Events from the year 2007 in Europe.

Incumbents

European Union

President of the European Commission The president of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The President of the Commission leads a Cabinet of Commissioners, referred to as the College, collectively account ...

José Manuel Barroso José Manuel Durão Barroso (; born 23 March 1956) is a Portuguese politician and university teacher, currently serving as non-executive chairman of Goldman Sachs International. He previously served as the 11th president of the European Commi ...

President of the Parliament President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese f ...

: ** Josep Borrell (until 16 January) **

Hans-Gert Pöttering Hans-Gert Pöttering (born 15 September 1945) is a German lawyer, historian and conservative politician ( CDU, European People's Party), who served as President of the European Parliament from January 2007 to July 2009 and as Chairman of the CD ...

(starting 16 January) *

President of the European Council The president of the European Council is the person presiding over and driving forward the work of the European Council on the world stage. This institution comprises the college of heads of state or government of EU member states as well as t ...

: ** Angela Merkel (January–June) **

Jose Socrates Jose is the English transliteration of the Hebrew and Aramaic name ''Yose'', which is etymologically linked to ''Yosef'' or Joseph. The name was popular during the Mishnaic and Talmudic periods. * Jose ben Abin * Jose ben Akabya *Jose the Galile ...

(July–December) * Presidency of the Council of the EU: ** Germany (January–July) ** Portugal (July–December)

Events

* January 1: Bulgaria and Romania joins in the European Union. * January 3 **Celebrity Big Brother 5 was launched on Channel 4, with celebrities such as Jermaine Jackson, Dirk Benedict and Leo Sayer. **National Express coach accident: A National Express coach from London Heathrow Airport to Aberdeen, Scotland crashed on a slip road between the M4 and the M25, killing two people and injuring thirty-six others. * January 8: The Russia-Belarus energy dispute escalates. * February 2: Orange Snow fell in Sibera, most likely caused by sandstorms in neighboring Kazakhstan. * March 17:

UTair Flight 471 UTair Flight 471 was a scheduled domestic passenger flight of a Tupolev Tupolev Tu-134, Tu-134 on March 17, 2007, that suffered heavy structural damage during a hard landing at Samara Kurumoch Airport near Samara, Russia, Samara, Russia. Of the 50 ...

ends with a

hard landing A hard landing occurs when an aircraft or spacecraft hits the ground with a greater vertical speed and force than in a normal landing. Landing is the final phase in flight, in which the aircraft returns to the ground. The average vertical sp ...

, killing at least 6 people and injuring 20 others. * March 19: The Ulyanovskaya Mine disaster, a methane explosion Kemerovo Oblast, killing at least 108 people. * April: It is reported in Forbes magazine, an American publication, that Russia now has 60 billionaires, mostly living in Moscow, which is believed to have more millionaires than any other city in the world. 15 years ago, Russia did not even have any millionaires. * April 27: A Mil Mi-8 helicopter crashes in

Chechnya Chechnya ( rus, Чечня́, Chechnyá, p=tɕɪtɕˈnʲa; ce, Нохчийчоь, Noxçiyçö), officially the Chechen Republic,; ce, Нохчийн Республика, Noxçiyn Respublika is a republic of Russia. It is situated in the ...

, killing all 20 federal troops aboard. * July 10 – August 4: The Arktika 2007 expedition commences, which is the first crewed descent to the ocean bottom at the North Pole. *

Summer Summer is the hottest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, the earliest sunrise and latest sunset occurs, daylight hours are longest and dark hours are shortest, wit ...

: The

Dissenters March The Dissenters' March (russian: Марш несогласных) was a series of Russian opposition protests that took place on December 16, 2006 in Moscow, on March 3, 2007 in Saint Petersburg, on March 24 in Nizhny Novgorod, on April 14 for t ...

, which began in December 2006, continue throughout the summer. * September 7: Russian personnel are ambushed in the

Vedeno Vedeno (russian: Ведено; ce, Ведана, ''Vedana'') is a rural locality (a '' selo'') and the administrative center of Vedensky District, Chechnya. Administrative and municipal status Municipally, Vedeno is incorporated into Vedens ...

region of

. * November 15: The Guerilla phase of the Second Chechen War continues. * November 24: Anti-Putin Protests, led by former world chess champion Garry Kasparov, erupted in Saint Petersburg and Moscow. * December 2: A Chechen constitutional referendum was held in

. * December 2: The

Legislative elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

for seats in the

State Duma The State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...

resulted in a majority win by United Russia.

Births

* 12 March – Xan Windsor, Lord Culloden, elder child of the Earl and Countess of Ulster * 17 December –

James James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

(then Viscount Severn, now Earl of Wessex), son of Prince Edward and

Sophie Sophie is a version of the female given name Sophia, meaning "wise". People with the name Born in the Middle Ages * Sophie, Countess of Bar (c. 1004 or 1018–1093), sovereign Countess of Bar and lady of Mousson * Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess o ...

(then Earl and Countess of Wessex, now Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh)

Deaths

January

* 3 January – Sir Cecil Walker, Ulster Unionist Member of Parliament for North Belfast (1983–2001) (born 1924) * 4 January – Grenfell (Gren) Jones, newspaper cartoonist (born 1934) * 7 January –

Magnus Magnusson Magnus Magnusson, (born Magnús Sigursteinsson; 12 October 1929 – 7 January 2007) was an Icelandic-born British-based journalist, translator, writer and television presenter. Born in Reykjavík, he lived in Scotland for almost all his life, a ...

