Jacques François Poos (3 June 1935 – 19 February 2022) was a Luxembourgish politician.

Early life and education

Born in 1935, in Luxembourg, Poos was a trained economist and became a doctor of economics in 1961, when he graduated from the

University of Lausanne The University of Lausanne (UNIL; french: links=no, Université de Lausanne) in Lausanne, Switzerland was founded in 1537 as a school of Protestant theology, before being made a university in 1890. The university is the second oldest in Switzer ...

Career in politics

Poos was a long-time member of the

Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party The Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party ( lb, Lëtzebuerger Sozialistesch Aarbechterpartei, french: Parti ouvrier socialiste luxembourgeois, german: Luxemburger Sozialistische Arbeiterpartei), abbreviated to LSAP or POSL, is a social-democratic, pr ...

. Between 1964 and 1976, he was director and editor in Chief of the daily newspaper “Tageblatt” in Esch-sur-Alzette. In the same period he also became a member of the town council of Esch-sur-Alzette. In July 1976, he was appointed Minister of Finance. As the foreign minister of Luxembourg he held

Presidency of the Council of the European Union The presidency of the Council of the European Union is responsible for the functioning of the Council of the European Union, which is the co-legislator of the EU legislature alongside the European Parliament. It rotates among the member state ...

for three half-year terms in 1985, 1991 and 1997. He was Deputy-Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and Development, first in Jacques Santer’s (from 1984 to 1995), then in Jean-Claude Junckers’s cabinets (from 1995 to 1999). In 1991, he was one of the negotiators of the

Brioni Agreement The Brioni Agreement, also known as the Brioni Declaration ( hr, Brijunska deklaracija, sr, Brionska deklaracija, italics=yes, sr-Cyrl, Брионска декларација, sl, Brionska deklaracija), is a document signed by representativ ...

that ended the ten-day war in

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

. In May of that year, upon disembarking from an airplane en route to beginning negotiations, he declared, "The hour of Europe has dawned."

European Parliament

In 1999, Poos left the government and was elected as a Member of European Parliament, where he sat on the Committee for Foreign Affairs, Human Rights, Common Security and Defence Policy, and was the draftsman for Cyprus’ accession into the EU. In 2003, he received an honorary doctor of law degree from Panteion University of Athens, Greece.

Retirement and death

In 2004, Poos retired from political life, but remained active as non-executive director in the boards of different national and international institutions and companies. He died on 19 February 2022, at the age of 86.L'ancien ministre Jacques Poos est mort

References

External links

Interview with Jacques F. Poos

Video interviews with Jacques F. Poos

Dr. Jacques F. Poos - Global Foreign Policy Today, an unconventional approach
, - , - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Poos, Jacques 1935 births 2022 deaths Ministers for Finances of Luxembourg Deputy Prime Ministers of Luxembourg Ministers for the Economy of Luxembourg Ministers for Foreign Affairs of Luxembourg Ministers for Defence of Luxembourg Ministers for the Police Force of Luxembourg Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) Members of the Chamber of Deputies (Luxembourg) from Sud Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party politicians People from Luxembourg City Luxembourg Socialist Workers' Party MEPs Luxembourgian bankers MEPs for Luxembourg 1999–2004 Alumni of the Athénée de Luxembourg