Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, eminent legal scholar and distinguished European civil servant, passed away in Brussels on 10 April. A committed advocate of European integration, Ehlermann played an important role in strengthening the legal foundations of the European Union.
Ehlermann's distinguished career at the European Commission spanned over three decades, where he served in several senior roles, including Director-General for Competition, Chief Press Spokesperson and Special Advisor on Institutional Affairs under Commission President Jacques Delors.
At the European University Institute, he held the Chair in European Community Law from 1995 to 2002 in the Department of Law and collaborated with Yves Mény at the Robert Schuman Centre on a study proposing the reorganisation of the EU Treaties and the formulation of a Basic Treaty for the European Union. He also co-edited 10 volumes of the European Competition Law Annual.
Reflecting on his legacy, Dieter Schlenker, Director of the Historical Archives of the European Union, remarked “Claus-Dieter Ehlermann has made an outstanding contribution to a united Europe as long-serving high official in the European Commission. As Director of the Legal Service he contributed to the implementation of the Community principles based on rule of law, and as member of Commission President Jacques Delors’ cabinet he contributed to shaping the European Union established with the Maastricht Treaty of 1992. Further to the numerous archival documents present in the HAEU’s holdings that were drafted or signed by Claus-Dieter Ehlermann, he also left to the research community a rich legacy of three oral history interviews conducted in the frame of the research project: The European Commission – History and Memories of an Institution.”
His intellectual and institutional contributions endure through his many publications, and his work at the Commission most vividly in the three oral history interviews he granted to the Archives: The European Commission 1958-1973. Memories of an institution, The European Commission 1973-1986. Memories of an institution, and The European Commission 1986-2000. Memories of an institution. Documents illustrating his work as Director of the Legal Service as well as advisor to Jacques Delors are also preserved at the HAEU.
Photo: Actors’ Voices on the History of European Law: A Moderated Interview. Rita Erhard and Dieter Schlenker interview Claus-Dieter Ehlermann. 9 December 2015