Since the creation of the European Commission in 1958, only two presidents have held the office for 10 years: the 'historical' French politician Jacques Delors, between 1985 and 1995, and the former Portuguese prime minister, known in Brussels as José Manuel Barroso, between 2004 and 2014.

The first woman to assume the presidency of the Community executive, in 2019, and 13th president of the European Commission, Von der Leyen, who is the "leading candidate" of the European People's Party (EPP) for the European elections scheduled for the period between 06 and 09 June next, will equal the longevity record of Delors and Durão Barroso if she is effectively reappointed to the position and fully serves the second five-year term, until 2029.

As for the "leading candidate" of the European Socialists, the current Commissioner for Employment and Social Rights, Nicolas Schmit, in the unlikely event of winning the 'race' to lead the Community executive, would become the fourth Luxembourgian to preside over the Commission - despite being one of the smallest Member States of the EU, Luxembourg has already had presidents of the Commission on three occasions: Gaston Thorn between 1981 and 1985, Jacques Santer between 1995 and 1999 and Jean-Claude Juncker between 2014 and 2019.

List of presidents of the European Commission, since its creation in 1958:

1958-1967: Walter Hallstein, Germany.

1967-1970: Jean Rey, Belgium.

1970-1972: Franco Maria Malfatti, Italy.

1972-1973: Sicco Mansholt, Netherlands.

1973-1977: François-Xavier Ortoli, France.

1977-1981: Roy Jenkins, United Kingdom.

1981-1985: Gaston Thorn, Luxembourg.

1985-1995: Jacques Delors, France.

1995-1999: Jacques Santer, Luxembourg.

1999-2004: Romano Prodi, Italy.

2004-2014: Durão Barroso, Portugal.

2014-2019: Jean-Claude Juncker, Luxembourg

2019-2024: Ursula Von der Leyen, Germany

Read Also: Von der Leyen condemns "vile attack" against Slovak prime minister (Portuguese version)