Jean-Claude Juncker
Jean-Claude Juncker (Luxembourgish pronunciation: [ʒ ɑ ːkloːd ˈjʊŋ.kɐ]; born 9 December 1954) is the 12th and current President of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). A Luxembourgish politician, Juncker was Prime Minister of his native country from 1995 to 2013, as well as Minister for Finances from 1989 to 2009. He was the longest-serving head of any national government in the EU, and one of the longest-serving democratically elected leaders in the world, by the time he left office, his tenure encompassing the height of the European financial and sovereign debt crisis. From 2005 to 2013 Juncker served as the first permanent President of the Eurogroup. The European People's Party (EPP) had Juncker as its lead candidate, or spitzenkandidat, for the presidency of the Commission in the 2014 elections. The EPP won 220 out of 751 seats in the parliament. On 27 June, the European Council officially nominated Juncker for the position, and on 15 July, the European Parliament elected him with a majority of 422 votes from a total of 729 cast. He succeeded Jose Manuel Barroso as president on 1 November 2014. Juncker is the first president that prior to the election has campaigned as a candidate for the position, a novelty introduced with the Treaty of Lisbon.