Manuel Marín
Congress of Deputies | |
---|---|
In office 3 March 2000 – 9 March 2008 | |
In office 15 June 1977 – 29 June 1986 | |
Personal details | |
Born | Manuel Marín González 21 October 1949 Ciudad Real, Spain |
Died | 4 December 2017 Madrid, Spain | (aged 68)
Political party | Socialist Workers' Party |
Manuel Marín González (21 October 1949 – 4 December 2017) was a
Early life and introduction to politics
Marín was born in
Marín and Europe
Following the Socialist success in the
The negotiations were successful, and on 1 January Spain joined the European Community at the same time as Portugal. Marín was nominated as Spain's first member of the European Commission and major Commissioner (larger countries at that time nominated two European Commissioners, generally one from the governing party and one from the Opposition[3]); he was appointed a vice-president of the European Commission, which was the first Commission presided over by Jacques Delors. Marín was given the portfolio of Social Affairs, Education and Employment – subjects which until his arrival (the mandate of the first Delors Commission had begun the previous year in 1985) had been handled by Peter Sutherland. Although Marín was responsible for a number of important initiatives (for example, he was the Commissioner responsible for the presentation of the proposal for the Erasmus Programme, which still runs today and has acquired iconic status as a symbol of European integration), in many ways his initial priority was the successful integration of Spain into the life of the European Communities.
Marín was reappointed into the second Delors Commission from 1989 to 1992, again as vice-president but this time with a portfolio which interested him more: development cooperation and the Common Fisheries Policy. Although these two may seem very disparate, the link between them lies in the fact that the fishing fleets of European Community Member States fished traditionally in the waters of many developing countries (in particular, the substantial Spanish fishing fleet did so) and in this period negotiations over compensation to those developing countries became inevitably linked to the European Community's wider development policy. During this mandate, Marín interested himself in relations with Africa and travelled widely there.
Marín was appointed in due course to the third Delors Commission (1993–1994[4]) with responsibility for development and cooperation, economic external relations with southern Mediterranean countries, Latin America, Asia, African, Caribbean and Pacific countries, and humanitarian aid.
Marín's final term in the European Commission was in the
In late 1998 charges of incompetence, cronyism, nepotism and fraud against the European Commission increased. President Jacques Santer fought off an attempt to dismiss the commission, but in January 1999 had to agree to the appointment of a so-called Committee of Independent Experts to examine the commission's accounts. Following the biting report of the group,[5] which (among other things) criticised Marín for his lack of responsibility, the Santer Commission resigned en bloc on 15 March 1999.
Marín's role in the downfall of the Santer Commission is still not clear. He has been strongly attacked without clear evidence for cronyism and nepotism in the European Parliament.[6] But the Group of Experts largely cleared most members aside Cresson.[7]
After the resignation of the Santer Commission, Marín took over as interim President. Marín was charged with the interim presidency of the commission on a "care and maintenance" basis until a new Commission could be appointed. The Prodi Commission was eventually appointed in September of that year.
Life after Europe
Following the appointment of the
Manuel Marín was married with two children.
Death
Marín died in Madrid on 4 December 2017 at the age of 68 from lung cancer.[10][11][12]
References
- ^ "OBIT Manuel Marín: Father of Erasmus study abroad scheme". 5 December 2017. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- ^ "'Father' of EU's Erasmus study abroad programme dies". Daily Nation. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- Popular Alliance party
- ^ This was a 2-year Commission only, in order to bring the Commission's mandate into line with that of the European Parliament
- ^ available at http://www.europarl.europa.eu/experts/report1_en.htm
- ^ "World: Europe MEPs reject censure motion". BBC News. 14 January 1999. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
- ^ The Santer Commission Registration Crisis (PDF), retrieved 25 March 2021
- Congreso de los Diputados. Archived from the originalon 27 April 2006. Retrieved 27 June 2006.
- ^ "About". Global Commission on International Migration. Archived from the original on 12 April 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
- AFP News (4 December 2017). "'Father' of EU's Erasmus study abroad programme Manuel Marin dies". Yahoo! News. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- ^ EFE (4 December 2017). "Fallece Manuel Marín, negociador de la adhesión de España a la UE". Diario del AltoAragón (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 7 December 2017. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
- ^ Marcos, José (4 December 2017). "El expresidente del Congreso Manuel Marín muere a los 68 años". El País (in Spanish). Madrid: Ediciones El País, Sociedad Limitada. Retrieved 4 December 2017.