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Frans Andriessen | |
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_Europese_commissaris_Frans_Andri%2c_Bestanddeelnr_932-8657.jpg) Andriessen in 1984 | |
| European Commissioner [Portfolios] | |
| In office 6 January 1981 – 6 January 1993 | |
| President | See list
|
| Preceded by | Henk Vredeling |
| Succeeded by | Hans van den Broek |
| Member of theSenate | |
| In office 16 September 1980 – 6 January 1981 | |
| Minister of Finance | |
| In office 19 December 1977 – 22 February 1980 | |
| Prime Minister | Dries van Agt |
| Preceded by | Wim Duisenberg |
| Succeeded by | Gijs van Aardenne (Ad Interim) |
| Leader of the Catholic People's Party | |
| In office 1 October 1971 – 25 May 1977 | |
| Preceded by | Gerard Veringa |
| Succeeded by | Office discontinued |
| Parliamentary leader in the House of Representatives | |
| In office 16 August 1971 – 25 May 1977 | |
| Preceded by | Gerard Veringa |
| Succeeded by | Office discontinued |
| Parliamentary group | Catholic People's Party |
| Member of theHouse of Representatives | |
| In office 23 February 1967 – 19 December 1977 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Franciscus Henricus Johannes Joseph Andriessen (1929-04-02)2 April 1929 Utrecht, Netherlands |
| Died | 22 March 2019(2019-03-22) (aged 89) Bilthoven, Netherlands |
| Political party | Christian Democratic Appeal (from 1980) |
| Other political affiliations | Catholic People's Party (until 1980) |
| Spouse | |
| Alma mater | Utrecht University (LL.B.,LL.M.) |
| Occupation | Politician ·Jurist ·Businessperson ·Corporate director ·Nonprofit director ·Lobbyist ·Professor |
Andriessen discussing thedissolution of the Soviet Union Recorded 4 September 1991 | |
Franciscus Henricus Johannes Joseph "Frans" Andriessen (2 April 1929 – 22 March 2019) was a Dutch politician of theCatholic People's Party (KVP) and later theChristian Democratic Appeal (CDA) and businessperson who served asEuropean Commissioner from 6 January 1981 until 6 January 1993. He served asMinister of Finance from 1977 until 1980, and as the Netherlands'European Commissioner from 1981 until 1993.
Andriessen studiedLaw atUtrecht University obtaining aMaster of Laws degree. Andriessen worked for a construction institute inUtrecht from October 1953 until February 1967 and asCEO from July 1961. From 1958 to 1967 he sat in theProvincial Council of Utrecht.
Andriessen was elected to theHouse of Representatives in the1967 general election, taking of office on 23 February 1967. He served as afrontbencher, serving as chair of the standing committees for Public Housing Reform andspokesperson for housing. On 16 August 1971 theparty leader andparliamentary leaderGerard Veringa took a medical leave of absence and Andriessen was selected as his interim successor on 16 August 1971. On 28 September 1971, Veringa unexpectedly announced that he was stepping down as leader, and Andriessen was unanimously selected as his permanent successor on 1 October 1971. For the1972 general election, Andriessen served aslead candidate, and following a successfulcabinet formation withLabour Party leaderJoop den Uyl formed theDen Uyl cabinet, with Andriessen opting to remain parliamentary leader. After the1977 general election, Andriessen was appointedMinister of Finance in theVan Agt I cabinet, taking office on 19 December 1977.
After the1977 general election, Andriessen was appointedMinister of Finance in the centre-rightVan Agt I cabinet. He sought bigger cuts than his party would accept, and in February 1980 tendered his resignation, precipitating a cabinet crisis that forcedQueen Juliana to interrupt a holiday in Austria. The next month he took a seat in the upper house.[1] He was elected to theSenate in the1980 Senate election, taking office on 16 September 1980. In the Senate, he served as his party's spokesperson for finance.
In November 1980 Andriessen was nominated by Prime MinisterDries van Agt as the nextEuropean Commissioner in theThorn Commission, and secured the heavy portfolios ofCompetitionand Parliamentary Relations, taking office on 6 January 1981. As European Commissioner for Competition, Andriessen targeted restrictive practices, with the vastly differing prices of new cars in member states a priority. He settled the high-profileIBM case in 1984.[2] But he came under fire from Socialist MEPs for blocking legislation on worker participation after objections from Shell and Unilever, and from British members for suggesting that Ravenscraig steelworks should be closed. WithGaston Thorn stepping down at the end of 1984, Andriessen was canvassed as a potential president of the Commission, butJacques Delors had the big battalions behind him. Andriessen's consolation was theFirst Vice-Presidency and the portfolio ofAgriculture andFisheries, Brussels' toughest, in theDelors Commission, taking office on 6 January 1985. Within weeks he foiled a French attempt to build an EC "lamb mountain".
