Appointment
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In 1994 Jacques Delors was due to step down from a successful tenure as President of the European Commission. However his federalist style was not to the liking of many national governments. Hence when the proposal of Jean-Luc Dehaene (the then-Prime Minister of Belgium) was presented, he was vetoed by the UK on the grounds he was too federalist. Jacques Santer, then-Prime Minister of Luxembourg, was seen as less federalist as his presidency had earlier proposed the pillar structure. Hence he was nominated and approved by the European Council on 1994-07-15.
Hence he was seen as being the "second choice" which weakened his position, with the European Parliament approving him only by a narrow majority. Santer himself admitted that he "was not the first choice - but to become Commission president was not my first choice either." He did however flex his powers over the nominations for the other Commissioners. The President gained this power under the Maastricht Treaty that came into force the previous year. On 1995-01-18 managed to get his Commission approved by Parliament by 416 votes to 103 (a larger majority than expected) and they were appointed by the Council on 23 January.
Read more about this topic: Santer Commission
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