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When Jean-Claude Juncker was tapped

(B2) This Friday (November 29), European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker made his public farewell, descending into the press room. Opportunity for last confidences...

Jean-Claude Juncker during his last press conference on Friday November 29, 2019 surrounded by his closest spokespersons (source: EBS/European Commission - selection B2)

We are in 1997. Jean-Claude Juncker is then Prime Minister of Luxembourg. He is traveling to Paris for a meeting with Jacques Delors. For a logistical reason, he changes hotels at the last moment, without time to warn anyone. But there is a surprise at the end, or rather two.

A call from Bill Clinton in the middle of the night

In the middle of the night, " it was 2 or 3 in the morning, maybe even more, Bill Clinton [who is then American president] calls me to tell me about a problem between Airbus and Boeing. I was very surprised that he found me in this hotel because he called me on the hotel's landline when even the delegation did not know that I had changed hotels. But so the President of the United States knew that…” End of the first episode. The sequel is just as amazing.

A commentary by Jacques Chirac in the morning

“The next day, I was very surprised. When Jacques Chirac greets me on the steps of the Elysée, saying to me: "the way you answered Clinton is the way Europeans should talk to Americans." So I thought to myself here... » he testifies.

Conclusion: Americans listen to Europeans, that's for sure. But it's not just them... And a Prime Minister, even from Luxembourg, must also be listened to...

(CG, st.)

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