Thorn Commission

Thorn Commission
Thorn Commission
; Commission of the European Union
Date formed	6 January 1981
Date dissolved	5 January 1985
People and organisations
President of the Commission	Gaston Thorn
History
Predecessor	Jenkins Commission
Successor	Delors Commission

The Thorn Commission was the European Commission that held office from 6 January 1981 until 5 January 1985. Its President was Gaston Thorn.

Work

It was the successor to the Jenkins Commission and was succeeded by the Delors Commission. With a current economic crisis, it had to speed up enlargement to Greece, Spain and Portugal while making steps towards the Single European Act in 1985.^[1] However, with a period of eurosclerosis, due to economic problems and British vetoing over the Community budget, Thorn was unable to exert his influence to any significant extent.^[2]

Membership

Portfolio	Member state	Office-holder
President (Secretariat-General, Legal Service, Spokesman’s Group, Culture and Security Office)	Luxembourg	Gaston Thorn
Vice-President Economic and Financial Credit and Investments	France	François-Xavier Ortoli
Vice-President External Relations (Nuclear Affairs)	Germany	Wilhelm Haferkamp
Vice-President Mediterranean Policy, Enlargement and Information	Italy	Lorenzo Natali
Vice-President Industrial Affairs, Energy, Research and Science (Euratom Supply Agency and the Joint Research Centre)	Belgium	Étienne Davignon
Vice-President Budget and Financial Control, Financial Institutions and Taxation	United Kingdom	Christopher Tugendhat
Regional Policy (Coordination of Community Funds)	Italy	Antonio Giolitti
Transport, Fisheries and Tourism	Greece	Giorgos Kontogeorgis
Internal Market, Industrial Innovation, Customs Union, the Environment, Consumer Protection and Nuclear Safety	Germany	Karl-Heinz Narjes
Parliamentary Relations and Competition	Netherlands	Frans Andriessen
Employment and Social Affairs (Tripartite Conference and Education Training)	United Kingdom	Ivor Richard
Agriculture	Denmark	Finn Olav Gundelach (Died 13 January 1981)
Agriculture	Denmark	Poul Dalsager (From 20 January 1981)
Personnel and Administration (Mandate of 30 May 1980, Joint Interpreting and Conference Service, Statistical Office, Office for Official Publications)	Ireland	Michael O'Kennedy (Resigned 3 March 1982)
Personnel and Administration (Mandate of 30 May 1980, Joint Interpreting and Conference Service, Statistical Office, Office for Official Publications)	Ireland	Richard Burke (From 1 April 1982)
Development	France	Claude Cheysson (Resigned 23 April 1981)
Development	France	Edgard Pisani (From 26 May 1981; Resigned 3 December 1984)

Summary by political leanings

The colour of the row indicates the approximate political leaning of the office holder using the following scheme:

Affiliation	No. of Commissioners
Right leaning / Conservative	7
Liberal	1
Left leaning / Socialist	4
Unknown / Independent	5

References

^ Discover the former Presidents: The Thorn Commission, Europa (web portal), Accessed 23 August 2007
^ Eppink, Derk-Jan (2007). Life of a European Mandarin: Inside the Commission. Ian Connerty (trans.) (1st ed.). Tielt, Belgium: Lannoo. p. 24. ISBN 978-90-209-7022-7.

[1] Discover the former Presidents: The Thorn Commission, Europa (web portal), Accessed 23 August 2007

[Eppink_07-2] Eppink, Derk-Jan (2007). Life of a European Mandarin: Inside the Commission. Ian Connerty (trans.) (1st ed.). Tielt, Belgium: Lannoo. p. 24. ISBN 978-90-209-7022-7.

[1]

[2]

v t e Presidents of the European Commission
High Authority of the Coal and Steel Community (1952–1967)	Jean Monnet (Monnet Authority, 1952–55) René Mayer (Mayer Authority, 1955–58) Paul Finet (Finet Authority, 1958–59) Piero Malvestiti (Malvestiti Authority, 1959–63) Rinaldo Del Bo (Del Bo Authority, 1963–67) Acting: Albert Coppé (Coppé Authority, 1967)
Commission of the Atomic Energy Community (1958–1967)	Louis Armand (Armand Commission, 1958–59) Étienne Hirsch (Hirsch Commission, 1959–62) Pierre Chatenet (Chatenet Commission, 1962–67)
Commission of the Economic Community (1958–1967)	Walter Hallstein (Hallstein Commission, 1958–67)
Commission of the Communities (1967–2009)	Jean Rey (Rey Commission, 1967–70) Franco Maria Malfatti (Malfatti Commission, 1970–72) Sicco Mansholt (Mansholt Commission, 1972–73) François-Xavier Ortoli (Ortoli Commission, 1973–77) Roy Jenkins (Jenkins Commission, 1977–81) Gaston Thorn (Thorn Commission, 1981–85) Jacques Delors (Delors Commission, 1985–95) Jacques Santer (Santer Commission, 1995–99) Acting: Manuel Marín (Santer Commission, 1999) Romano Prodi (Prodi Commission, 1999–2004) José Durão Barroso (Barroso Commission, 2004–09)
Commission (2009–present)	José Durão Barroso (Barroso Commission, 2009–14) Jean-Claude Juncker (Juncker Commission 2014–19) Ursula von der Leyen (Von der Leyen Commission, 2019–2024) Ursula von der Leyen (Von der Leyen Commission II, since 2024)
Commission President President of the European Council Council Presidency President of the European Parliament