Early Work
The Santer Commission oversaw the development of the Treaty of Nice before it was signed in 2000, negotiations with those countries to join in 2004 and the signing of the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997.
Notably it contributed to the development of the euro and issued a series of green papers based on Commissioner Yves-Thibault de Silguy's work. The Commission also developed the euro currency symbol. The euro was established on 1999-01-01. The Commission also continued Delor's social agenda, pushed for more powers in that field including tackling unemployment and began proposals for the reform of the Common Agricultural Policy.
Santer, desiring a quotable slogan for his administration, stated his Commissions aim would be "to do less, but do it better" (a slogan adopted and adapted by many since). Although just a sound bite, it touched a chord for some thinking the Community needed a rest after the new treaties and the euro, even if the nature of the Community itself requires movements and new projects to keep it busy. However, during 1998 the Commission began to lose authority due to management criticisms from the Parliament.
Read more about this topic: Santer Commission
Famous quotes containing the words early and/or work:
“We have good reason to believe that memories of early childhood do not persist in consciousness because of the absence or fragmentary character of language covering this period. Words serve as fixatives for mental images. . . . Even at the end of the second year of life when word tags exist for a number of objects in the child’s life, these words are discrete and do not yet bind together the parts of an experience or organize them in a way that can produce a coherent memory.”
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