The ghost of Jacques Santer

By Jokin de Carlos Sola

In early July, President Ursula von der Leyen defeated a no-confidence motion launched against her at the European Parliament. As the institution that approves the European Commission, it also has the power to dismiss it. So far, the only time a Commission was close to being dismissed, leading to the resignation in disgrace of its President, was the case of Jacques Santer in 1999.

To do less, but better

Earlier, in 1995, the Member States had to look for a Commission President who could replace Jacques Delors, the decade-long ruling French socialist leader who led the formal creation of the European Union with the Treaty of Maastricht, the architect of the Single European Act and the only winner of a political battle against none other than Margaret Thatcher. These were huge shoes to fill. In a compromise among the French, German and British governments, the chosen one was the Christian conservative Prime Minister of Luxembourg, Jacques Santer. He had been the premier of the Grand Duchy for 10 years, from 1985 to 1995, and Minister of Finance before that. He was succeeded by his political protégé, Jean-Claude Juncker.

Santer, a veteran of European Politics and member of the European People’s Party, worked with figures such as German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, British Prime Minister John Major and French President Jacques Chirac to shift Europe towards conservatism in the 1990s. 

His slogan was ‘to do less, but better'.

The Santer Commission

Santer’s Commission was composed of many key EU figures, both before and after Santer’s Presidency: 

• Mario Monti was appointed Commissioner for the Internal Market. He later became Italy’s Prime Minister.

• Neil Kinnock, former UK Labour Party leader and future leader of the federalist Piu Europa Party.

• Emma Bonino, future Italian Foreign Minister and leader of the More Europe Party.

• Hans van de Broek, the former Dutch Foreign Minister.

• Pádraig Flynn, Irish Minister and Fianna Fáil power broker.

• Edith Cresson, the first female Prime Minister of France.

• Manuel Marin, future President of the Spanish Cortes and architect of the Erasmus programme.

Interestingly, despite Delors' famous showdown with Thatcher, Santer decided to name Leon Brittan, a Tory and Thatcher’s Home Secretary and Secretary to the Treasury, as his Vice-President. It was his way of saying that there was Honour among Conservatives.

The Accusation

In January 1999, two events brought a storm to the Santer Commission. 

Firstly, a report made by Commission staffer, future Green MEP and whistle-blower Paul van Buitenen, was sent to the European Parliament. In it, he explained that the Commission was engaging in active fraud and cover-ups in the 1998 budget. There was a special focus on Commissioner Edith Cresson, who had previously been involved in corruption accusations in France. The report also mentioned Manuel Marin and João de Deus Pinheiro. They were all socialists. 

Van Buitenen was suspended by the European Commission, but it was too late. Because of that report, Maltese Socialist MEP Pauline Green put forward a no-confidence motion. However, it failed because her group, the European Socialists, voted against it.  

That same month, Commissioner Flynn had an interview on The Late Show, on Irish TV. There, he bragged about his fancy lifestyle as a Commissioner, his three houses and his many travels and expenses, raising questions about his finances and those of the Commission.  

On top of that, he talked about Tom Gilmartin, an Irish businessman who had been extorted by Irish officials of the ruling conservative Fianna Fáil party into giving thousands of pounds to the party. On the show, Flynn mocked Gilmartin and his wife, who suffered a terminal illness, as a way of hurting its credibility. The issue was that Gilmartin was watching the show. Infuriated by being extorted and his wife being insulted, he started to give information to the Irish courts, further putting pressure on both Fianna Fáil and Flynn's role as Commissioner in the Budget.

As allegations and investigations seemed to fly over the Commission, both the EPP and the Socialists started to turn against Santer. The first group demanded the resignation of the Socialist MEPs, while the second group demanded the resignation of the entire Commission.  

On 15 March, a Committee of Independent Experts published a report explaining how, although not all the Commissioners were guilty of corruption,

‘not one single member of the Commission showed the slightest sense of responsibility.’

That same day, the entire Commission resigned en masse. They would remain on an interim basis until after the European elections in 1999. However, Santer immediately stepped down as President, being replaced by Manuel Marin as interim until September 1999. 

In June 1999, the European Parliament held its elections. For the first time since 1979, the European People's Party, under the leadership of Hans-Gert Pöttering, became the largest group in the European Parliament, winning 9 points and 76 seats more than in 1994. Since the Socialists ended up being blamed by the electorate, they lost 6 points. Later in September, former Italian Prime Minister, the Liberal Romano Prodi became the new Commission President.

Conclusion 

The fall of the Santer Commission had a bigger impact than is sometimes considered. The chaos of its final year led to the European leadership being absent in the Kosovo conflict, which reduced the credibility of the institution in foreign affairs. It also increased the agency of the European Parliament, which, up until that point, had remained mostly a passive institution. It also led to the growth of the European People’s Party, which has been at the top of the EU Institutions, and which, after Prodi, has occupied every following Commission Presidency. It also led to a decrease in participation in the European elections, a trend that only reversed in 2019.

Today, Ursula von der Leyen has survived a no-confidence motion, but so did Santer at first. Regardless of the growing interest in European politics on the continent and the active mistrust in politicians, another Santer is simply not an option for Brussels. If the next one involves the EPP, who knows which direction the European Parliament might go in? 

In the end, the Santer Commission did little to enhance Europeans' trust in the Brussels institutions, and the only area it improved was in addressing corruption.