Henning Christophersen (8 November 1939 – 31 December 2016) was a Danish politician, a former Vice President of the

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the executive of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with 27 members of the Commission (informally known as "Commissioners") headed by a President. It includes an administrative body ...

(1985–1995), former leader of the Danish liberal party '' Venstre'' (1978–1984) and former member of the

European Convention Several bodies or treaties are known as European Convention. Bodies of the European Union * European Convention (1999–2000) which drafted the: ** ''Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union'' (2000 / 2009) * Convention on the Future of ...

. Christophersen was one of the early architects of the Single Market and the Euro.

Life

Christophersen was born in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

. He was Deputy Prime minister and

Finance Minister of Denmark The Finance Minister of Denmark ( Danish ''Finansministeren'') is the head of the Ministry of Finance of Denmark,and a member of the Cabinet. As head of the ministry, the minister has responsibility for the ministry's tasks of administering the s ...

(1982–1984) and Foreign Minister of Denmark (1978–1979). During his time as Vice President of the European Commission for Budget and later for Economic & Financial Affairs, Christophersen decisively contributed to the preparations of the launch of the Euro and of the Economic & Monetary Union. Through his pioneering work on Transeuropean Networks, he also played a big role in the realization of the Internal Market. In 1992, as EU commissioner, Christophersen together with 10 Baltic Ministers of Foreign Affairs founded the

Council of the Baltic Sea States The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) is a regional intergovernmental organisation working on three priority areas: Regional Identity, Safe & Secure Region and Sustainable & Prosperous Region. These three priority areas aim to address ...

(CBSS) and the EuroFaculty. He was the Chairman of the Energy Charter Conference 1998 until 2007. He was Chairman and member of a number of Supervisory Boards of Directors, and a Partner of Kreab, Brussels. Christophersen died on 31 December 2016 in Brussels at the age of 77 after a short illness.

References

Sources

* Tom Matz (2004), ''Venstre ved du hvor du har '' ForlagsKompagniet : Nørhaven Book. 1939 births 2016 deaths Danish Finance Ministers Foreign ministers of Denmark Danish European Commissioners Members of the Folketing Politicians from Copenhagen European Commissioners 1985–1988 Leaders of Venstre (Denmark) 20th-century Danish politicians {{EU-org-bio-stub