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„One of our best“ says Jean-Claude Juncker, „a great European with an exceptional destiny“ adds José Manuel Barroso (cf. Roemer 2013) and Paperjam calls him „the legend of the century“.

Not many politicians are as revered in this country and beyond as Gaston Thorn. He was not only Prime Minister and President of the EU Commission, but also the long-time head of CLT-UFA, a media empire and corporation behind RTL Luxembourg. With a slightly more critical view, or even simply when one considers basic ethical and deontological rules, Gaston Thorn appears in a completely different light. It is the start of perhaps the most successful mixing of interests between politics and business in European post-war history.

Let’s look back to the 1970s. Gaston Thorn was involved in the CLT dossier early in his political career – remember, the media empire behind RTL – and would remain on the ball until the end. A first example is the parliamentary debate of 26.05.1965, in which the Luxembourg government strongly opposed the entry of the French state into the capital of CLT. As spokesman for the then liberal opposition, Gaston Thorn supported the CSV government here. In 1972, as Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister responsible for CLT, Gaston Thorn arranged Luxembourg’s accession to the Intelsat agreement (Wort, 13.12.1972) – the first step towards realizing CLT’s satellite plans.

In a landmark ruling in 1974, the European Court of Justice held that television was a „service“ (https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/DE/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:61973CJ0155&from=FR). New technologies such as cable and satellite connections would allow commercial providers to compete with public service media in individual countries. With further cases before the European Court of Justice, including in the 1980s, the Luxembourg CLT also tried to obtain clarity before the European Court of Justice in order to earn money throughout Europe with advertising, TV shopping and product placement.

The CLT’s plan is to build up its own satellite program and thereby also reach and dominate the other European markets (see Land Dossier of April 2, 1982). Opponents of this plan can be found in both the German and French states, who see it as a threat to the respective public television programs. At the time, Luxembourg was the only country in the European Community in which a private, commercial company had a monopoly on television - and not public media. It had been part of Luxembourg’s state policy for many years to defend this corporation against the restrictions and influence of other states.

In 1977, Gaston Thorn became Prime Minister of Luxembourg and secured five DBS (Direct Broadcasting Satellite) frequencies for Luxembourg and the CLT at the international conference of the UIT (Union Internationale de Télédiffusion) (see Roemer 2013). However, this did not make much sense at the time, because in the countries surrounding Luxembourg the media market and the communication networks were firmly in public hands. In the Netherlands, for example, there were currently three different public television stations. What is missing is a directive at European level.

And that is coming! In 1984 it is none other than Gaston Thorn, by then President of the EC Commission, who personally (cf. Land 10.02.1984) gives the decisive impetus, with the „”Green Paper’ on the establishment of the common market for broadcasting, notably by satellite and cable“. The liberalization of the television market begins and it is in a way the starting point for a European media policy (cf. BPB 2016), which will continue to be largely shaped by Luxembourgers. Of course, Gaston Thorn was more or less openly accused of acting in the interests of the CLT based in his home country. But what happens next goes far beyond this conflict of interest.

In 1985, Gaston Thorn’s time as Commission President came to an end, with the knowledge that the great era of commercial television would soon begin. Without a waiting period, Gaston Thorn immediately started working in the private sector - at CLT. He knew the company inside out, not only because he had always fought for the interests of CLT as a politician, but because he had already sat on the board of directors of CLT before his time in the Luxembourg government, until 1968 (Le Soir, 18.10.1993). His vice-president from the EC Commission was also taken into the Luxembourg private sector to do business with the media and satellites, Etienne Davignon, who became vice-president of the satellite operator SES (Land, 20.12.1985).

Nowadays, this is no longer possible – the members of the EU Commission are subject to professional secrecy even after their mandate: internal knowledge from politics may not be used in other professions in the private sector. For example, it is no longer possible for Viviane Reding from the EU Commission to move directly to the board of trustees of the influential Bertelsmann Foundation. A comprehensive code of conduct was first drawn up in 1999. But weren’t there any rules before? Well: „When taking up their duties, they shall give a solemn undertaking to fulfil the obligations arising from their duties, both during and after their term of office, and in particular to behave with integrity and discretion in the acceptance of certain activities or benefits after they have ceased to hold office.“

„Honourable and discreet“, as the merger agreements require of Commission members, Gaston Thorn is just as „honourable and discreet“ in his new job as he was in his time as Commission President. Henri Roemer, DP member, Luxembourgish diplomat and CLT press spokesman, writes in his biographical anthology on Gaston Thorn (p. 356): „Our president Gaston Thorn had built up excellent contacts with Dutch politicians during his active political career […] The CLT president immediately telephoned Prime Minister Ruud Lubbers, who arranged for us to meet his then Minister of Media, Elco Brinkmann, through his secretariat.“ The episode described occurred shortly after Gaston Thorn moved from the Commission to the CLT. It was his „Television without Borders“ directive that was in the process of being implemented into the respective national laws. On the very day that the directive also came into force in the Netherlands on 2 October 1989, the CLT launched „RTL Veronique“ on the Dutch market. The monopoly began, CLT expanded, merged and was consolidated. Ultimately, with the help of Bertelsmann, it became the largest media group in Europe. Gaston Thorn remained at the helm of the group until 2004, most recently as Chairman of the Board of Directors of RTL Group from 2000 to 2004.

Gaston Thorn drives the vision that still drives the great CEOs of RTL Group and Bertelsmann, who now own CLT-UFA: to have it all. In an interview with Spiegel from 1987 he shares his view and sees himself in the same position as Rupert Murdoch and Silvio Berlusconi. In 1993, Gaston Thorn was awarded the prestigious title „Man of the Year“ by MIPCOM in Cannes, a few years after Silvio Berlusconi.

So what image remains of Gaston Thorn now? He is a great European, but one who saw Europe mainly as big business. He is a successful politician and businessman, but one for whom there were no boundaries between politics and business. He is an ideological defender of the free market, a neoliberal, a confidant of European executives and something like the father of advertising on the European market.