Jean-Luc Dehaene

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:EngvarB Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox officeholder

Jean Luc Joseph Marie "Jean-Luc" Dehaene (Template:IPA; 7 August 1940 – 15 May 2014) was a Belgian politician who served as the prime minister of Belgium from 1992 until 1999. During his political career, he was nicknamed "The Plumber",<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=Lesoir1>Template:Cite news</ref> as well as "The Minesweeper",<ref name=Bloomburg1>Template:Cite news</ref> for his ability to negotiate political deadlocks.

A member of the Christen-Democratisch en Vlaams (CD&V) party and its antecedents,<ref name="Bloomburg1" /> Dehaene gained his first ministerial appointment in 1981. Dehaene later went on to lead a series of centre-left cabinets from 1992 to 1999.<ref>eumonitor page on Belgium (in dutch)</ref> Dehaene's first government (1992–1995) included both Christian and Social Democrats and presided over the creation of a new constitution, effectively transforming Belgium into a federal state. His second government (1995–1999) coincided with a number of crises in Belgium, including the Dutroux scandal. The Dioxin Affair, occurring shortly before the 1999 election, led to a swing against the major parties, and Dehaene's government fell.

Following his final term as prime minister, he was active in both Belgian and European politics. He was also on UEFA's financial fair play regulatory body and managed Dexia Bank during the 2008 financial crisis. He was the last prime minister of King Baudouin's reign.

Early life and political career

Dehaene was born on 7 August 1940 in Montpellier, France, when his parents were fleeing the advance of the German army into Belgium and France.<ref name=Bloomburg1/> During his studies at the Université de Namur and the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, he was a member of the Olivaint Conference of Belgium.<ref>Jean-Luc Dehaene obituary: Politician who fought hard to keep Belgium together and went on to lead Uefa’s Financial Fair Play initiative, [1], The Independent. Retrieved 27 May 2014</ref> He got into politics through the Template:Interlanguage link multi (General Christian Workers' Union; ACW), a trade union which was closely linked to the Christelijke Volkspartij (Christian People's Party; CVP).<ref name=Lesoir1/>

Dehaene's long-time wife Celie Verbeke is a native of Illinois in the United States but both her paternal and maternal grandparents were Belgian immigrants. Since she was raised by her parents in Dutch and speaks without a foreign accent, the Belgian public remained unaware of her American background for a long time.

Dehaene was a keen football fan and viewed it as an important part of Belgian national identity.<ref name=Bloomburg1/> He was a supporter of Club Brugge K.V.<ref name=Lesoir1/> In 1981, he became Minister of Social Affairs and Institutional Reform, a position he held until 1988, when he became Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Communications and Institutional Reform.<ref name=Senate1/>

Prime Minister of Belgium

Dehaene I (1992–95)

File:Ministerverdeling Dehaene I.png
Make-up of the Dehaene I government by party

In 1992, after both Guy Verhofstadt and Melchior Wathelet had failed, Dehaene managed to form a governing coalition of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats. This became one of Belgium's most important governments because it successfully transformed Belgium into a federal state in 1993.<ref name=BBC2/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In March 1993, Dehaene offered the King the resignation of his government, because of diverging views on how to handle the public finances. However, within a week, the differences were put aside.

After the death of King Baudouin on 31 July 1993, Dehaene's government exercised the royal function until Prince Albert was sworn in as King Albert II nine days later.<ref name=BBC2/>

In 1994, Dehaene ordered the unilateral withdrawal of Belgian troops from Rwanda following the massacre of a number of Belgian peacekeepers, thus lifting the last barrier to the genocide of Tutsis.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> During questions from the Belgian parliamentary commission into this decision he repeatedly acknowledged no regrets about the decision. He was the leading candidate to replace Jacques Delors as President of the European Commission, but British Prime Minister John Major vetoed the appointment.<ref name=Bloomburg1/> The Luxembourg Prime Minister Jacques Santer was appointed as a compromise candidate instead.

