Henri Simonet

Henri François Simonet (born May 10, 1931 in Brussels , † February 15, 1996 ) was a Belgian politician and 1977 President of the Council of the European Communities .

Studies and professional activities

Simonet studied politics and economics at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel . Later he was professor there and from 1975 to 1978 also president of the Institute for European Studies at the Free University of Brussels.

Political career

Party memberships and mayor of Anderlecht

Simonet began his political career as a member of the Socialist Party (PSB) . In 1985 he left the PSB and joined the Parti Réformateur Liberal (PRL) , in which he soon took xenophobic positions .

In 1966 he was elected mayor of Anderlecht . He held this office until 1984. During his tenure, Anderlecht developed from an industrial working-class city into a future-oriented city with the settlement of large shopping centers and the establishment of the Erasmus Hospital of the Free University of Brussels. His son Jacques Simonet , who also moved from PSB to PRL and has also been mayor of Anderlecht since 2000, died of a heart attack on June 14, 2007 at the age of 43 as the incumbent incumbent.

European politicians and ministers

In 1972 Simonet, who had also been a member of the Chamber of Deputies since 1966, was appointed Minister of Economic Affairs in his cabinet by Prime Minister Gaston Eyskens .

Between 1973 and 1977 he was Vice President of the EC Commission and thus deputy to François-Xavier Ortoli .

On June 3, 1977 he was appointed Foreign Minister by Prime Minister Leo Tindemans to succeed Renaat Van Elslande . As such, he was also President of the Council of the European Community in the second half of 1977 . He also retained the post of Foreign Minister in the governments of Paul Vanden Boeynants and Wilfried Martens until May 18, 1980. Between 1977 and 1979 he was also State Secretary for Regional Economics.

Publications

• Simonet, Henri: “La formation du capital dans les pays sous-développés et l'assistance financière étrangère”, Brussels (VUB) 1959
• Simonet, Henri: “Le Point de la Situation au Congo”, 1960
• Simonet, Henri: “Energy And The Future Of Europe”, in: “Foreign Affairs”, April 1975
• Simonet, Henri: “Belgium in the Postwar Period Partner and Ally”, 1981, ISBN 0892060336 .
• Kissinger, Henry / Simonet, Henri u. a .: “NATO, the Next Thirty Years: Report of the Conference, Palais D'Egmont, Brussels, Belgium, September 1-3, 1979”, January 1979, ISBN 0892060123 .

source

• Short biography in goupstate.com