & Financial Affairs | |
| In office 6 January 1989 – 22 January 1995 | |
| President | Jacques Delors |
| Preceded by | François-Xavier Ortoli |
| Succeeded by | Yves-Thibault de Silguy |
| Vice President of the European Commission for Financial Programming & the Budget | |
| In office 6 January 1985 – 5 January 1989 | |
| President | Jacques Delors |
| Preceded by | Christopher Tugendhat |
| Succeeded by | Peter Schmidhuber |
| Minister of Finance | |
| In office 10 September 1982 – 23 July 1984 | |
| Prime Minister | Poul Schlüter |
| Preceded by | Knud Heinesen |
| Succeeded by | Palle Simonsen |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | |
| In office 30 August 1978 – 26 October 1979 | |
| Prime Minister | Anker Jørgensen |
| Preceded by | Anker Jørgensen |
| Succeeded by | Kjeld Olesen |
| Leader of Venstre | |
| In office September 1978 – 23 July 1984 | |
| Preceded by | Poul Hartling |
| Succeeded by | Uffe Ellemann-Jensen |
| Member of the Folketing | |
| In office 1971–1984 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 November 1939 Copenhagen, Denmark |
| Died | 31 December 2016 (aged 77) Brussels, Belgium |
| Political party | Venstre |
| Occupation | Politician |
Life
Christophersen was born in Copenhagen. He was Deputy Prime minister and Finance Minister of Denmark (1982–1984) and Foreign Minister of Denmark (1978–1979).
During his time as Vice President of the European Commission for Budget and later for Economic & Financial Affairs, Christophersen decisively contributed to the preparations of the launch of the Euro and of the Economic & Monetary Union. Through his pioneering work on Transeuropean Networks, he also played a big role in the realization of the Internal Market.
In 1992, as EU commissioner, Christophersen together with 10 Baltic Ministers of Foreign Affairs founded the Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) and the EuroFaculty.[2]
He was the Chairman of the Energy Charter Conference 1998 until 2007.
He was Chairman and member of a number of Supervisory Boards of Directors, and a Partner of Kreab, Brussels.
Christophersen died on 31 December 2016 in Brussels at the age of 77 after a short illness.[3]
References
- Henning Christophersen Den Store Danske, Gyldendals åbne encyclopædi
- Kristensen, Gustav N. 2010. Born into a Dream. EuroFaculty and the Council of the Baltic Sea States. Berliner Wissentshafts-Verlag. ISBN 978-3-8305-1769-6.
- "Venstre-legenden Henning Christophersen er død" (in Danish). 1 January 2017. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
Sources
- Tom Matz (2004), Venstre ved du hvor du har ForlagsKompagniet : Nørhaven Book.