Dehaene II (1995–99)

File:Jean-Luc Dehaene (speech).jpg
Jean-Luc Dehaene giving a speech in 2005

Dehaene's second government was also composed of Christian Democrats and Social Democrats. Despite the fact that the government was marked by a number of political crises and scandals, most notably the Dutroux affair, it managed to serve the entire legislature.<ref name=Lesoir1/> During this period, for his work toward a unified Europe, Dehaene received the Vision for Europe Award in 1996.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Dehaene led Belgium into the Euro,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and in preparation for joining the Eurozone, the Dehaene government was forced to make some sharp and unpopular economic reforms.<ref name=EV1/> Some weeks before the 1999 elections, the dioxin affair erupted, and both governing parties lost much of their support. He was replaced by a new government, led by Flemish liberal Guy Verhofstadt.<ref name=BBC2>Template:Cite news</ref>

After 1999

Later political career

Between 2000 and 2007, he sat as Burgemeester (mayor) of Vilvoorde.<ref name=EV1/> At the request of his party, the CD&V, he was once again put up as a candidate during the 2003 elections, but this was clearly not with the intention of becoming prime minister as he was placed as the last person on the party list (Lijstduwer). In June 2004 and again in June 2009, Jean-Luc Dehaene was elected to the European Parliament for the CD&V within the center-right European People's Party (EPP) group.<ref name=EV1>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2003, he was awarded the Vlerick Award.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Between 2006 and 2007, Dehaene served as member of the Amato Group, a group of high-level European politicians unofficially working on rewriting the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe into what became known as the Treaty of Lisbon following its rejection by French and Dutch voters. After the Belgian elections of 2007, Dehaene was appointed as mediator in the process to form a new government.<ref name=Bloomburg1/><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was also called in to assist in the negotiations around the Brussels-Halle-Vilvoorde partition.<ref name=Lesoir1/>

UEFA Financial Fair Play

File:Flickr - europeanpeoplesparty - EPP debates on EU Constitution - Paris 8-9 March 2005 (45).jpg
Jean-Luc Dehaene (left) with Wilfried Martens (center) at a European People's Party (EPP) meeting, 2005

Dehaene also served as the chief enforcer of the football association, UEFA's, Financial Fair Play (FFP).<ref name=BBC1>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2011, he was involved in an investigation of Manchester City F.C. over sponsorship irregularities.<ref name=BBC1/>

Dexia

Dehaene, who had previously been director of InBev,<ref name=EV1/> became chairman of Dexia Bank, a Belgian-French bank, in October 2008.<ref name=Bloomburg1/> With the bank in difficulty owing to the 2008 financial crisis, he was asked to lead the company through the difficult period which he described as "mission impossible".<ref name=Lesoir1/> Owing to his extensive political background, it was thought that he could cope with the negative public perception Dexia had acquired through the 2008 financial crisis. His political connections helped Dexia's bad bank to secure funding guarantees of up to €90 billion, provided primarily by the Belgian government. In 2012, Dexia Belgium became Belfius.

Death

On 15 May 2014, Dehaene died after a fall while holidaying in Quimper in France.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer earlier the same year and was not seeking reelection as an MEP in the 2014 elections for health reasons.<ref name=EV1/> He was 73 years old.

In the aftermath of his death, he received tributes from the incumbent Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo who described him as an "exceptional statesman".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Tributes were also made by Guy Verhofstadt, President of the European Parliament Martin Schulz and President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso.<ref name=EV1/>

His body lay in state in Vilvoorde's town hall, and the retired King Albert II and the Flemish Minister-President Kris Peeters both visited Vilvoorde to pay their respects.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Honours

Publications

  • Sleutels voor morgen, Esopus, Hasselt, 1995, 111 p. Template:ISBN
  • Sporen naar 2000, Icarus, Antwerp, 1999, 173 p. Template:ISBN
  • Er is nog leven na de 16, Van Halewyck, Leuven, 2002, 208 p. Template:ISBN
  • De Europese Uitdaging: van uitbreiding tot integratie, Van Halewyck, Leuven, 2004, 237 p. Template:ISBN

References

Template:Reflist

Template:Commons category

Template:S-start Template:S-off Template:S-bef Template:S-ttl Template:S-aft Template:S-end

Template:BelgianPrimeMinisters Template:Presidents of the European Council Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Jean-Luc_Dehaene&oldid=190938"