, journalist and broadcaster ('' Mastermind'') (born 1929) * 8 January **

David Ervine David Ervine (21 July 1953 – 8 January 2007) was a Northern Irish Ulster Loyalist politician who served as leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (PUP) from 2002 to 2007, and was also a Member of the Northern Ireland Assembly (MLA) for Belf ...

, leader of the Progressive Unionist Party (born 1953) **

Francis Cockfield, Baron Cockfield Francis Arthur Cockfield, Baron Cockfield, PC (surname pronounced "Co-feeld"; 28 September 1916 – 8 January 2007), was by turns a civil servant, a company director, a Conservative Party politician, and a European Commissioner. He served as Mi ...

, politician and European Commissioner (born 1916) * 27 January –

Paul Channon, Baron Kelvedon Henry Paul Guinness Channon, Baron Kelvedon, (9 October 1935 – 27 January 2007) was Conservative MP for Southend West for 38 years, from 1959 until 1997. He served in various ministerial offices, and was a Cabinet minister for 3½ years, as ...

, Member of Parliament (born 1935) * 30 January – Griffith Jones, actor (born 1910)

February

* 9 February ** Ian Richardson, actor (born 1934) * 16 February – Sheridan Morley, theatre critic (born 1941)

March

* 4 March –

Ian Wooldridge Ian Edmund Wooldridge, Order of the British Empire, OBE (14 January 1932 – 4 March 2007) was a British sports journalism, sports journalist. He was with the ''Daily Mail'' for nearly 50 years. Biography Born in New Milton, Hampshire, Wooldridg ...

, sports journalist (born 1932) * 7 March – Lady Thorneycroft, philanthropist (born 1914) * 8 March – John Inman, actor (born 1935) * 14 March **

Tommy Cavanagh Thomas Henry Cavanagh (29 June 1928 – 14 March 2007) was an English football player and coach. As a player, he was an inside-forward at six professional clubs, most notably Huddersfield Town, Doncaster Rovers and was player manager at Chelten ...

, former footballer and football manager (born 1928) ** Gareth Hunt, actor (born 1942) * 16 March **

Sally Clark Sally Clark (August 1964 – 15 March 2007) was an English solicitor who, in November 1999, became the victim of a miscarriage of justice when she was found guilty of the murder of her two infant sons. Clark's first son died in December 1996 wit ...

, lawyer and victim of a miscarriage of justice (born 1964) ** Sir Arthur Marshall, aviation pioneer and businessman (born 1903) * 17 March – Freddie Francis, cinematographer and film director (born 1917) * 18 March – Bob Woolmer, cricketer and cricket coach (born 1948); died suddenly in Jamaica * 28 March – Sir Thomas Hetherington, barrister (born 1926) * 30 March **

Fay Coyle Francis Coyle (1 April 1933 – 30 March 2007), more commonly known as Fay Coyle, was a Northern Ireland international footballer from Derry, Northern Ireland. Club career A centre-forward, Fay Coyle began his career at Derry City in the Iri ...

, former footballer (born 1933) ** Michael Dibdin, crime writer (born 1947)

April

*April 23 – Boris Yeltsin, 1st President of Russia (1991 to 1999) * 24 April – Alan Ball, former footballer and football manager (born 1945)

June

* 18 June –

Bernard Manning Bernard John Manning (13 August 1930 – 18 June 2007) was an English comedian and nightclub owner. Manning gained a high profile on British television during the 1970s, appearing on shows such as '' The Comedians'' and ''The Wheeltappers and ...

, comedian (born 1930)

July

* 5 July – George Melly, jazz singer (born 1926) * 29 July ** Phil Drabble, author and television presenter (born 1914) ** Mike Reid, comedian and actor (born 1940) * 31 July –

R. D. Wingfield Rodney David Wingfield (6 June 1928 – 31 July 2007) was an English author and radio dramatist. He is best remembered for creating the character of Detective Inspector Jack Frost, who was later played by Sir David Jason in ''A Touch of Frost''. ...

, novelist and radio dramatist (born 1928)

August

* 10 August – Tony Wilson, broadcaster, nightclub manager, and record label owner (born 1950) * 25 August – Ray Jones, footballer (born 1988)

September

* 10 September – Anita Roddick, environmentalist, political campaigner, businesswoman ( The Body Shop) (born 1942) * 11 September –

Ian Porterfield John Ian Porterfield (11 February 1946 – 11 September 2007) was a Scottish professional footballer, and an experienced football coach who worked at both club and international level for almost 30 years. At the time of his death, he was the coa ...

, footballer and football manager (born 1946) * 15 September – Colin McRae, rally driver (born 1968)

October

* 1 October – Ronnie Hazlehurst, composer (born 1928) * 16 October –

Deborah Kerr Deborah Jane Trimmer CBE (30 September 192116 October 2007), known professionally as Deborah Kerr (), was a British actress. She was nominated six times for the Academy Award for Best Actress. During her international film career, Kerr won a G ...

, actress (born 1921) * 18 October – Alan Coren, columnist (born 1938)

November

* 6 November – Hilda Braid, British actress (born 1929) * 22 November – Verity Lambert, British television producer (born 1935) * 28 November – Tony Holland, British television producer and writer (born 1940)

December

* 1 December – Anton Rodgers, British actor (born 1933) * 29 December ** Phil O'Donnell, British footballer (born 1972); died while playing ** Kevin Greening, British radio presenter (born 1962)

References

{{Year in Europe, 2007