Negotiating his first farm budget, the stumbling block was German insistence on higher payments to grow cereals; Andriessen complained that the Germans sided with the British on budgetary discipline, yet wanted him to spend more. Germany vetoed the budget after six attempts to agree it. Autumn 1985 brought the first of several "mutton wars" between Britain and France. Andriessen blamed Britain, accusingMichael Jopling, Minister of Agriculture, of disobeying an "order" to change export arrangements for sheep meat. When French farmers hijacked British lamb consignments, Andriessen suggested an export tax to offset the benefits to British exporters of a weak pound; the Commission overruled him. At the start of 1986 Andriessen recommended a general price freeze for the year. He got his way after a 21-hour negotiating session, and later persuaded member states to accept drastic cuts in milk production. His next target was grain surpluses, outlining a plan to cut production which introduced the concept of "set-aside". This was adopted, but only after he blocked ministers' efforts to sneak grain subsidies into other parts of the budget.
Starting on 6 January 1989, Andriessen took theExternal Relations andTrade portfolio. TheUruguay Round of GATT talks was at the top of his agenda; as a free-trader he saw a faint hope of breaking the deadlock with America. He began by warning Japan that unless it opened its markets, the EC might refuse it licences for banking in Europe. He also told Britain that if it did not want to engage fully with Europe it could go back to theEuropean Free Trade Association (EFTA).
The fall of the Berlin Wall that autumn gave Andriessen new priorities. He proposed a "European Economic Space", enabling EFTA countries to participate in the single market, while opening the door to countries to the East. Within months, he was suggesting affiliate membership of the EC for former Communist satellites. France distrusted this, but the strategy was carried through, after a scare over whether Romania’s post-Ceaucescu government would allow fair elections.
Andriessen's final two years in Brussels were dominated by the GATT talks. By 1992 he was claiming that the dispute now hinged on "a couple of million tons of European grain". But that summer he accused America of "harassing" European steel producers for alleged dumping; then France demanded fresh concessions for its farmers. EC-US talks, with Andriessen andLeon Brittan leading for Europe, made no headway. Then farm subsidy negotiations collapsed, with the outgoing Bush administration blaming Europe; Andriessen promised "countermeasures". Ireland's Agriculture CommissionerRay McSharry resigned, accusing Delors of going behind his back to sabotage an agreement. Delors faced mutiny from commissioners led by Andriessen and Brittan, who resolved to outvote him on GATT, if necessary forcing his resignation. He backed off, and McSharry returned.
On 20 November 1992, Andriessen and his fellow negotiators finally concluded the GATT agreement on agriculture; the Commission ratified it despite French resistance. Andriessen left Brussels at the turn of the year confident that a full agreement ranging from textiles to intellectual property could be achieved – as it was, enabling the WTO to come into being.
Andriessen retired from active politics at 62 and became active in theprivate andpublic sectors as a corporate and non-profit director and served on several state commissions and councils on behalf of the government and as a occasional diplomat for economic and diplomatic delegations, and was professor ofEuropean integration at his alma mater,Utrecht University, from March 1990 until September 2009. Following his retirement Andriessen continued to be active as a advocate and lobbyist for moreEuropean integration. Out of office, he was in demand as one of Europe’s "great and good". This could bring him into trying company: at a symposium in Copenhagen in 1993 he was incandescent when SirAlan Walters, former economic adviser toMargaret Thatcher, suggested the Germans could put a portrait of Hitler on a single European currency. Andriessen was known for his abilities as a skilful negotiator and effective consensus builder and continued to comment on political affairs as a statesman until his is death in March 2019 at the age of 89. He holds the distinction as the second longest-serving Dutch European Commissioner with 12 years, 0 days. He was a Knight of the Order of the Dutch Lion, and held the Grand Cross of the Order of Orange-Nassau.
Andriessen married Catherine Ten Holter in 1955; she survives him with their four children.
Knight Grand Cross of theOrder of Orange-Nassau (19 January 1993)
Officer of theOrder of Orange-Nassau (30 April 1969)
Knight of theOrder of the Netherlands Lion (1980)
Belgium: Grand Cross of theOrder of Leopold II (15 December 1990)
France: Grand Officer of theOrder of Legion of Honour (12 February 1982)
Germany: Grand Cross of theOrder of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (13 May 1983)
Holy See: Knight of theOrder of the Holy Sepulchre (1972)
Portugal: Grand Cross of theOrder of Prince Henry (31 October 1987)| University | Field | Country | Date | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Utrecht University | Law | Netherlands | 1992 |
External Relationsand Trade(1989–1993)
First Vice-President(1985–1993)
Agricultureand Fisheries(1985–1989)
Competitionand Parliamentary Relations
(1981–1985)
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Parliamentary leader of the Catholic People's Party in theHouse of Representatives 1971–1977 | Party merged into the Christian Democratic Appeal |
| Leader of the Catholic People's Party 1971–1977 | ||
| Preceded by | Lead candidate of theCatholic People's Party 1972 | |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Minister of Finance 1977–1980 | Succeeded by Gijs van Aardenne Ad interim |
| Preceded by | European Commissioner from the Netherlands 1981–1993 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | European Commissioner for Competition andParliamentary Relations 1981–1985 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | European Commissioner for Agricultureand Fisheries 1985–1989 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by ? | First Vice-President of the European Commission 1985–1989 | Succeeded by ? |
| Preceded by | European Commissioner for External Relations andTrade 1989–1993 | Succeeded by Hans van den Broek as European Commissioner for External Relations |
| Succeeded byas European Commissioner for Trade | ||
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